Improve On PDF Marketing Materials

As a small business owner, you're likely no stranger to the convenience of creating and sharing content in PDF format. Using modern office software you can easily put some text and graphics into a single file and export as a PDF to make a basic flyer. You might then email that to customers or add it to your website as a download. But this alone doesn't make the best use of your content. In this article we look at ways to help you improve on PDF marketing materials, so you can make the most of your content.

Why PDF marketing materials aren't the best for online use

PDFs are ideal for printing out documents, such as manuals, instructions, or brochures, where the layout and formatting need to be preserved. This is what PDFs were originally intended for.

User experience

But while PDFs might be perfect for printing out as you intended them to appear, and have made many improvements for online and mobile over the years, they aren't always the best to work with online. One reason for this is that, depending on how they are setup, they can create accessibility and usability barriers for people.

The small screens and varied sizes of mobile devices can make PDFs appear too small to read without zooming. They can also be difficult to navigate with pinch-zooming and scrolling. This can be frustrating when trying to access your content on-the-go, leading to a poor user experience. 'Frustrated' is not how you want your customers to feel about your marketing materials.

Missing out on SEO

In addition, by only publishing content as PDF, you could be missing out on valuable SEO and content opportunities. Your website traffic and search engine ranking position could benefit from you publishing your content in a different way.

Improving on PDF marketing materials with Landing Pages

As an better alternative to online PDFs only, your website becomes your best friend. However, like many small or medium sized business owners, you might struggle to keep your website fresh with new content. This may be because you don't have the in-house expertise. Maybe the pressures of small business management just means other things keep taking precedence. Another major reason is having to think of new content to put on the site. Sound familiar?

Even so, when you come to presenting your marketing materials online, you're missing a trick if you don't publish your PDF information as landing pages on your website, for several reasons:

• This approach solves the 'what to post' question. Whatever you would have put in your PDF, put that on a landing page on your website. If you have a folder of your own PDFs, you can repurpose their content into web pages. This can be a great way to improve the content of your site.
• Unlike PDFs, landing pages are designed with ease of screen navigation in mind. They are also built for mobile friendly responsiveness and accessibility.
• By creating separate web pages, you can also optimize each page for specific keywords and phrases. This can improve your search engine rankings and drive more targeted traffic to your site.
• The versatility of web pages means you can think outside the box. You can create interactive and engaging content like quizzes and surveys. You can publish videos, related to the content. These can be fun and engaging ways to present your message and encourage user interaction.
• Once online, you can simply send a link to the new page on your website with a call to action. This is often better than emailing PDF attachments. While your customers are there, the likelihood is they'll be enticed to look around your website. This creates opportunities for new sales for your other products and services.
• Web pages are easily shared online via social media, messaging apps or email links. This makes it easy for users to spontaneously promote your site for you.

Taking the opportunity to improve on PDF marketing materials you have made, by publishing the content as landing pages on your website, offers many advantages. Here at DigitalArena this type of regular website maintenance is right up our street. If you're looking for support making the most of your website, contact us today for an affordable professional service.

TLDR

While making PDFs for communicating with customers might have been a convenient solution in the past, by themselves they're no longer the best choice for online marketing materials. By switching to website landing pages, you can create content that's more accessible, mobile-friendly, shareable, and which can improve your website SEO.

DIY, DWY or DFY?

At DigitalArena we want you to succeed online, and this can be achieved in several ways.

• DIY: You can Do It Yourself, as many small businesses and startups try to do at the beginning while they get going.
• DWY: We can Do it With You, by providing support, instructions, templates, in areas your business needs help with, while you carry out the majority of the activity yourself.
• DFY: Or, we can Do it For You as a full service, offering as many or as few of our areas of expertise as you like on retainer or project by project.

To find out more, please call us on 01530 452276 or email support@digitalarena.co.uk.