Importance of an optimized home page (index)

[EricVallee34]

I'm helping a client redesign their website and they want to have a home page that's primarily graphics and/or flash (or jquery).  If they are able to optimize all of their key sub-pages, what is the harm in terms of SEO?

[EGOL]

For many sites the homepage brings in more traffic than any other page.  Also the homepage is usually the strongest page on a site and that gives it the ability to attack the most difficult (and often most profitable) keywords.  Not using the homepage would be like not using your best sword.

Maybe there is a way that you can include flash elements on the page and still have space left for optimized text?

Or, better, have a homepage that has a number of enticing links that will pull the visitor deeper into the site and engage them with more information.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Google will tell you not to have sites that are image heavy or that have content buried so that they cannot easily crawl / read it.

Steer well clear of both of these possibilities as neither will benefit your customer. Also remember that Google also uses page load speed as a metric as well.

Regards,

Andy

[Entrusteddev]

As EGOl and iNet state, using flash for a homepage isn't a great idea.

You will need links outside of the flash to ensure crawlers find deeper pages.

If you do optimise sub level pages over the homepage, then fancy homepage flash become inert as most visitors are going to land on sub pages, by passing the homepage.

Include Flash by all means, but make it a page element, not the entire page.

Jquery on the other hand is awesome and if done correctly will not hinder your SEO.

[EricVallee34]

Thank you Egol.  How do you determine which keywords are most profitable?  Is it something that the client figures out overtime, or is there a way to determine "profitability" before the SEO process begins?

[EricVallee34]

If I'm hearing you correctly, you are saying that while not recommended, it's possible to have a good SEO program for deep pages, while not optimizing the home page.  Is that accurate?

[EGOL]

Just from my own sites...

Most profitable can be one of three things....

A) Highest sales volume

B) Best profit margin

C) Items that are easy to obtain, inventory and deliver (low labor)

If I had a client, I would talk to her and ask what she can sell a lot of and what she enjoys moving.

Where you can get SERP position based upon competition levels is also a part of this.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

No, that's not correct. Think about the way link juice flows as well. Remember that it is the professionals who say neither of these practices are good. If you want a good strong SEO position, you need to avoid these practices.