34 replies to this topic

[idrive]

Hi there!
Can one optimize the page title of a pdf so that it does not show up as "untitled" in the search engines?

Is this in document properties somehow?

Thanks!

Darlene

[nilesh11]

Yes there is a way to add the title. I have some softwares that do that.

[Haystack]

On Acrobat 4.0, you can access the PDF General Info (where the Title and keywords can be set) by clicking Ctrl-D or at File > Document Info > General

There is a way to set up Acrobat to ask for a title when you're creating the file, but I don't remember how.

[Randy]

I'm going to assume that you're talking about the title that shows up in the SERPs Darlene. If that's correct let us know.

A lot depends upon how your making the PDF. If the PDF has regions in it that can be edited by the user, the placeholder text you place in the first field will end up being the Title in the SERPs.

If the PDF can't be edited, or maybe if it can since I haven't tested it specifically, the full version of Acrobat allows you to set all kinds of info in the PDF file that doesn't show up in the visible part of the file, but does get read. That's assuming you're using Acrobat to create your PDFs. Other software will likely vary.

Open one of your PDF files, click on File > Document Properties > Summary. That will allow you to save a title and other info you want to.

It's an interesting question, so I've just started a little test with a few of the PDFs I have available out there that the search engines can grab. One that doesn't have any editable text (or really any Acrobat-added text at all) so shows up under Untitled, and a few that are editable where the first line of Acrobat text currently shows as the title.

Don't let me forget to look back in a week or so!

[BrianR]

Welcome to the forum, Nilesh11 - hope you enjoy being with us.

And thanks for the PDF titling info Ed & Randy - that's very useful SEO for PDFs advice.

BrianR

[Randy]

Sorry to drag back this old thread, but just a quickie confirmation on the little test I mentioned earlier.

If you're using Acrobat to create your PDFs, or something else that allows you to set the Document Properties, whatever you put in the Title field will show up as the title in Google. Even if there is other text in the pdf file.

Yahoo! hasn't re-indexed those test files yet, but since they show the text from the PDF as their title too, perhaps they'll end up treating the document properties title the same way that Google does. We can hope anyway!

It was a cool little test! I'll have to start doing that from now on when a new pdf is going to be uploaded to my free area(s). Especially since my newly reconfigured test pdf-with-title now bumps two of my pages to spots 1 and 2 for not-very-competitive, but very targeted phrase without me even trying!

[BrianR]

Thanks for doing that test, Randy - now we know how to do it, those results are a big incentive to do proper PDF optimisation.

BrianR

[Tom Philo]

Did you try and add in new document properties to see if they got indexed? Adobe 6 has 4 default properties, but you can create your own too. Just last night I had to create a new PDF and added in new fields just for internal documentation (if the PDF is copied elsewhere) and just in case they do index those.

I added in 'Source URL', 'Company Name', 'Web Site Name' etc and put in specifics in each.

My site is not crawed that often by Google et al (Google last went to my site August 26 and MSN / Yahoo go even less so) it will be a while before I can test to see if they picked up those custom document properties that I put in.

Adobe 6 defiately helps in securing docs too. I was able to set it up so anyone can print but no one can copy and edit since I password protected that one aspect but screen readers can still read it.

[Randy]

I haven't had a chance to do a thorough test of the additional fields yet Tom, but my initial impression is that the various other fields either aren't indexed or have no bearing in ranking.

I put stuff in some of those other fields of my test PDF, yes. However I can't pull up anything specifically in the SERPs because I get two other pages from the site instead. That's because I didn't put a nonsense phrase that would be guaranteed to show up if it were being indexed.

I did however just conduct a site: filetype:pdf search to see if it would pull something from a field other than the Title form, and that got nada. I'd say those other fields are not indexed, given that quickie test. Only the Title field.

I've put it on my To Do list to test those additional fields a little more closely though.

[Haystack]

If your PDF files are gettting traffic, make sure there is a way for visitors to get from the PDF to the rest of your site. And/or include your contact info within the PDF.

[idrive]

Hi everyone!

For some reason I just received info that there was activity in this forum ;-) So sorry for the delay in getting back.

>Randy said: I'm going to assume that you're talking about the title that shows up in the SERPs Darlene. If that's correct let us know.

That is correct - and thanks for conducting an experiment! I am going to look into this - one of the things I am not sure of is if my pdf is "readable"...I shouldn't say mine, but it is for a site I am working on (check sig).

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll let you know what happens ;-)

Darlene

[Tom Philo]

Good idea on including inside the PDF URL and all normal contact information to your site.

If PDF is copied then the URL would be live and they can always get back to your site and if they look at it while on your site the same is true.

[idrive]

Woo hoo! Title updated! Google is a bit slower than usual in updating page titles, etc.

The PDF documents have properties for title and keywords, but not description. Does anyone know if Google is using the keywords field - perhaps as a description?

What I see for a description in both pdfs is Page 1 or Page 2. *argh* Need to find out how to fix.

On that note I see that Google is creating it's own descriptions for HTML pages again by taking content from the page as opposed to using the meta description tag. Keeping us on our toes is all :-)

[edit]

Would someone mind checking something out for me? I want to run an html page through a lynx viewer, and click on a link to a pdf to see what happens - whether the text is accessible or not. My configuration on my computer is such that Adobe Acrobat reader opens when I click on the pdf - I am not under the impression that spiders launch Reader when crawling our sites ;-)

The starting page would be http://www.shareresu...ut_us_press.php and the link to the pdf is at the bottom. Thanks!

[eAgent]

Hi,

I just wanted the folks at Share Results to know that I've taken their PDF document (the one mentioned in these posts) and optimized it for Google and other SE's.

What did I do?

Simple:

1) Added active, crawlable links within the body of the PDF, including:
-The Logo (goes to About Us of the ShareResults.com web site)
-The URL on the bottom (to ShareResults.com home page)
-The Info Mail link below the URL

2) Added Keywords to the document properties

3) Added a cogent Title phrase (not the absolutel best one, but good, and in alignment with the ShareResults web site content and positioning).

4) Added additional info in properties to lead a viewer back to the ShareResults web site.

You'll find that this level of PDF enhancement goes a long way toward both improving SE positioning, and in making the document "smarter" in regards to the viewer's ability to use it effectively (they can just click the links to invoke the web site, specific web pages and email contacts).

We use this technique in our weekly PRWeb press releases. By adding our IdeaFisher User Guide to almost every release, and optimizing the web site AND the PDF, we achieve in excess of 500 press release views (out of 50,000+ Summary views), and lots of good, viable BUYING traffic. The PDF's have an amazing long-term effect on our promotion and sales from the SE effect.

Here's a link to the most recent Press: [http://www.prweb.com...rweb201357.php]
Check it out, and you can scroll to the bottom of the page to see the additional press releases we've submitted, and download the PDF's on those pages as well (we also add keyword-rich images and links in the images to add even more impact in our press releases).

I hope that's helpful. To download the ShareResults PDF in it's NEW & IMPROVED format, [http://www.ideafishi...s_overview.pdf]

Warmest regards,
ME

Edited by Jill, 26 January 2005 - 07:38 PM.

[Jill]

Welcome eAgent!

I've slightly edited your post and sig. to conform with our rules.

Thanks for the info!

Jill