10 Simple Steps To Create An Effective Infographic For Your Website

Infographics are one of the most effective ways to reach your audience and improve website visibility. It is a fun visual format such as charts or diagrams to provide numbers and statistical information. Over the years infographics have become a popular content format on social media and blogs because of the traction it generates. The three main reasons why people like infographics are because they are visually appealing, informative, and scannable. 

In times when people don’t have a long attention span, infographic becomes the best way to large amounts of information quickly and efficiently. People want to understand complex things quickly and in simpler steps than compared to complicated paragraphs of content. It is an easy process to communicate about plans and processes in order to educate audiences and enhance brand awareness and reputation.  

A study states that over 86% of businesses expect them to play an important part in their strategy in the future. So, if you want to make an eye-catching infographic to increase your blog traffic, then you have come to the right place. We have combined the necessary steps and the top strategies required to make infographics.  

What are infographics? 

Infographics are a visual representation of data intended to be simplified ways to communicate complex information. It is considered to be the visual tool for engagement and communication with target audiences. Infographics have become more popular online with the emergence of social media and blogs since it helps improve website visibility.  

According to a study, over 65% of people are visual learners and this is because visual content is processed 60,000 times faster by a human brain than compared to written content. Bloggers around the world now use infographics to increase their audience very quickly.

The success of an infographic depends on two factors:

• Relevance – The content in the infographic must be aligned with your business goal and objectives. 
• Distribution – Promoting your infographics is also equally important because that is what helps you get continuous traffic and links. 

Steps for Creating an Infographic

1) Set the goals of your Infographic

Every infographic must have a compelling story and a goal. It can either be to simplify complicated information, explain the process of something, introduce a new policy, highlight trends, or even make an argument. Not only should you outline your goals but also find answers to who your target audience is, the platform it will go on, and find the type of visual that will go with your infographic.  

While setting a goal you can use the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals approach as it will achieve results. The content you provide is less than six months old and is relevant to what your target audience is looking for.  

2) Gather accurate Data

An infographic should always be backed by solid and accurate data engaging, persuasive, and shareable. Your target audience will only be interested in your infographic if the data you provide is interesting and useful while being backed by sources. You can do this by gathering reliable facts and statistics that will help prove your point. Numerous free online tools can help you find, clean, and sort your data.  

The headline you choose for your Infographic is also important, as that is what will help you catch the attention of the readers as well as rank on the SERPs. Make sure to align your data with the goals that you have set. Once you have organized all your data you are ready to start visualizing your infographic. For example, visualizing how some content blocks can look with icons and colored numbers together. 

3) Select the File type

Infographics can be published in numerous types of files. The choice must be made based on the type of content, the selected aspect ratio, and the final output.

The different types of files that an infographic can be made into are: 

• Image – You can add an option for your readers to download your infographic in the form of an image in your blog post or document. If you make it into JPEG or PNG, then the infographic will be static and have no interactive elements. 
• PDF – This option is the best if you plan to print the final design. Sending people a PDF version is also beneficial as the content and design will remain in the way you intended it to be.  
• Carousal or a multipage – If you make your Infographic into a Carousal or a multipage then your readers will have to maintain a zip file. However, it will allow you to combine multiple videos or images into a single infographic.  
• Video – The video format of the infographic is very eye-catching and can draw readers in. They can easily be downloaded in the .mp4 and can also be uploaded to your website and YouTube. 

4) Select the type of Infographic

Now that you have your goals set in place and gathered enough content for your infographic, you need to choose the type of infographic you want to create. The type of infographic you create will also be based on the goals you want to achieve. A particular type of infographic will help you highlight different types of data and information.

The main types of infographics that you will find are:  

• Data-centric – This infographic is usually included charts and figures as it focuses on presenting statistical information.  
• Report – Infographic reports are mainly used to visually present a company or even a government organization’s key ideas and insights. You can also look at this example to understand the concept of report infographics. 
• Timeline – This infographic is used to show a timeline or chronological period of a brand, product, or service.  
• How to – How to infographics show the step-by-step process of how to use a particular product or service.  
• Geographical – These infographics are based solely on geographic data. 
• Comparison – As the word suggests, these types of infographics compare and contrast two different products or services.  
• Hierarchical – It shows a hierarchy about a particular topic or even a product.  
• Flowchart – Flowchart infographics start with a point and then go on to branch into directions based on the subtopics.  
• List – In this type of infographic you will see all the data listed in text and icons about your subject. 

