5.8. Downloadable documents

The size of downloadable documents is not included in the page weight itself, but it should be taken into account. The size of the downloadable file should always be written next to the download link.

Optimize and compress documents

Choose a low resolution when you compress files, and avoid high quality documents to download, whether it is a PDF, a podcast, or an image. Most tools offer different options to adjust quality and optimization. For example, in PowerPoint or Keynote, there is an option to compress and reduce the size of images and the file itself.

You can also easily compress your documents, using additional tools like ilovepdf to compress PDF documents.

Write a summary

When a document is long, you can write a description or short summary of the document within the download page. This can prevent users from downloading the file altogether, if they don’t feel they need to.

You can also give access to 2 versions of the document, a short version, and a longer version including all the details. Don’t forget to mention the weight of each document.

More info

• Compress documents – EcoMeter