SEO for your website: let an embedded PDF count for your page
With SEO for your website (Premium), the embed code puts the PDF’s text into your own page, behind one small “Text version” line. Search engines then credit your page with the content of the PDF.
Search engines normally credit the text of an embedded PDF to Viewnamic, not to your page. With SEO for your website, the embed code also puts the PDF’s text into your own page, behind one small line below the PDF. Search engines then credit your page with the content, and screen readers can read it.
Switch it on
- In the Workspace, open the project’s ⋯ menu and choose Embed.
- Under Search engines, tick SEO for your website.
- Optional: under Main page on your website (optional), enter the address of the page with the embed and click Save.
- Click Copy embed code and paste the code into your page. If the publication is already embedded there, replace the old code.
What your visitors see
Below the PDF, a small, dimmed line says Text version ▾ (“Textfassung” for German documents). A click opens the text in a compact box over the lower part of the PDF, so your page does not get longer. Another click or the Esc key closes the box. Your visitors keep reading the PDF in the viewer as usual.
The text comes from the publication’s Reading Mode. It appears once the Reading Mode is ready and stays up to date by itself when the text version changes (Reading Mode).
Main page on your website
Without a main page, the same text is on your page and on the publication’s page at Viewnamic. If search engines may index both, they choose one of them. If you enter your page as the main page, search engines are asked to show your page instead, and the publication leaves Viewnamic’s sitemap. Search engines take this as a strong hint, not as an order.
The address must be on your own website, not on Viewnamic. You can also change it later under Accessibility information → Reading Mode. A publication with a main page opens the embed window with SEO for your website already switched on.
Good to know
- Keep the line visible. Do not hide it or make it transparent: search engines treat text that visitors cannot reach as hidden text.
- It works where the code sits directly in your page. Some website builders put custom code into a frame of their own; your page gets no benefit there (Embed a PDF in website builders).
- The PDF needs selectable text. Scanned pages without text give no text version.
- If you switch an embedded publication to Secure, its text disappears from your page along with the PDF.
- Visitors who read the text on your page are not counted in the statistics.
SEO for your website is part of the Premium plan, and a Tailored plan can include it. In other plans, the option does not appear in the embed window. If your plan no longer includes it, “Text version” disappears from your page, and a stored main page is no longer used. Every plan includes “SEO for your document”: the publication’s own page can be found in search (Get your PDF found in search engines).
Questions
Does the search engine box in the access dialog change the text on my page?
No. “Allow search engines to index this publication” only concerns the publication’s page on Viewnamic. To remove the text from your page, untick “SEO for your website” and replace the code.
Does it work with Fill parent?
Yes. With Fill parent, the line sits inside your element, and the PDF takes the remaining height.