Tracking PDF downloads from SERP clicks

[marshdigitalmarketing]

For the longest time, our company policy has always been to put PDFs in a secure folder (hence they are not indexed and do not appear in search results). After evaluating this strategy, there has been clamor in recent months to allow Google to index our whitepapers.

My question: Once PDFs start appearing in search results, what is the best way to start tracking clicks due to these "downloads"?

[effectdigital]

To address the main question (sorry we got a bit off track) - you can set up virtual page-views which fire when links to these PDF URLs are clicked. In some browsers this will trigger a download, in other browsers (like Chrome, which contains a built-in PDF viewer) - unless the site has been coded a certain way, a download may not actually even occur. The PDF may simply open in a new tab, and render as a web page with a full URL

As such I prefer to use virtual page-views piped to Google Analytics when the links to these documents are clicked, to track their views / downloads (which under normal circumstances, you can't distinguish between those two view types). Even when a PDF is being viewed 'as' a page on your site in a new tab, remember that PDF documents don't support the GA tracking script (so views to those PDF URLs get 'lost' from GA). You need to use virtual page-views, to remedy that

[EGOL]

You can find lots more discussion of pdf optimization here.

[EGOL]

I forgot to address the tracking question...  We used to get server logs and run them through WeblogExpert.  You can set it up to track pdf impressions.

We don't do that any more because we turned off server logs because we felt it might take us out of GDPR compliance.

[effectdigital]

This has actually significantly changed my views on PDF optimisation. I didn't know that they held so much optimisation potential. I have always agreed with allowing them to index, but pushed to have them replaced with pages (which contain optional links / buttons to download the original PDF, for users who prefer that)

The sticking point is usually budget. Many clients can't afford the required redesign efforts, so it's good to know that PDFs actually hold (within their native format) some optimisation potential. Thank you EGOL

[EGOL]

PDFs can pull in tons of traffic if they have high quality content.  I agree with allowing Google to index them.

PDFs can be optimized by editing their properties.  Editing the document title in properties has the optimization power of a <title>tag.</p> <p>It is probably worth the effort to look at the PDFs and plan how you can use them to drive traffic (through links) to relevant pages of your website.  Then if the PDFs get links, some of that power will pass through to the rest of your site. Breadcrumbs in PDFs will weave them into your website architecture.</p> <p>You can also sell ad space in the PDFs or place your own ads in there.  You can also place "buy buttons" in PDFs. </p> <p>There are lots of things that can be done with PDFs that most people have not thought of. </p></title>