There are all types of interactive ways to show your navigation, like flash or java navs. Plus there are fun intros and cartoons. These are all great to look at but kill your chances for top rankings. Don't get me wrong there is a place for flash and java just not on your home page or on your information pages. I once was a flash web developer and was living and dying by how exciting and fun it was to create. Then I learned about search engines and wanted to actually make a real living on the internet. That's where I pushed it aside.
Search engines look at the code not the page. Knowing this should tell you the harder it is to get to the words/content the less chance you have of letting the SEs know what your site is about.
Flash Design - The Plus Side:
Great design elements along with unlimited interactive programming.
Flash Design - The Search Engine Negatives:
Most wording can not be read by search engines, so they will not know what your site is about. It will be a long time until flash is accepted and all spamable tactics weeded out.
JavaScript Problems:
Java requires too much code that pushes the important body content down the page. Since the engines start at the top of the page and go down, this would be a slight disadvantage. There are ways to externalize java, but it will still cause possible spidering problems for the search engines if not done correctly.
The basic idea is save the flash for interactive demos that are not incorporated in the site layout or for additional parts of a site instead of the majority of it. As for javascript, stick with simple text linking navigation instead of complex java pulldowns or rollovers. If you want to use complexity use rollover image buttons along with footer text links.
Search Engine Relevancy Home
