Unfortunately, many people ignore PDF files in their on-site strategies. This is one of the worst mistakes that they make.
This is because there is a lot of potential in optimizing PDF documents. Well, PDF files often contain valuable and unique content.
Remember, search engines crawl and index PDFs effectively. Therefore, optimizing PDFs to achieve a higher ranking in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) is crucial.
You need to optimize PDFs for two audiences.
- Humans
- Search engines
So, you’ll want to consider both of these search parameters.
How to optimize your PDF documents for humans?
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Reduce files’ size by merging them
First, you need to keep this thing in mind that you are putting tremendous effort into attracting your site visitors. For this, you need to reduce your PDF size to maximize its downloading speed.
Larger files demand more time for downloading. How to reduce the size of your PDF files?
The best way to do this is to merge them at once. This is where a PDF compiler (such as mergepdf dot io) comes into play to help you reduce the size of your PDFs. It assists you in keeping all the scattered documents in one place.
For this, you do not require any plug-in or any software. Instead, it only requires a stable internet connection. Moreover, it is free to use.
To reduce the size of your PDF files, follow these simple steps:
- Visit the SEO tool’s site, press the “Choose File” button, and upload all the files.
- After that, click on the “Merge Files” icon.
- Wait for a few seconds and finally click the “Download” button.
In this way, all your PDF files will be merged, and their sizes will be reduced.
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Optimize fonts
The fonts that readers support are Times New Roman, Zapf Dingbats, and Courier. If you do not use any of these fonts, the font size of your PDF will automatically be increased.
To control the visual layout, you need to rely on any of these fonts.
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Use a few fonts
All fonts add KBs (Kilobytes) to your PDF size. Hence, you need to use fewer fonts in your PDFs.
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Use fewer font styles
Along with fonts, you also need to use a limited number of font styles in your PDF document.
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Optimize images
It would be best to use vector-based images in your PDFs. This is because they have a smaller size.
How to optimize your PDF documents for search engines?
If you want search engines to index your PDF, you have to take some further steps.
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Search-focused file name
Your PDF file’s name should be search-friendly and contain relevant keywords. Most often, the document’s name automatically becomes the URL’s name.
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Include text in PDF
Just like website content, PDF should contain textual content rather than image-based content. To explain a situation or strengthen your stance, you can include images in your PDF.
But not all the parts of a PDF file contain images. Instead, add images to the section where the best match is.
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Optimize your PDF content
People use search engines to find content relevant to their search queries. So, if your content is not optimized properly, they will not find it.
Most significantly, search engines keep changing their algorithms. So, if you do not optimize your content and analyze the algorithms, you will not stay ahead of the competition.
Do not be worried.
With some primary tips and tricks, you can improve your ranking chances. Your PDF content needs to be unique and fresh. So, avoid duplication.
Before publishing your content, you should leverage a reliable plagiarism checker tool. Publish content only if it is 100% original.
Search engines do not tolerate duplicated content. So, your PDF content should be original.
Like web pages, your PDF pages should also be enriched with SEO parameters. You must include relevant keywords in your PDF to rank it well.
Follow all the SEO factors, such as:
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Meta titles & description
These two things are important to cast a magical spell on the reader. They both can make or break your strategy.
So, they need to be well-crafted and brief.
| Meta Title | Meta Description |
| 60 characters | 160 characters |
You have to write within this character restriction. So, make them engaging and clickable.
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Optimized headings
Now, you have to optimize your PDF headings. It will let Google crawlers know what your content is about.
Moreover, it will also keep your readers engaged.
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Keyword usage
What if you have written top-notch content, and no one notices your PDF file?
How bad it would be!
To tackle this situation, you need to add relevant keywords to your PDF file so that Google considers it.
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Scannable content
Avoid including tons of lengthy paragraphs in your content. Readers will not go through them.
Instead, make your content easy to scan and digest by the readers. Write 2-3 line paragraphs and include bullet points in your PDFs.
People will appreciate your content creation efforts.
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Use alt text in your images
This is another important thing that you should not ignore. You should add alt text to all the images of your PDF.
In digital content, it is vital to add alt text to your document’s images. It will also maximize your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) with the content.
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Check whether your links are working
You also need to make sure that your PDF download links are working accurately and are easy to access.
On the contrary, it will negatively impact the crawlers and readers if some of your links are not working. So, you have to make your links easy to find and function efficiently.
Wrapping up
There you have it: a guide on optimizing your PDFs and improving their search engine ranking. We have tried to cover all the aspects of this topic.
If you have any concerns, just leave a message in the comment section. Our team will instantly reach you to listen to your query.
So what are you waiting for?
Practice these tips and tricks and optimize your PDFs like a pro!
Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Thank you!
The post A Guide to Optimize PDFs and Boost Your Ranking on SERPs appeared first on ReadWrite.
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