I have a certain percentage of customers every day who email me seeking assistance downloading their PDF eBook. In some cases, I'm not able to find a solution for them and offer to actually mail out a CD at no additional cost. Some people don't have Adobe Acrobat installed, and others have painfully slow internet connections and have trouble downloading larger files. Although occasional issues are unavoidable, do any of you have effective strategies for minimizing download issues? My questions include: Is it better to offer the download as a zip file or a PDF? Should I encourage downloading to desktop or viewing in web-browser? What type of instructions should I provide with the download? Thanks for your help!
I think it is better to offer a zip file. This way no one will open the PDF on his browser and then "lose" it. You should definitely encourage downloading to desktop. This way they know where it is and don't go back to the thank you page. If you offer zip files which contain PDF files, offer instructions about opening zips and opening PDFs. Maybe make a video tutorial (they're popular now ) so people can actually see what you're doing. nadavs
advise them they can get adobe reader for free if they dont have it.. provide them with a link so they can download it.
Thanks Nadavs and Swerd - those are good suggestions that I'm already utilizing. I guess it's inevitable that a small percentage of customers are hopeless, even with all the guidance in the world.
I throw in the link to adobe reader download (not the main page but the actual click here to download link from their site) and I also write out instructions on right click, save target as... etc. I previously offered a .zip file and let me tell you, offer it non zipped as well. Its amazing how many people are incapable of unzipping a file even after many e-mails back and forth.
thats true.. one of my customers emailed clickbank just after they paid (didnt make it to the thank you page) and said "I havent entered my address, how will you know where to send the book? My address is..................." Clickbank then refunded the sale! arhh I even stated a number of times the product gets downloaded.... Some people really are clueless
How do you create the PDFs? These PDFs are for web or print? The PDF compression is very important. I don’t agree with the zip solution - how many people have a DTP/print background?
Don't go for a zip file. To my experience about 1-5% people don't even know how to unzip . Provide details to download to desktop for your PDF. Make your server to force download for the PDF file (ask me how if you don't know). Also, put a link on your thank you page saying that Acrobat Reader is required to view the file. Available free of cost at this link. Also, as an additional option, convert your pdf to a html file (I can do that, just PM me). Provide it as an additional download option for those who don't have Acrobat Reader and don't want to get it either. Make sure to force download for the html from the server too. Feel free to PM me if you have any queries. Felu
I agree with Felu, putting .pdf file into .zip will cause even more problems, because if people CANNOT download Acrobat Reader, then I am sorry for them... I would say to mention, how to download .pdf file. Instead of just clicking on it to open in the browser, which can take a while, they should click Mouse2 on the pdf and then "Save As". It will download quickly(even with slow internet connection), and will be readable through Adobe Acrobat Reader. Simply provide them, step-by-step instructions.
Also as I said in my previous post, have the server to force download for the pdf file that even if they don't do the save as method, they'll get a download prompt . And don't forget to provide screenshots with your step by step instructions .
If your customers are having problems opening PDF files, you can also convert your PDF to a standalone .exe file that has its own built in viewer. Check out pdf2exe, its a freeware program - pdf2exe.com