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Just searching for some different keywords I noticed most the the top sites are about 20k. I have heard conflicting views on the issue of file size effecting page rank. I have heard google only looks at the first 100k of a site, and that you do not want to design a site more than 20k. However, 20k of data will not produce a very attractive site.
So my question is: If I am building a site that is 200k, will it be search engine friendly? I am trying to do it all css/gif/jpg, but would incorporating some of it in Flash cut down on the file size as far as Google is concerned?

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Dani AI

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Thread started by ; contributors and raised useful points. The core issue is not a single bytes-limit but whether important text is immediately accessible and whether the page renders quickly for users and crawlers. Flash is no longer a viable option for SEO or compatibility—it reached end of life—and modern crawlers render JavaScript but still benefit when content is server-side accessible. See Adobe on Flash EOL and Google on rendering for details.

Practical checklist you can apply now:

  • Put primary, indexable text and headings early in the HTML so it is discoverable without relying on plugins or heavy client-side work.
  • Compress and minify assets (gzip or brotli, minified CSS/JS) and serve scaled images in modern formats (WebP/AVIF) to cut transfer time.
  • Defer or async noncritical scripts; lazy-load images with the native loading="lazy" attribute to reduce initial render cost.
  • If the site relies on client-side rendering, use server-side rendering or pre-rendering so crawlers see the same content users do; Google documents common approaches and pitfalls.
  • Break very long content into logical pages or sections with clear headings and internal links if usability or load time suffers.
  • Verify changes with Google Search Console URL inspection and measure real-user metrics via Core Web Vitals before and after optimizations.

Testing before and after each change gives clear evidence of impact on crawl/render behavior and user experience, which is what ultimately affects search visibility.

Adobe Flash end-of-life

Core Web Vitals / page experience

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Google will only look at the 100k of the html file that it reads. This excludes linked files such as images, flash, external css files, etc.

Member Avatar for cmills83

Link was very helpful, thanks!

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