Infographics are useful in increasing the level of engagement on your website. An ideal infographic has three main qualities namely; excellent design, readability, and accurate data. When they are well executed, infographics can make complex statistics easier to understand.
What are Infographics?
An infographic is a visual representation of information. It combines text and images to present information in a way that is attractive and easy to digest.
Infographics are among the most popular types of website content. The number of likes and shares they get on social media is three times higher than other types of content. As a result, they can be useful in driving more traffic to your website.
There are many forms of infographics. They include graphs, bar charts, pie charts, editorial infographics, and timeline infographics. Regardless of the form, all infographics use little to moderate amount of text. The text is enhanced by colours, icons, shapes, and other visual elements. The style of the infographic depends on the content you want to present.
How to Create Infographics
Before anything else, you need to have a clear understanding of the topics you are going to cover. This enables you to present organised content in a visual format. You also need to be a decent designer. Getting it all right can be challenging.
That said, you do not need years of experience to design an infographic. With the right tools, you can achieve your goals. Here are three free tools that are useful in developing compelling infographics.
Canva
Canva has a drag-and-drop functionality that allows you to create a variety of professional graphics. It is ideal for designing infographics, business cards, presentations and many other forms of visual content.
The platform comes with several infographic templates to get you started. You can then customise the templates to create personalised content. Some of the customisation elements available are icons, text and effects. Moreover, you can move the elements freely to your desired position.
If you are a novice in graphic design, Canva is your perfect option. It is easy to use and allows you to experiment with custom graphics.
Canva is available in two versions – free and paid. The free version offers up to 1GB of cloud storage and allows you to share and download your content.
DesignBold
DesignBold allows you to create infographics, social media cover photos, e-cards, and so forth. The editor is almost similar to Canva. The only difference is its interface, which feels like a mobile app. This makes it the ideal option if you prefer designing on your mobile devices.
Similar to Canva, DesignBold has a vast library of templates and customisation elements. It is advisable to try both before settling on a particular option. The free version of DesignBold offers unlimited storage and access to all templates. The paid version has more advanced features and is available on a monthly subscription basis.
Visme
The Visme editor offers more advanced features as compared to DesignBold and Canva. It is useful in creating infographics, presentations, interactive charts, and so forth.
Besides templates, Visme allows you to add pre-built blocks of content to simplify the design process. The blocks vary in complexity. The simple blocks include text and images. On the other hand, the complex options have graphs and tables.
The block system makes Visme the best bet for people looking for a quick way of designing infographics. However, it is more suited to experienced designers because of its advanced features. Its output is also much better than the other two tools.
How to Optimise Your Infographics for SEO
According to Unbounce, infographics are invaluable to your content marketing campaign. If you optimise them, they can be vital to your SEO efforts.
Here are some of the ways of optimising your infographics for SEO.
Keyword Research
You will not gain from inserting keywords in the body of an infographic. However, there are a few areas you can use the keywords. That is why research is vital, especially for primary keywords and secondary search phrases.
The best way of using keywords with infographics is by adding them to the title. For instance, if your graphic is about marketing, you could write ‘marketing hacks infographic.’
As the case with other content, target long-tail keywords that have low competition.
File Name
Google uses the file name of your infographic to determine its contents. You have to get it right. It is advisable to avoid generic terms such as image03.png. Instead, go for something like marketing-hacks-infographic.png.
Avoid keyword stuffing when naming your files. Google will consider it as spamming, and you might get a penalty.
Alt Text
Your alt text is equally as important as the file name. Alt text is the text that that appears when an image does not load. Like the file name, it also tells Google about the content in your infographic. It should be something like ‘X hacks about marketing.’
Description
Another instance where you can use a keyword is on the infographic description. This section provides an overview of the contents of your infographic. Keep it short and if possible, integrate a call-to-action statement.
Load Time
Content that loads quickly ranks high on Google search results. The file format of your infographic affects the loading speed. Overall, BMPs, GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs, and TIFFs load faster than other image formats.
Benefits of Infographics in Your Content Strategy
Here the advantages of using infographics on your Singapore website.
Humans Process Visuals Better than Text
Humans process visuals 60,000 times faster than other types of content. This explains why a well-designed infographic is an effective way of increasing engagement.
It is boring and tedious to read large chunks of text. However, visualising content makes it more appealing. Infographics are an excellent way of grabbing the attention of people who do not like reading lengthy content.
Infographics are Useful in Presenting Visual Stories
The most vital aspects of an infographic are its data and stories. If you can present them visually, your stories come to life. Consumers perceive them more positively than press releases and blog posts.
Infographics are Easy to Digest
Some people do not have the time to read long-form content. Others do not like it. For this reason, you should try to supplement your lengthy posts with infographics.
For instance, if you have a 4,000-word article on marketing strategies, you can shorten it into an infographic. This tactic is useful because it allows the reader to see a visual representation of what they are reading.
You do not have to use content formats in isolation. A smart way of increasing engagement levels is using two or more types in one post. It also gives options to your readers.
Infographics Earn Links
If you want to land links passively, you should start using infographics. The key to earning links is ensuring that your infographic has reliable data. Publications will use the information on your infographic to create posts on their websites. They will then add a link to your site in those posts.
An infographic will earn you backlinks from authority websites, which is excellent for SEO. A high number of quality rankings is critical in improving your ranking on SERPs.
Infographics are Shareable
Infographics are easy to share. The majority of marketers use visual content in their social media campaigns. On Twitter, posts with images get 18% more retweets than posts without images.
You can make your infographics easy to share by cropping them into social-sized cards. This way, you will increase engagement with consumers.
Frequent sharing of your infographics can help build your brand awareness. Ensure that you include your logo, website address and social media pages so that people notice your brand. Displaying this information can increase the traffic to your website.
Infographics Can Increase Sales
As mentioned above, humans process visuals faster than text. Blogs usually list the benefits of your products and services. An infographic presents this information more quickly to potential clients. It is more effective in influencing consumers to purchase your products.
The Competition is Low
Only a few websites use infographics. If your infographic has a good design and shares quality content, you are sure of grabbing the attention of your target audience.
Remember to use a proper format and implement a solid promotion strategy. In a short time, you will gain a competitive edge over your rivals.
How To Use Infographics Too Get More Web Traffic
Conclusion
The truth is that some people are likely to turn away from your site if you have long blog posts. If you want to grab the attention of such users, consider using infographics on your Singapore website.
Infographics are effective in breaking down lengthy posts into appealing visual content. Having engaging content means that users stay for longer on your website. This, in turn, signals Google that your site has quality content, and you will rank highly on SERPs.
Lastly, the fact that infographics are easy to share boosts your brand awareness. If more people know your company and its services, you are likely to get more leads and potential customers.
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