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.
Switching from ranked PDF to normal page ...
-
Hi folks,
I have a project which is ranking well for specific product-keywords. The problem is, that the ranking pages are PDF files of those products (datasheets). But i do have a normal (html) pages for each product as well. Each of these pages has grade a for the specific keyword and is well crawled, etc. How can I urge Google to "switch" from these PDF files to the specific html pages. I was trying this by testing it robots.txt to disallow to index the PDF file (I tested it with one for first). I would add rel=nofollow to the link to the PDF on the specifi product html page (?) ...
Any ideas?
Seb
-
Thank you Samuel,
thats what I am afraid of from the beginning. The quality of the HTML Page need to be increased. My initial question should be mentione as a second "not so nice way"
Increasing the page quality to run out the PDFs is one of the top things on relaunching the site.
Thanks again
Seb.
-
The PDF rel=canonical question: This Moz post gives advanced directions on HTTP headers (for using rel=canonical in non-HTML files) and cited this and this information from Google.
However, I would add one other issue now that I understand more about your situation. Your PDF files are ranking over the HTML landing pages likely because the PDF "pages" contain more information and are probably better "quality." It's a real possibility that the HTML pages will not rank as highly as the PDF pages currently do even after doing all of this.
Landing pages rarely rank high in organic search results because they are thin -- such pages are usually used to convert advertising and paid traffic. Good, informational pages are what rank highly in organic search. So, if you want HTML pages to rank like the PDF files, I'd make those HTML pages as "quality" as the PDF ones. I hope that makes sense!
-
Hi Samuel,
thanx for your respond
No, its not a doubble content Problem. I just prepared landing pages for these specific product keywords - but Google finds the PDFs somehow more appropiate o.O. Yes I want the HTML pages to appear. I am wondering that Google indicates the PDF files as a very well optimized resources ...
I´ve done step 2 by using the robots.txt.
Step 3 would mean that peoples couldnt download the PDF file then - so I would not 301 redirect it.
Quick question to step 1: Do you know any way how to add a rel=canonical tag to a PDF file? Im am not that familiar with creating PDF files.
Thanx.
Seb
-
The first thing to understand is that you have a duplicate content issue. If you have a PDF and HTML page of the same content, then Google will likely show only one of them in search results -- as you are probably seeing. Therefore, you need to decide which set of pages you want to appear in the SERPs. I presume that you want the HTML pages to appear.
So, I would do all of the following:
1. Add a rel=canonical tag on each PDF page that points to the corresponding HTML page so that Google knows that the HTML page is the "main" one for indexing purposes
2. Add a "no-index" tag to each PDF page (or, you can list each PDF page in your robots.txt file) so that Google knows to remove the PDF pages from the index
3. If the PDF pages serve no purpose at all (to humans or to search engines), then you may just want to 301 redirect each PDF page to the corresponding HTML one. If you want to keep the PDF pages themselves visible on your website for any reason, this can be ignored.
Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.
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
-
Does Autoplay video effect SEO?
I'm trying to find out if autoplay videos (muted) on the homepage effect seo in anyway? Currently our site ranks around position four on the first page, but we have noticed one competitor we monitor have long auto playing videos on their sites and were wondering if they are a good or bad factor? Any info you would like to share would be great. Thanks
Image & Video Optimization | | 5TW0 -
Best way to manage multiple Google My Business accounts as a marketing agency?
As marketing agency we have for each client a Google My Business account. This means that we have more than 100 Google My Business accounts. We know that GA has a limit of 100 analytics accounts (free version), but is there a limit in Google My Business too? For now, we have created multiple accounts that own different Google My Business accounts of our clients. Can I just change all the different e-mail accounts of our marketing agency and change it to one? So we can manage all the Google My Business accounts of our clients in one e-mail account?
Image & Video Optimization | | conversal0 -
Alt Tag for Mobile/Tablet
I have device optimized images for desktop, tablet, and mobile. Should I put the same description, caption and alt tag for each? Not sure if this will hurt me or help?