5) Choose the type of Aesthetic

Having the best or the right type of aesthetic in the infographic can help you visualize better and achieve desirable outcomes like engagement. So, while choosing the aesthetic you have to make sure it is appropriate and matches the content you wish to share. So, pick out the different colors, fonts, and charts that you want to use for the different sections of your infographic.

Some tips on choosing aesthetics are: 

Colour – The main thing about choosing the right colors is that they should attract the attention of your target attention. The colors should be contrasting, highlight your most important information, and even consider the psychology of color.  

Fonts – There are thousands of options for choosing a font for your infographic so it can be difficult to choose the right one. The font can help you set the right tone of the infographic, but try using the same font throughout your entire slide presentation.

6) Pick the right chart

If you want your infographic to be professional then you have to pick the right charts. The chart you choose must ensure that your message is clear and accurate. Make sure to look up the best charting practices before you start creating your infographic. The charts can be done in the format of line, pie, area, bar, cone, dual, funnel, pyramid, or even radar charts. 

The main types of charts are: 

• Comparison – Comparison charts are the ones that help you compare two or more datasets and check differences over time.  
• Relationship – Relationship charts are really useful to show connections between two or more variables.  
• Composition – Composition charts are usually used to depict a particular change over time or display parts of the infographic.  
• Distribution – With these charts, you can show how variables are distributed over time and help identify trends. 

7) Cite your sources

Display research findings or survey data must be very important because it shows your reader you have done proper research. Citing your sources will also give credit to the researchers, acknowledge their ideas, and avoid any issues with plagiarism. Adding links can help you gain the trust of your readers as you are providing them with accurate information.  

Infographics are one of the best ways to share survey data but also allow you to tell a story with your data. They also help you to create the potential to get a lot of attention on your survey data. So, you can add as many sources as you want to prove a particular point. 

8) Make complex data understandable 

The first goal of creating an infographic is to make understandable data easy to understand. Once you have analyzed your data, set the goals, and know the story you want to tell, then you can start creating infographics. If you make the data comprehensible to a wide audience, your audience will find it easier to read through.  

Make sure to highlight the important data and then build your infographic around them with supporting visuals, stats, and visualizations. The content must also construct an engaging narrative to keep the readers hooked on till the end.

The thing you need to check while writing content for your infographic is: 

• Accuracy – the data should come from reliable sources. 
• Clear – The content must be clear, concise, and simple.  
• Accessible – the reader must find it easy to find the key points. 
• Informative – It should provide educating and useful content.  
• Valuable – The content must provide some value to your target audience.  
• Optimized – Your readers must be able to read your infographic through the web, mobile, video, dashboard, and so on.

9) Select the right tools for your infographic 

Data designers have an arsenal of free and paid tools that they use to create successful infographics. There is a go-to toolkit specialized to help you create any type of chart that you want. You have to make sure to select a tool that helps present your data in its most comprehensible form. The right tool will allow you to organize and categorize your content in the right way. The paid tool will also allow you to track and measure the metrics of your infographic.  

You can even find free templates that will help you create an infographic in just a few easy steps. Some templates may even come with a lot of options for customizing design, charts, format, fonts, etc. You also have to choose the right visual approach when it comes to infographics because it can help to visually represent your intended narrative. So, make sure to keep that in mind while designing infographics. 

10) Promote and distribute your infographic

Creating an infographic is only half the battle, you also have to promote it on your social media platform, through email campaigns, and on your website. Promoting your infographic will give you a higher chance of ranking on the Search engine pages, drive more traffic to your website and possibly go viral. If you don’t distribute it to the masses, most people are not going to see it and that will also waste the effort you put into it.

Some of the ways you can distribute your infographic are by: 

• Send out email newsletters 
• Write a social media-specific release. 
• Roll-out campaigns   
• Submit your infographics for guest blogs 
• Submit your infographics to directories.  

Conclusion 

These were the ten necessary steps that you need to follow while creating your infographic from the scratch. This process may seem complicated, but we assure you that creating infographics is easy and fun. Making infographics will also help you sharpen your designing your writing skills. With these steps, you will now be able to create an infographic that will drive traffic but also help generate leads and make more sales.