HTML vs PDF: Advantages

HTML vs PDF

The question about publishing a PDF document instead of HTML (web page text) comes up often with my clients. Simply publishing the PDF seems like an easy solution. Many industries do it, including the Fair and Festival industry. Whether the content is contest information, list of events or promtional flyers published as a PDF, HTML content is likely a better solution. 

So what are the advantages of HTML content?

Publishing information on a fair’s website in HTML format as opposed to providing it only in a PDF document has several advantages:

  1. Accessibility: HTML content is generally more accessible to users with disabilities. Screen readers and other assistive technologies can more easily interpret and interact with HTML content than PDF files.
  2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Search engines can index and understand HTML content more easily than PDF files. HTML content is more likely to appear in search engine results, helping more people find the contest information.
  3. Mobile Friendliness: HTML content can be responsive to different screen sizes and devices, whereas PDF files might not render well on small screens like mobile devices. HTML content improves user experience and makes the information more widely accessible.
  4. Load Time: HTML content usually loads faster than a PDF file, especially if the PDF is large. HTML content can make for a more pleasant browsing experience, especially for users on slower internet connections.
  5. Interactivity: HTML content can include interactive elements such as forms, buttons, and links to other pages. PDFs are generally static and offer different levels of engagement.
  6. Ease of Updates: Changes to HTML content can be made easily and quickly by updating the webpage. PDFs need to be edited, re-saved, and re-uploaded, which is more cumbersome.
  7. Embedding Multimedia: HTML allows for easily embedding videos, images, and other multimedia content. PDFs have limited support for such features, so the user experience may be enhanced through HTML.
  8. Analytics: With HTML, tracking user interaction and gathering data on how visitors engage with the content is more manageable. HTML content can help in making informed decisions to improve the user experience.
  9. Compatibility: While most modern devices can open PDF files, compatibility issues may still exist, especially with older devices or software. HTML content is generally more universally compatible.
  10. Cost and Resources: Creating well-designed PDFs might require specialized software and skills, whereas HTML content can often be created and maintained with more readily available tools and expertise.
  11. Localization and Internationalization: HTML content can be easily adapted and translated into different languages. HTML content can make the contest information more accessible to a global audience.
  12. Linking and Navigation: HTML allows for the creation of hyperlinks and easy navigation within the content. PDFs can include links, but the experience could be more seamless.

In conclusion, while PDFs might be suitable for downloadable content like brochures or flyers, using HTML for publishing contest information online offers better accessibility, flexibility, and user experience. It aligns more closely with modern web browsing dynamics and meets a broader audience’s needs.

Attracting Visitors To Your Property

Creating content for fairs

Creating Web Content

OAAS Presentation in Richmond Hill, Friday February 17, 2023, 1:30pm – 2:30pm, in the York B Room.

Thank you for the opportunity to present about the importance of having high-quality content on your website.

Google favors websites with content that is easy to read, makes sense, and gets to the point. This is because Google’s primary goal is to provide users with the most relevant and useful search results possible. If your website’s content is difficult to read or understand, or if it doesn’t provide value to the reader, Google is less likely to rank it highly in search results.

There are several ways to get content for your website, including creating it yourself, hiring a writer or content creation agency, repurposing existing content or AI content generation. It’s important to ensure that the content you use is original and relevant to your target audience.

To make your content valuable for search engine ranking, it’s important to optimize it for relevant keywords and phrases. This means including these keywords in your headings, subheadings, and throughout the body of your content. It’s also important to ensure that your content is well-written and easy to read, as Google takes the user experience into account when ranking pages.

There are several reasons why you want high-quality content on your website. First and foremost, it will help your website rank higher in search results, which can lead to more organic traffic and potential customers. High-quality content can also help establish your website as a credible and trustworthy source of information, which can lead to more repeat visitors and reinforcing the message to attend the fair.

In conclusion, having high-quality content on your website is essential for both search engine ranking and providing value to your users. It’s important to carefully consider where to get your content, how to optimize it for search engines, and why having high-quality content is important for your website.

 

If you were at this presentation.

 

Handout

Download the PDF presentation handout from this link:

Attracting Visitors to Your Property – Creating Web Content

 

Links

 

Google Blog About AI Generated Content

This is an article in Google’s Blog talking about Google Search’s guidance and AI-generated content.

