For certain industries and user-bases, it can make sense to **include a link to a PDF version of a HTML web page** — so that visitors can [either view or download it][1]. From a recognizability and familiarity perspective, what should the link text say when leading to a PDF? <br> Brainstormed phrases and words to use --------------------- In my case, I would accompany it with a recognizable icon such as: ![PDF icon image][2] A few text variations that I came up with: 1. [PDF ![PDF icon image][3]][4] 3. [See PDF ![PDF icon image][5]][6] 4. [View PDF ![PDF icon image][7]][8] 5. [Save PDF ![PDF icon image][9]][10] 6. [Open PDF ![PDF icon image][11]][12] 7. [Browse PDF ![PDF icon image][13]][14] 8. [Download PDF ![PDF icon image][15]][16] But there are likely many more potentially good options. <br> Variations of those phrases ----------------------- All of the above could work **without "PDF"**, for example: - [Save ![PDF icon image][17]][18] - [See as ![PDF icon image][19]][20] - [Download ![PDF icon image][21]][22] - etc. Also, they can **feature a preposition or conjunction like "as" or "in"**, for example: - [View in PDF ![PDF icon image][23]][24] - [Open as PDF ![PDF icon image][25]][26] - etc. That can be **extended with natural language**, for example: - [View page as a PDF ![PDF icon image][27]][28] - [Download this page as a PDF file ![PDF icon image][29]][30] - [Browse this page in the PDF format ![PDF icon image][31]][32] - [Click here to save this page as a PDF file ![PDF icon image][33]][34] - etc. <br> Given all the possibilities, **what is the best practice considering user-behaviour or user-research?** <br> Considering people on different devices --------------------------------------- To find the "best" term, I think it is important to suit people: - with **different browser defaults** (whether the file will be downloaded or opened in a new tab/window), - on **various devices** (such as PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, e-readers, etc.), - and using **certain operating systems** (e.g. [Mac OS X arguably handles PDFs much better than Windows][35], which tends to crash PCs). Without any tangible data to use to make a decision here — I am unsure how to proceed. <br> What do industry leaders do? ---------------------------- Have the practices of what "big players" and influencers (creators of various platforms for blogs, forums, frameworks, even operating systems, etc.) **do when linking to PDFs been quantified or qualified?** <br> <hr> It may also be worth including the file-size or file-name, but [that is covered elsewhere][36]. [1]: http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/38574/force-a-pdf-download-vs-allowing-the-user-to-view-in-browser-first [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [4]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [5]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [6]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [7]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [8]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [9]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [10]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [11]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [12]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [13]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [14]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [15]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [16]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [17]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [18]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [19]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [20]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [21]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [22]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [23]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [24]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [25]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [26]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [27]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [28]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [29]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [30]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [31]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [32]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [33]: https://i.sstatic.net/2jxnI.gif [34]: http://samplepdf.com/sample.pdf [35]: http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/15068/best-way-to-link-to-pdfs-word-docs-etc#comment23899_15068 [36]: http://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/15068/best-way-to-link-to-pdfs-word-docs-etc