PDFs are used by many websites today, so it's a good idea to optimize the content of PDF files for search engines and regular websites. There isn't much difference between optimizing PDFs for search engines and optimizing other content on the site.
Here are the best tips that will support you make your PDF files as search-engine-friendly as possible:
Include your keyphrases.
Just like with web pages, it's important to use relevant keywords and phrases in the headlines, subheadings, and content of the PDF. If the PDF has pictures, include keywords in the captions below the pictures. Before you upload a file, put keywords in the file name. This is a simple trick that is often overlooked.
Of course, it's important not to let keywords get in the way of quality and readability, so don't go overboard. Also, most software for making PDFs has metadata for documents that can be used.
Create PDF text documents
The most important thing is how the PDF is made. It is very important to make the PDF in a text-based program like Microsoft Word or Adobe Pagemaker so that the final product has simple text that search engines can read. If you make PDFs in Adobe Photoshop, you only make image files, and search engines can't read the text in images.
Facilitate search engine access to the PDF file.
When you put the PDF on your site, don't hide it deep in the content. Instead, keep it near the root directory so search engines can find it easily.
You should also add links to the PDF to some of your most popular pages. If you want people to read and look for it, link to the PDF on your homepage. So the crawler can find it quickly and easily. You are putting it right in front of the crawler's eyes. You aren't making the crawler look through the whole site to see if there is any new content.
Use links carefully.
Another good idea is to put links to your site's content in PDFs since they will also be crawled. With Acrobat, you can add links to the PDF so that when someone opens it, they can go straight to another part of your website, like your online store. You can also add links to the site's main and important pages.
Regarding size
Don't make PDF files that are too big. People don't want to download big files from websites, and search engines don't want to crawl big PDFs. In the PDF Optimizer part of Adobe Acrobat, a tool will "right-size" the document.
You don't have to make those fancy PDFs. It's best if there aren't any big pictures or bright fonts. Using unusual and colorful fonts can slow down the search engine, so it is best to work in grayscale and with basic fonts like Times New Roman and Courier.
Keep in head that if you want your PDFs to be easy to search, keep them simple.
Reduce File Size
Uploading a large PDF file is not a good idea because it will slow down your page and make it hard for people to download the document.
To make the file smaller, you need more than one thing. You can change the content's font style and use the one that works best with the PDF format. Also, the content must be saved in a format that can open quickly on a search engine, i.e., fast web.
Once you've done all these things, the next step is downloading the file and making it smaller. By doing this, you can get a PDF document with very small file size, but the text quality will always be the same.
Join the files.
It is a very simple rule that the size will be bigger if there are more files. So, to solve this problem, you need to combine PDF files to make them smaller. Users can use an online PDF optimizer and upload all the files here.
This tool gives its users a lot of benefits, like the ability to upload multiple files at once and bind them all with a single click. So, here you can speed up your work and combine PDF files quickly.
Even if users add large files to the tool, it will still merge them all at once without slowing down. So, users should use a PDF merger to put all files in one place. This will make it easier for readers and give them access to all content on a single platform.
Use Greater Text
Most people think that PDF files are just pictures and that users must figure out what they mean independently. But PDF files are not what they seem to be. The main goal of this format is to make it easy for people to read the text.
So, if users want the file to show up at the top of the page, they should use more text than images in the file.
Keyword-Rich File Name
The file name is the most important thing to help your search engine ranking. It would be even better if your title included the main keyword. The same rules apply as with the URL or H1.
When a person uses a search engine to find something, he will use a certain keyword. So, it would help if you ensured the title has the most important keywords. This will help keep your PDF file at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
Use vector graphics
All the images in the content must be in a format called "vector." This is because vector images are smaller and of higher quality. Also, these pictures don't get fuzzy. The file will get bigger if you use different image formats, like bitmap or PNG.
But it would help if you made the document smaller and easier for the audience to find. And using images that don't take up much space can help reduce the size of the PDF file.
