PDF vs HTML: Which One is Better For Your Content Needs?

Electronic documents are the backbone of your workflow, enabling seamless data exchange and record-keeping.

The most widely used formats are the Portable Document Format (PDF) and Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML).

When choosing between PDF and HTML, you must select the correct format to save time, enhance user experience, and provide consistent information sharing.

Therefore, you must understand each format's strengths and limitations to help you make an informed decision.

Using PDF For Your Web Content

PDF is short for portable document format developed by Adobe to present documents, including images and text formatting, so users can store and access them without needing to rely on specific hardware or software.

The Pros of PDF For Web Content

In the modern electronic world, PDFs are still highly regarded for many reasons:

You get consistent formatting: PDFs preserve the look and layout of your document and appear the same regardless of the device, operating system, or software you use to view them.

You get compatibility: You can view a PDF on every device and operating system, including free online readers. Even your browser supports PDFs.

You have access to printing and sharing. PDFs are ideal for sharing and printing, as they retain the formatting and are compressed into a smaller, universally viewable file size.

Using PDFs supports different content: Your PDF can contain any content from text, images, form fields, videos, 3D models, and hyperlinks.

You get top-notch security: PDF files comply with international standards and support encryption, watermarks, and digital signatures across legal businesses and teams.

Easy to store: You can store a PDF file on any device, including your phone, to retrieve it quickly. This can be useful if you need proof for tickets, car insurance, medical, and more. The best part is that your file is even accessible offline.

These reasons make using a PDF ideal for different purposes, from uploading to sharing research pages, manuals, reports, fillable forms, e-books, and more.

The Cons of PDF For Web Content

As the saying goes, nothing in the world is perfect, including PDFs.

You get limited interactivity: Unlike HTML files, PDFs are not designed for web interactivity or dynamic content. They will look the same regardless of your device and might not always be convenient when using your phone.

Long loading times and huge file size: When a PDF is filled with graphics and high-quality images, the size increases, leading to longer preview and download times. Luckily, there are tools available to help reduce clutter. Check out our detailed guide here.

Difficult to edit: While many people use PDFs to share documents, you cannot easily modify or edit them. You will need a paid Adobe Acrobat subscription with software to make this happen.

Using HTML For Your Web Content

Hypertext markup language, or HTML for short, is the standard language for designing and creating web pages and applications.

You get an essential structure for sites you can enhance and modify using technologies like Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and Javascript.

It supports various forms for collecting user input, hyperlinks, and multimedia such as videos, images, audio, and other elements.

The Pros of HTML For Web Content

HTML is available on any website; many reasons exist for using it with your online content.

Highly interactive: The last one is highly interactive when choosing between PDF and HTML. With CSS and Javascript, you can create an interactive and dynamic website.

SEO-friendly: The HTML structure makes it easy for search engines to understand. This is a must-have if you want to rank your content online.

You can create highly responsive websites: Using HTML will make your website responsive and adaptable to various screens and devices.

Easy to access: If you have a properly structured HTML document, it is more accessible for users with disabilities, mainly when used with Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA)

As you can see, HTML is mainly used to build pages and content. Still, it is also essential in developing web applications when combined with other technologies like JavaScript.

You can also use it to create interactive and presentable email templates.

The Cons of HTML For Web Content

As with PDFs, HTML also has downsides, and here are the top three.

Not all browsers are the same. Your HTML can appear differently in various browsers, so you need to make extra effort to ensure cross-browser compatibility.

It can have an inconsistent design. The HTML code is not visually appealing, and you must use CSS to add eye candy. So, it helps to convert your HTML to PDF to ensure the content is consistent across devices. Check out our detailed guide here.

It comes with a steep learning curve: To create a well-structured website, you must learn a lot about web standards, which is impossible in a day or a year.

PDF vs HTML: When To Choose Them

Now that you know the pros and cons of PDF and HTML, we recommend when you should use them.

What Type of Content Do You Want to Use?

PDFs are the best option for legal contracts, archival documents, or detailed reports. They provide consistency with a fixed layout. However, we recommend using HTML if your content is dynamic and interactive, like e-commerce or news articles.

What is Your User Engagement?

If you want to engage your visitors interactively, for example, using forms or dynamic media, HTML remains the best option for flexibility. While for static content that your users can download and print, stick to PDFs.

How Accessible Do You Want Your Content to Be?

HTML is more accessible for users, especially those with disabilities, than PDFs. It is compatible with different assistive technologies. You can make your PDF accessible, but it will take more effort to ensure it complies with accessibility standards.

How Consistent Do You Want Your Content to Be On Platforms?

HTML adapts to different devices and screen sizes, making it mobile-friendly. Still, PDFs are mainly suited for desktop viewing and printing, but they are also mobile-friendly.

The Importance of Security

Regarding PDF and HTML security, PDF provides better security. It offers password protection, digital signatures, and encryption and is suitable for sharing sensitive documents. HTML's security will depend on the transmission protocol, such as HTTPS, and your web service.

Visibility

Lastly, search engines can index both HTML and PDFs. However, your PDFs might not rank as high as your HTML content. Also, using HTML is more inherent with SEO, as you optimize it, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content.

Wrap-Up: Is it PDF or HTML

After everything we said, the choice between PDF and HTML comes down to three essential questions: What content do you want to post? Who is your target audience?

How much interactivity do you need, such as videos, hyperlinks, images, and more? If you want visitors to print documents or resumes and upload reports to official records, we recommend using PDF to help maintain the original formatting.

The format lets you secure your documents using encryption ciphers, passwords, time stamps, and other features. However, if you have an e-commerce site or run a blog, it needs to be accessible, responsive, and rank on the SERPs, so HTML is better.

Nonetheless, you will not be able to secure the content as you would with PDF, which can appear different from one browser to another, so it will take a bit more work to ensure it remains consistent.

Still, this does not prevent you from converting your web pages to PDFs for sharing and editing. We have the right tool to help; you can check it out here.

Once you understand each tool's limitations and strengths, you can use them to craft quality content that adds value to your audience.

But if you ask us, we will always recommend HTML above PDF for web content.