It's important that every PDF we publish has the correct metadata.
'Metadata' simply refers to the title, the author and keywords about the document.
Metadata isn't visible anywhere in the document but it makes PDFs more searchable by Google and other search engines and displays in search results.
You can add metadata to a PDF once it's created, but the best and simplest way is to add it while the document is still in Word format.
We need to ensure every PDF added to GOV.UK has correct title metadata.
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What is metadata?
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It is not visible when you view the PDF on your computer.
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We need to add metadata to all PDF documents produced by PHEUKHSA.Very often, PDFs do not contain the correct metadata or will contain generic metadata that has not been filled in properly.This means:
- PDFs will not display correctly to users on GOV.UK, making your document look unprofessional.
- PDFs will not be easy to find and access in the search engines.
Example of poor metadata
For example, many PDFs on GOV.UK have incorrect metadata and display with the name 'PHE Publication Template' on GOV.UK and in the search engines.
GOV.UK
Search Engines
Example of correct metadata
If the PDF contains correct metadata, it will display with the correct details to the user on GOV.UK, and can be discovered in the search engines.
How to add the correct metadata to a PDF
You should add metadata to a document when it is still in Microsoft Word format, before you save as a PDF.
Click on File
Select Info
You should see a window on the right hand side that says Properties, and has a Title field.
How to add the correct metadata to a PDF
1. Click on File
2. Select Info
3. You should see a window on the right-hand side that says Properties
4. Select Properties and Advanced properties which opens immediately under it to open the Properties dialogue box.
In the Title field put the title of the document.
In the Author field put 'UKHSA'.
Add keywords from the title and/or describing the subject matter.
Click OK then save the document.
This metadata is now saved within the Word document and will be transferred over to the PDF when it is saved as a PDF.
Check your PDF has metadata
Go to File > Properties and the Description tab.
Or Control + D.
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Learn more
- Guidance on PDF vs HTML publications
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