Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Are flip books - pdf readers on websites SEO friendly?
-
I have a client with bar, most of their content is menus that are displayed in a flip book format.
Is this content indexed by search engines, and if so, are they of any value for ranking?
-
Oh, just spotted this video that refers to your question:
-
Thanks for the reply Federico, the link were very helpful
-
Thanks Paul
Great advice
-
Most FlipBooks work by converting the pdf into a Flash file and then embedding that Flash file into the host site's page, Stephen. The contents of this Flash file can't be effectively read or indexed by the search engines, so they essentially provide no SEO value at all.
One way around this is to provide a download link to the actual PDF file on the page in addition to the flipbook. That way, the search engines can find it and rank it. (there are a number of best-practices for optimising PDFs that should be followed for best indexing and ranking.)
In addition, you can use the site's .htaccess file to insert a canonical header into the PDF pointing back at the menu page it's hosted on to try to consolidate ranking value in the main page instead of in the pdf if you wish.
As Federico says, the ideal for crawling and ranking is to have the menu contents in plain html on the page,but if that's not possible, the above solutions will still be effective.
Hope that helps?
Paul
-
Google indexes PDF contents and files almost like regular HTML. Links are followed, you can block indexing, etc. Just like regular HTML. The only thing Google can't index from PDFs are images, unless you have it in HTML format elsewhere.
I would definitely recommend converting those PDF menus to regular HTML.
You can find more info here:
What file types can Google index?
Can google fully index pdf files?
Hope that helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Filter By Category bad for seo?
Hello Everyone! I know that a single product should not have filter by color option since it will create duplicate content, and you have to use canonical tags to solve it. BUT how about sorting through products via category/brands?
On-Page Optimization | | Safxmed
Filter by category changes the URL of the General shop page (ex: hello.com/Shop/Category1022039 ). This page only displays the products within, no content/ descriptions etc unlike the original category page (ORIGINAL CATEGORY PAGE) Each of these category/brand already have their own individual pages (ex: hello.com/Shop/A). This is the page that will be optimized for content, FAQ, and ranking etc. Unlike in the url created when filtering through the categories. So technically I would have 2 URL for each Brand/Category. Would they compete with each other? What would you guys suggest. Please advise me on this. Thank You0 -
What to do to index all my links of my website?
Ok, i have a new website, with only 14.000 page indexed by google, but the potential is big, 1-2 million pages. What i have to do, to force somehow google to index my website faster? This is my website: https://vmag.ro/
On-Page Optimization | | TeodorMarin0 -
Does anyone rate CORA SEO Software?
I can't really see any third party reviews of this software. Does anyone rate it?
On-Page Optimization | | AL123al0 -
Tags - Good or bad for SEO
We are getting Moz errors for duplicate content because tag pages share the same blog posts. Is there any way to fix this? Are these errors bad for SEO, or can I simply disregard these and ignore them? We are also getting Moz errors for missing descriptions on tag pages. I am unsure how to fix these errors, as we do not actually have pages for these on our WordPress site where we are able to put in a description. I have heard that having tags can be good for SEO? (We don't mind having several links that show up when searching for us on google...) As far as the SEO goes, I am not sure what to do. Does anyone know the best strategy?
On-Page Optimization | | Christinaa0 -
Using h2 for category on ecommerce website
Hi, I am working on an ecommerce site and the main category - lets call them car widgets - is using a h1 at the top of the page which is great. There are 4 sub categories on the page - lets call one of them red widget. The only content on the page is the sub category name and an image. Should the sub category red widget use a h2? Thanks S
On-Page Optimization | | bedynamic0 -
Phone number for SEO
We have had an interesting question from a client. They have asked if removing their phone number from their website would have an affect on their rankings. Our immediate answer was 'No' but it may affect the Brand, Usability and Customer experience by restricting the methods of contact. This then made us think that perhaps then it could have an effect in the long term. This situation is also complicated by the fact that they do not have a Google Local Plus account for operational, sensitivity reasons (they don't want to openly publicise their address) We believe that there shouldn't be any negative affect but thought we would open a discussion. Thanks in advance for any comments/ideas.
On-Page Optimization | | vital_hike0 -
Does Hiding the article´s date in a blog affect SEO?
We are running a blog and would like to hide date, as users find the article less interesting if they are dated more than 2 years ago. Will hiding the article´s date in a blog affecto SEO? Thanks in advance u2cJxsr
On-Page Optimization | | goperformancelabs0 -
Is .PW domain is good for SEO?
I want to register .PW domain which has recently got live to register. I am in doubt should it is good for SEO or not.
On-Page Optimization | | semmediapvtltd0