Is it possible to do SEO on PDF documents?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by LawnchairLarry, May 2, 2008.

  1. #1
    Is it possible to do search-engine optimisation on PDF documents? Search-engines can read the meta-tags and/or the content (body text) of PDF documents if you enable this in the security properties, but is it possible to get a higher search-engine ranking by using the search-engine optimisation techniques one would normally use for (X)HTML files?
     
    LawnchairLarry, May 2, 2008 IP
  2. fadetoblack22

    fadetoblack22 Well-Known Member

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    #2
    I would say no, but I am not 100% sure
     
    fadetoblack22, May 2, 2008 IP
  3. kmap

    kmap Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Search engine like G is able to read pdf's on a website if they are available for public download without username and pass

    I have seen in many searches where i get pdf file in result

    Regards

    Alex
     
    kmap, May 2, 2008 IP
  4. guitarbinge

    guitarbinge Peon

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    #4
    yes if u have adobe acrobat (or a few other programs which can do the same) you can make a pdf with live links--this will be crawled and i have seen pdfs with pr5s....
     
    guitarbinge, May 2, 2008 IP
  5. HostColor

    HostColor Well-Known Member

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    #5
    Search engines rank PDF documents by using an algorithms. This means anyone can work on improving their PDF document ranking if they know something about this algorithms.
     
    HostColor, May 2, 2008 IP
  6. sturat.mitchel

    sturat.mitchel Banned

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    #6
    I have visited many websites containing PDF format files and these websites are well ranked and have PR.
     
    sturat.mitchel, May 3, 2008 IP
  7. johnenderson

    johnenderson Peon

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    #7
    Yes Friend, it is possible to do SEO on PDF Files.

    PDF's get indexed just like regular web pages. In fact, I think they tend to rank really well. I had one on another site that always brought in a bunch of traffic.

    I am sure I have read somewhere that Google tends to rank PDF as they see PDF's as a great source of info being either product or technical guides, business reports and so on.

    You can continue work on PDF Files and sure will get good rank.

    Here is the Guides From good source of SEO for PDF Files.

    http://www.searchengineguide.com/senews/002430.html


    Thanks
    John
     
    johnenderson, May 3, 2008 IP
  8. Tobidotman

    Tobidotman Peon

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    #8
    all my pdf's on nitrostics.com got ranked so yeah, i guess, but i don't know how meta tags will work on this, i guess its all in the title/ url?
     
    Tobidotman, May 3, 2008 IP
  9. Justin King

    Justin King Banned

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    #9
    It works a lot, I have found this about 3 years ago.
     
    Justin King, May 3, 2008 IP
  10. leri

    leri Peon

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    #10
    Hi johnenderson,
    Thanks for giving the useful information about SEO for PDF.
    I hope that SE will be able to read or crawl PDF very well.;)
     
    leri, May 3, 2008 IP
  11. LawnchairLarry

    LawnchairLarry Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Cheers for the link and advice, John! I'd appreciate it if you could find the article you mentioned about search-engine ranking for PDF files in Google (or other search-engines). I was asking myself:
    1. Do PDF files rank well, because search-engines categorise them differently from webpages and because hardly anyone bothers to optimise PDF files?
    2. Do PDF files rank well, because they are regarded as having more authority than regular webpages?
    The reason I asked this question in the first place is that I find it odd to apply the SEO techniques that are common for webpages, e.g. submitting the URL of a PDF file to a directory (a non-reciprocal deep-link directory?), blogging about a PDF file, exchanging links with related PDF files, etc. Now that I think of it further...It provides you with a good opportunity to create customised and optimised anchor texts to your website in the PDF file so that your website's search-engine ranking improves for the keywords in the anchor text.
     
    LawnchairLarry, May 3, 2008 IP
  12. MOG

    MOG Well-Known Member

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    #12
    search engine optimization in pdf files works in the same was as a traditional web page as far as linking, keyword density etc go. regarding OUTBOUND links, I dont think they count for anything on a PDF as its the adobe plugin that parses the link back to the browser via a shell command.
     
    MOG, May 3, 2008 IP
  13. Octane

    Octane Peon

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    #13
    To the best of my knowledge — which some might wish to clarify — Google (specifically) indexes PDFs, Microsoft Office files, as well as text and RTF.

    So any external content you have that falls into those files types and you're onto a winner...
     
    Octane, May 3, 2008 IP
  14. tejas_vern

    tejas_vern Peon

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    #14
    Yes should be, but even if they do its of no use.... Users get the download link directly on the search page.
     
    tejas_vern, May 3, 2008 IP
  15. LawnchairLarry

    LawnchairLarry Well-Known Member

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    #15
    How can a URL in a plain text file be a live link?

    Can someone answer the two questions I asked previously, please? Cheers!
     
    LawnchairLarry, May 3, 2008 IP