Friday 31 January 2014

Infographics: What Makes Infographics So Popular?

Infographics have hit the web and continue to spread virally across social media and blogs like wildfire. In fact, Infographic publishing is rising on average by 1% per day. But what makes an Infographic so popular? Below, a great example of an effective Infographic. Further down, 5 key reasons why Infographics are effective.



5 Reasons Why Infographics Are Effective

1. Easily Understood - Inforgraphics are laid out in a very visual manner. Considering 90% of the information that comes into the human brain is visual, this tends to make sense! Facts and figures are separated into smaller categories, separated and divided out in an easy to read format.

2. People Love Facts & Figures - Something I have noticed throughout my time sharing and promoting content online, is that people love facts and figures. Have a read through your Twitter or LinkedIn feed and I bet you will find a couple of statistics posted. Humans are interested in detail, factual detail that matters to them, an Infographic is a fantastic way to illustrate this information.

3. Shareable via Social Media - An Infographic is ultimately a picture. What type of media receives the most comments, retweets/reshares and activity? Pictures. Naturally, due to the format they are produced in, colourful, interesting and relevant Infographics always provide a hit with viewers.

4. Raising Brand Awareness - A well put together and managed Infographic, if popular with the target audience is likely to be shared, discussed and commented on. This provides an opportunity to raise awareness of your brand or company linked to this Infographic. By incorporating the company logo, website or slogan directly into the image, not only are you providing useful information, you are also directing your audience back to the original source, your company or brand.

5. Additional Website Traffic - If viewers like an Infographic or article, they may want to reshare this with others. More often than not, it is common courtesy to link back to the original source of the material. For SEO purposes, this helps your site rank higher in results, due to increased number of links directing back to your site. Search engine algorithms, much like Google's "Page Rank", will help to promote and push up your site within the listings.

Infographics are an important part of web content in todays digital age and should be considered when creating any marketing strategy. The five points above only touch the surface when looking at the benefits and features of an Infographic. I'm looking forward to learning from Google's Squared Online specifically how to research and build your own; a very exciting prospect. 

What great Infographics have you seen around the internet? What advice would you give to others looking to build their own?

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