When you think of PDF files, what comes to mind? For this author, product manuals, industrial whitepapers or legal briefs was my traditional answer; but today my answer is “porn,” or more generally, “enhanced opportunities for marketing digital media content.”
A file created using Adobe’s Portable Document Format (PDF) is readable by nearly every computer (and most mobile devices) connected to the Internet. Despite this nearly universal accessibility, the applications for this well-established format have been fairly limited and relegated to primarily textual content delivery, along with sparingly added graphical elements, such as charts, graphs and illustrations.
There are some compelling advantages to distributing porn via PDF files. The following are a few tips to get you started using this “non-traditional” mechanism.
But this basic use is a terrible waste of a powerful technology with adult applications.
Among the benefits of PDF files are mobility and portability: the files are accessible across various platforms, running independently of software, hardware, operating system, or other variables; are readily printable; and (depending upon the viewing software and access rights) editable and able to be re-saved.
PDF files can be generated from other documents, including those with embedded files such as images, text and video clips, created in applications such as Microsoft Word. These elements are maintained and accessible within the PDF. Hyperlinks, attachments, notes and other interactive enhancements can be added, including forms that can import and export data, allowing for the possibility of embedding join pages into your PDF files.
PDF files are also relatively secure and free from risk of viruses. Various levels of security and digital rights management can be incorporated, helping to protect them from unauthorized distribution or viewing. Rampant distribution can be encouraged by seeding PDF files on to peer to peer (P2P) networks, torrents and other channels — including via email and article marketing, where lossless PDF file compression makes for fast delivery.
Among the most recent innovations to the format that will be of interest to adult and other multimedia-intensive marketers is Adobe’s PDF Portfolio, which according to the company, easily assembles a wide range of content types including spreadsheets, videos, web pages, live feeds and even entire folders, into a single, customizable presentation.
“For example, you can insert a YouTube video to play within your PDF Portfolio,” states the Adobe website. “Or you can add a web page that will dynamically load the most current page content.”
Savvy adult webmasters and digital content marketers will take it from there.
By the way, Google loves PDF files, just be sure to avoid duplicate content penalties by using a robots.txt file to exclude indexing where desirable.
To get started, you’ll need a tool for creating PDF files. Adobe’s Acrobat X Pro will make those fancy PDF Portfolios, but you can’t call the company’s software inexpensive. There are other methods, tools and services for creating PDF files, but spending the cash to go with Acrobat X Pro may pay the biggest dividends.
You may also want to put a link to the Adobe Reader X download page on your site, as a helpful tool for visitors and easy visual cue that your adult website offers more than just the usual fare.