Image & Video Optimization | | ResmanMarketing0 -
Alt Text Best Practices
I am working on alt texts for my WordPress website. I've done a bit of research and read best practices, but I am a bit confused on how to write some of the alt texts because my entire site includes images. I know this is a big no-no and I am working with my team to get the site SEO-optimized (better text to image ratio). However, in the meantime, I need to make sure that I have some alt texts for my images. Can someone help with the following questions: 1.) I have the same "close" button in 4 locations. Can I use "close" as the alt text four times? Or should I explain where the close button is or what it closes? 2.) If my image is only text and it is more than 125 characters, is this a problem? Should I use longdesc=? If so, how do I input that in a WP site? 3.) If I have my logo in 3 locations, should I differentiate the alt text? 4.) If I have FB icon, do I just state Facebook and don't say icon? 5.) I have some background images and they don't really provide relevancy to my site other than aesthetics so should I not have alt attribute? If so, do I just place alt="" in the alt text field or does it have to be in the code? 6.) In WordPress, do I remove the description under “title,” and just put a description under “alt-text?” 7.) Can I repeat alt texts? For example, I have 4 buy now buttons, should the alt text be “buy now” all 4 times or be specific to what they are buying, such as “Buy now – Teatopia Dream On supplement drink?” 8.) I have 4 nutrition label images so can I just state what each label refers to or is it expected to have a long description with all the text on the label? 9.) I have images for desktop vs. mobile. Can I have similar copy for both. The mobile page is not set-up to index so do I even need alt text for the mobile images? 10.) Can I have characters, such as dashes and commas, in the alt text? Does initial cap matter? 11.) For decorative images or when an alt-text is not needed, do I just place alt=”” in the alt text field in WordPress?
Image & Video Optimization | | JanelleGrkovic0 -
Why is my image Alt Text showing up under my URL and title on the Google results page?
I just realized this happened 😞 I optimized this page over a week ago. I changed out the old image on the page, along with the Alt Text. Now I see this when I do a search for it. No Beuno. Can some one please tell me how I get rid of the alt text in the result. many many thanks in advance. http://thumannagency.com/business-insurance/contractors-insurance Contractors Liability, Work Comp Insurance in Dallas, Texas ... <cite class="_Rm">thumannagency.com/business-insurance/contractors-insurance</cite>Your page is not mobile-friendly.Dallas, Texas Contractors Insurance. Contractors Insurance Quote. General Contractor working on a roof in Texas. Thumann Agency specializes in providing ...
Image & Video Optimization | | MissThumann0 -
.png vs .jpg - Which ranks better or does it matter?
Hi Moz community, I am working on a SEO project (ecommerce) and most of the images on the website are .png and I notice they do not rank but yet the .jpg do. Do you recommend I change all the .png to .jpg? They all have alt text and keyword filenames (no spam 🙂 Here is the website www.moldear.com.ar. Notice the swimming pool coping tiles are .png and the swimming pool images are .jpg. I cannot get the coping images to rank for some reason Thanks Carla
Image & Video Optimization | | Carla_Dawson0 -
Best Video Sitemap plugin for wordpress? And do I need both a video sitemap and a normal one?
Hi all, I currently use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin on my wordpress site. But we've recently began adding (self-hosted) videos that we've been careful to markup with the relevant schema. However, there's a couple of things I don't understand and am hoping someone could help: Do we need a separate video sitemap that either works alongside Google XML Sitemaps or replaces it? If we do need a video sitemap, what's the best video site map to get? (we are using the Thesis theme so can't use the Yoast one unfortunately as they don't play nice together...) Thanks for your help! Andrew
Image & Video Optimization | | seowhiskey0 -
Australian Service that Allows you to Control all your Local Listings
Hey, After a few stumbles upon a variety of services that allows you to manage all your local listings from the one profile (the latest one was Yext.com). It got me thinking - is there an Australian equivalent? My research revealed nothing. Thanks.
Image & Video Optimization | | LukeyJamo1