A new search mechanism unveiled by Google called Google Instant Previews allows potential visitors to see a website before they actually visit it. By taking a screenshot of every web page in their index, Google is able to allow users to access it using a magnifying glass which provides a thumbnail image of the web page.
This new technology allows a site’s potential visitors to get a quick view of the website’s content without even visiting the web page. Although your page may be at the top of the page ranking on Google, by using this new tool, users may decide not to visit your site after all–largely based on how it appears.
Some businesses have designed their sites with SEO in mind, giving little thought to a site’s functionality, content or user friendly features. Flash websites are at a particular disadvantage, as they may appear to show only banners and text within the Google Instant Preview. Your site’s web designer may be more important than your SEO expert when Google start implementing this feature.