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
-
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 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 -
Updating Youtube Videos: Does this Reset Your Views to 0?
Hello Moz Community, Our team is looking to update a few videos in our Youtube channel but are concerned that doing so will reset the current amount of views to 0 once the change has been made. Would anyone happen to know if this happens or if the views remain the same? Also, how do the updates to the videos affect rank and visibility? Thank you all for your help.
Image & Video Optimization | | PowerhouseMarketing1 -
Not using alt tags for decorative images?
Hi everyone, My coworker recently stumbled across this article that instructs you to not to alt text for "decorative images" as you might get penalized you for over optimization https://www.shopify.com/blog/7412852-10-must-know-image-optimization-tips Has anyone heard of this or have any thoughts?
Image & Video Optimization | | AliMac260 -
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 -
SEO for Explicit / Medical Pictures - Will It Hurt Rankings?
I have a client with page 1 rankings for several keywords. He wants to make some updates to his website. He is offering a new service and wants to show before and after photos of the procedure. He is an OB/GYN, so the before/after pictures are very explicit and have full nudity. How will this affect his rankings? Is there something that I can do to tell Google and other SE's that these photos are medical and not pornographic? Should I host them on another domain? Just looking for thoughts and insight. Thank you in advance!
Image & Video Optimization | | itrogers0 -
Is there an easy way to see how competitive a local search term is?
Is there a quick and easy way to see how competitive local search terms are? I am looking at helping my clients show up on the local search results. Some times all I have to do is claim a listing and they move right to the top. Sometimes I claim a listing and nothing happens so I get links and I get reviews and it takes awhile. I want to be able to put an accurate price point on the service I am offering. I have looked at the search volume and it hasn't been the best indicator because some industries are more competitve than others. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Image & Video Optimization | | jimmyseo0