PDF Optimization for Website Performance

PDFs on your website affect page speed, SEO, and user experience.

Why It Matters

• Page speed — Google ranking factor
• Mobile experience — Users abandon large downloads
• Bandwidth costs — Smaller files = lower costs
• Core Web Vitals — Impacts LCP scores

Best Practices

Compress Before Uploading

Always compress PDFs before uploading. Use High or Maximum for screen viewing.

Show File Size

Add size info to links: Download Report (PDF, 1.2MB)

Use Lazy Loading

Only load embedded PDFs when users scroll to them.

Consider HTML

For frequently accessed content, HTML is faster and better for SEO.

Target Sizes

• Brochures: under 2MB
• Reports: under 5MB
• Catalogs: under 10MB

Technical Implementation

Use the loading="lazy" attribute for embedded PDFs and consider using PDF.js for better control over rendering and performance.