Should I convert PDFs to pages?

[bvalentine]

I have a client that has a lot of content in pdf files that are linked to from their website. The content on the site itself is quite thin.

Should I recommend to them that they convert at least some of pdf files to actual pages on their website? That way there could be a title tag, meta-description, header tags, etc associated with the content.

What role do pdf files play in SEO?

Thanks!

[highersourcesites]

I believe, and have heard,  although i haven't proved it, that Google thinks of pdf's as technical content, which is very good for SEO. That said, its probably good to have a brief html text entry for the pdf, with a link to the pdf. That way you can summarize the content of the pdf, add value to the content of the page, make it relevant etc... But then perhaps you have to consider duplicate content. I believe you can add meta to the pdf if its editable that way, and consider if it is duplicate content, then make the html page meta canonical, and establish the pdf as the original.

[brycebertola]

PDF's are crawl-able, see this article from Webmaster Central

With that in mind, it's also a good idea to have the content available online as HTML. It's accessible from a wider variety of devices, and doesn't require you to update your adobe reader.