PDF optimization for SEO

The basic rules for optimizing a PDF file are the same as those
for a standard HTML web page. PDF, after all, is an acronym that
means “portable document format”, meaning it, like HTML is
meant to be viewable across multiple operating systems, and with a
variety of document viewing software, including web browsers and many
word processing programs.

The first thing to remember is that you should absolutely not
create your PDF with an image software, such as Photoshop. The
reason for this is fairly straight-forward, as an image cration
application produces, not a true PDF, but a large image that can be
viewed as a portable document. Search engine spiders are not able to
view an image, only the filename and any descriptions directly
associated with the image, which means that such a file cannot be
properly indexed. Use an application that creates a text-based PDF
file, and you’ll get better search engine results.

Newer PDF creation programs allow you to fill in the meta tags,
which are used in a way that is almost identical to a web page. Be
sure that your keywords figure prominently in the title, the
description, and the keyword sections of the PDF. For best results in
search engines, you’ll also want to have relevance to the site where
the PDF is located, so keep in mind that your site keywords should be
mirrored in the document, along with any keywords that are specific
only to the PDF file.

The rules of SEO still apply to the contents of the document.
Don’t overuse your keywords in the body of the document, but make
sure that you do have an acceptable density. If the document contains
images, it is a good idea to use captions for them which also include
the keywords of the PDF file. And when you save the file, just as
with an HTML document, try to make the keywords prominent in the
filename, as well. There’s no substitute for good SEO, when it comes
to being found in search engines, regardless of the type of
text-based file you are using.

One last hint: Don’t bury your PDF document too deeply in your
website. Spiders will only index to a certain level of directories,
so keep it as close to the top level as possible. You don’t have to
store it in the root directory, where your .htaccess and robots.txt
files are located, but keep it close to that. There is some question
involved in exactly how deeply a spider will index the site, but most
experts recommend a depth of not more than 4 folders, just to be on
the safe side.

Article written by SEOnotepad.com