10 Benefits of Using Infographics
The concept of ‘Infographics’ is coined from both the words ‘information’ and ‘graphics’. It is one of the most popular methods used online to create awareness, educate, inform or entertain.
With the emergence of social media, the acceptance of visual content has rapidly grown, with a significant percentage of online users engaging more with visual content over plain text. However, with this demand comes immense competition from businesses who are looking to gain better visibility. It is therefore imperative to make use of infographics. This can be done effectively with the help of a SEO agency Here are some benefits the practice offers.
1. Improves search engine optimization (SEO)
For your infographic to be properly optimized for search engines, you need to ensure that the image is appropriately labelled and tagged with the correct keywords relevant to the topic the infographic is based on. Google and other search engines are continuously on the lookout for content that provides detailed information. And if a search engine finds your content good enough, it will be ranked highly on the most relevant search results.
For example, when people search for “how to cut a pattern for female shirts’, many infographics will appear on Google images with links to the source of the image. Most times, these sources come directly from Pinterest with a few coming from other high ranking blogs or websites; which users can click on for further more details. This, in turn, drives traffic to the website.
2. Increases brand awareness
If your infographics rank high on search engines, not only would you gain organic traffic and backlinks to your website, online users will also get to know more about your brand. So when designing your infographics, ensure that the logo or the name of your brand is positioned at a visible spot on the design. In the case that your infographics go viral, this simple action automatically increases awareness about your brand.
3. More information, fewer words
The use of infographics is one of the easiest and quickest ways to provide information without saying too much. The same way a person can write an entire thesis on the evolution of man with lots of detailed information, you can also do same with an infographic using fewer words. This is where the saying ‘an image tells a thousand words’ comes in.
Infographics simplify information, making it possible to use a balanced amount of texts and images to convey a complete and meaningful message. So the next time you have a lot to say, use infographics instead to convey your message.
4. Engages the target market
The creative interplay between texts and images or shapes in infographics gives brands the opportunity to create content that can effectively engage their target audience. This can be done through likes, saves, sharing with friends on different social networking platforms, or commenting and so on. In fact, you can pick from your top engaging infographics and use them to run adverts targeted at your main audience to create more opportunities for them to interact with your brand online.
5. Enables viral sharing
Content sharing and resharing is the backbone of viral marketing. People that find you infographic content helpful would then go on to save the information and share with others they feel could also benefit from it. This then creates a domino effect, with the content being shared with a friend of a friend. In little to no time, your infographic has gone viral.
6. Improves customer retention
We battle with a lot of information calling for our attention on a daily basis. Our brain is saddled with the responsibility of processing this information, sifting and storing whatever is needed. With infographics, you can steal a little portion of the attention of those you are trying to attract. You can then creatively share information in such a way that they do not have to put a lot of effort to read and interpret your message (because the perfect fusion of texts and images does this for them).
7. Creates persuasive content
If you are trying to convince others about an idea, then consider using infographics to help them create a mental picture, especially if you are trying to persuade them to buy a product or service. People can easily tell when you are trying to make a sale, especially with face-to-face contact. They can read your body language and pick up on words signalling this. But with the use infographics, you are in control of the narrative. The use of informative and catchy content that is creatively designed can surprisingly be the best method used to persuade a potential customer.
8. Drives leads or conversions
If you can get your infographics to rank well on search engines and get good engagement from them, it can have a powerful and positive rippling effect on leads and conversions. People need to find your infographics helpful; therefore, they must be uniquely catchy to draw their attention and fuel curiosity about the brand at this same time. This is what would spur them to click a link to your website or enter the website by themselves on a browser or convert them to leads.
9. Carries helpful information
The use of infographics makes it easier for users to store on-the-go content (usually images) in their mobile devices for later use when needed. It is more or less a friendlier, more mobile source of information.
Take for example a website that provides information on quick fixes for different aspects such as vehicles, or when stuck in an elevator, or even when a door jams and so on. Imagine how useful it will be for users if such a website also creates infographics for each post which can then be downloaded, saved and pulled out later as a quick guide; should they find themselves in such scenarios.
10. Improves brand visibility
Quite a lot of effort and thought is put into creating an infographic, whether you are using a free online software like Canva, a paid software or paying someone to do it. Unlike other types of content, infographics creatively combine the right amount of text with the right graphic design to pass a complete and meaningful message across to the reader.