John Banks Online Income Teacher
Every blog has them, every blog needs them, every blog wants them. What am I talking about? Infographics!
What are Infographics?
Infographics are not new and have been around for many years. The term Infographic, (short for Information Graphic) is basically a term for a graphical visualization or a representation of data. I bet you have seen many of them going about your day to day business, whether your work be online or offline.
People in the online industry tend to be familiar with them and in fact some people probably think that is where they evolved from. Wrong!
Think about your nearest subway (not the sandwich firm) but your underground infrastructure. How is that displayed? In all stations – usually with a map of each line and each station. Whilst it is not a to-scale map with distance it does give the traveller clear idea of the station order and information.
The London underground map is a great example of an infographic
Whilst I do not want this post to be a history lesson, it is important to realise that Infographics were not invented by social media buffs on Pinterest last year. You could argue that ancient cave paintings could be considered as early Infographics, but they are definitely not new.
So, Should You Make An Infographic?
Well, if you have a post that you are thinking of writing that may be better portrayed as an Infographic then the extra work involved is well worth it. Not only do people tend to prefer pictures they are also way more socially engaging, meaning they get more likes, shares, comments (generally) and so on.
It can actually be easier to get your message across in an infographic. People tend to waffle on a bit if there is lots of data to dissect. A good tip when making an Infographic is to try and keep it simple. Get your message across and that is it.
The great thing about infographics is that they can be created for free! All you need is some interesting information to create an infographic about.
Six Tips To Use When Making Infographics
- Use Eye Catching Images – If you can, try to use images that stand out and make the infographic appealing. Remember it is a visual representation of information, so try to make it as eye catching as you can. You have already stated that you can present this data better than words, so show it!
- Use Your Authentic Voice – The same goes for standard posts as with Infographics, put your own style on it with your own voice. People come to your blog to read your work – make your Infographics the same.
- Offer Value – Whilst a graphic on the “Top 10 Subway Sandwiches of All Time” would be awesome, it would not really offer that much value. Offer your target audience what they want, or more importantly what they need.
- Be Educational – Same goes for this really – if you can educate people with an Infographic it is more likely to go viral. If someone asks “Does anyone know what the best WordPress plugins are?”, then you can say “Yes, check out this Infographic that I made on ……” and so on.
- Keep It Simple – Going back to the Underground example, they use colours for the lines. Keep the graphic nice and simple, so as not to confuse the reader as to what it is all about. Making infographics too complicated will only end up confusing people. Remember, infographics are supposed to make it easier for people to understand information.
- Be Relevant – Whilst I really like Zombie films I am unlikely to make an Infographic displaying “The Most Exuberant Zombie Deaths Of The Modern Film Era” (Again, awesome) but readers of my marketing blog would probably not find much use for it. Keep your infographics relevant to your niche and your readers will be more interested.
So, I guess then I should make one about this post? Here you go…..
As you can see the one above simulates the above question, just presented visually. OK, it is slightly bias towards Infographics, but you get the idea.
So, the next time you write a post – could you represent it visually? Or, how about recycling some older posts with by adding an Infographics?
Should I Make An Infographic? Online Income Teacher - Learn how to make money with your blog!