# Links, crawling and search engines **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [May 16, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/links-crawling-and-search-engines/21049 "2003-05-16T09:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jimw00d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jimw00d](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/jimw00d)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 9:57am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/links-crawling-and-search-engines/21049/1 "2003-05-16T09:57:33Z")
I’ve been reading up recently on the methods that various search engines, such as google, use to rank sites. The subject of crawlers therefore emerged and the way in which they use links within web sites to rank that site. The more links the better the ranking. The issue for me is that it appears that links within a flash site are embedded within the swf, therefore a crawler would not be able to analyse the scripting behind the swf as it is able to do with html. What methods can be proposed to ensure that crawlers are able to crawl a flash site for links. I guess adding links via notepad etc would be ok but could detract from design and add unneccessary development time. Anyone have any ideas?? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 10:34am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/links-crawling-and-search-engines/21049/2 "2003-05-16T10:34:03Z")
You can embed META tags into the HTML page that the .swf sits in. It’s not the greatest answer, but the best that I know of. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/links-crawling-and-search-engines/21049/3 "2003-05-16T14:27:33Z")
yep that’s a fine solution for those engines that use meta tags to rank and indeed find web sites. Thanks for the input