Why Your Content Strategy Shouldn't Rest on PDF Files

PDF files are one of the most extensively used content forms in the world.

Research shows that 76% of B2B marketers prefer consuming PDF file formats like white papers over other content. Reports come second at 69% and e-books come third at 63%. It’s safe to say that PDF files haven’t lost their relevance in content marketing.

But the question remains. Are PDF files the right way to go for your content marketing strategy?

PDF file formats suffer from many disadvantages, which can adversely impact your content strategy.

Laborious and expensive to create

Creating a PDF file isn’t as easy as creating a blog post. A lot of times, it can get extremely challenging to collect and collate the data you have online and integrate it into a single PDF. The entire file conversion and republication process can be very time-consuming; making PDF files a very time-heavy investment.

Speaking of investments, Adobe does come out with expensive versions of its readers, making the software itself a large financial investment.

Low SEO value

Yes, it’s true that PDF files are indexable by search engines and can be easily found on the web. But this doesn’t mean they are completely SEO-optimized. In reality, compared to other forms of content, PDF files have a very low SEO value.

For one, many PDF files are either too long or too short to be considered value-adding content by search engines. Additionally, the long length of the content may increase the chances of keyword stuffing, which is a ground for penalization by the search engine.

PDF files do not allow users to implement structure markups, alt tags, and snippets, which severely diminishes the SEO value of the content as now your content won’t appear in the organic search results on the search engine.

No insight into audience engagement

The objective of your content strategy is to understand who your audience is, how they interact with your brand, and which content they enjoy the most. Unfortunately, PDF files do not provide organizations insights into any of these aspects.

Google Analytics has the power to understand how many people searched for PDF files, but it cannot effectively determine what readers did once they opened the PDF file. Without important audience engagement data like this, organizations will be defeating the purpose of their content strategy by using PDF files.

Not multi-device friendly

To date, there hasn’t been any invention or development of software that can make PDF files readable without the need for the reader. This can make it extremely difficult for your readers to access your content, especially if they don’t have PDF reader software installed on their phones and systems.

Additionally, there is no one-size-fits-all reader available in the market. For example, users need to install unique software for Mac, Android, and other platforms. Other content like blogs, videos, and infographics don’t need separate software to access them, which makes them more reader-friendly and lucrative for the organization.

Poor page organization, navigation, and control

One of the greatest disadvantages of PDF files is the organization, navigation, and control that content creators and users have. For example, if a user finds a high-ranking PDF file, they will only have visibility into your PDF document. Unless they specifically search for a website link, they are highly unlikely to reach your website. This makes navigation control very poor and you won’t be able to direct prospects to your website.

In addition to this, PDF files are designed differently compared to other forms of content and may not be compatible with your content management system. This can make it difficult for you to manage your PDF file and control its contents.

Considering all these, it makes sense for content marketers to look at other options like blogs, infographics, videos, and more to make their content strategy a resounding success.

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