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2023/02/google-search-and-ai-content

 

Guidelines from W3C Global Internet Community

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) international standard, including WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1, and WCAG 2.2. WCAG documents explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

 

Google Spam Policies

Google’s Guideline: Our spam policies also address spammy automatically-generated content, where we will take action if content is “generated through automated processes without regard for quality or user experience” https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies

 

SEO Starter Guide

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide. Everything you need to know about making good content and helping it get found on web searches.

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide

 

Google Guidance to Make Content Valuable

Learn more about the E-E-A-T concept: recommendation by Google to make content valuable. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content

 

Google Quality Rater Guidelines

Click the link to extensive guidelines to get the entire PDF. Quality Raters are spread out all over the world and are highly trained using our extensive guidelines.

https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9281931?hl=en

 

Content Writing Tips

14 Tips for Writing Awesome Website Content from a leader in Search Engine Optimization

https://www.semrush.com/blog/14-tips-for-writing-awesome-website-content/

 

Check to See if Your Web Page is Mobile Friendly

Test to see if your web page is mobile-friendly.

https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly?hl=en

 

How to Get More Conversions From Your Website

What is Website Optimization? A Practical Guide to Getting More Conversions from Your Website

https://disruptiveadvertising.com/conversion-rate-optimization/website-optimization/

 

What’s New with Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 – Find out how the latest generation of Google Analytics can take your measurement strategy to the next level.

https://skillshop.exceedlms.com/student/catalog/list?category_ids=6431

 

CNBC Video about Chat GPT

CNBC OpenAI Inverview.  Watch this news broadcasters report about ChatGPT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmpqdlVCoo

 

Wiki About ChatGPT

GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) – Learn about ChatGPT from Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChatGPT

 

Check if Your Content Original or Taken From Another Website

Check for plagiarism. GPT-2 Output Detector Demo.  See if your text has been published anywhere else on the Internet.

https://openai-openai-detector.hf.space/

 

See if your text was written by AI or a Human

AI Text Classifier.  Check to see if the text was written by AI or a Human.

https://platform.openai.com/ai-text-classifier

 

Perplexity AI – Alternative to ChatGPT

Perplexity AI.  This is an alternative to ChatGPT.  It also uses OpenAI, however you’ll find the results are not the same as ChatGPT.  It is also free at this time.

https://www.perplexity.ai/?ref=FutureTools.io

 

 

What is AODA and How Will it Impact My Website?

Information and Communication Standard Guide from the Ontario Government website
Information and Communication Standard Guide from the Ontario Government website
Information and Communication Standard Guide from the Ontario Government website

What is AODA?

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is a provincial legislation that ensures those who suffer from any type of disability do not experience barriers, discrimination, or difficulty with their day-to-day experiences. More details about the AODA can be found at this website..

How will it impact by website?

Under the Accessibility for Ontarian with Disabilities Act, all private and non-profit organizations with 50 or more employees and all public sector organizations will need to make their websites accessible.

Beginning  January 1, 2014:

If you launch a new public website or your existing site undergoes a significant refresh, the site and any of its web content published after January 1, 2012, must conform to the World Wide Web Consortium Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level A.

What is WCAG Level A or AA?

WCAG 2.0 is an internationally accepted standard for web accessibility developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international team of experts.

WCAG sets out guidelines for organizations to make their websites more accessible. The guidelines cover things like:

[starlist]

  • writing web content in clear language
  • providing alternate text for images, or
  • making sure someone can navigate your website with just a keyboard.

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Each guideline has three levels of accessibility: A, AA and AAA. Level AAA is the highest level of accessibility.

Download the Information and Communication Standard Guide from the Ontario Government website. Making your website more accessible. (PDF)

Find out what you need to do for your business and your website.

Try the AODA Compliance Wizard. It will help you find out what you have to do to comply with Ontario’s accessibility law. It’s free and will take you less than five minutes to complete. Click Start and answer a few questions about your organization. When you are finished, the Wizard will give you a personalized summary of what you have to do.

W3C Provides a Markup Validation Service.  It’s a free service which provides basic analysis of your website.  Be aware that this validating tool will report results that are not required for AODA compliance.  This is a tool for Web Developers to help make your website WCAG compliant. Remember Validation is just one of the success criterion that is specified in the entire WCAG standard.  Your website must be manually assessed and also tested using assistive technology.