A successful content marketing strategy today is more than just blogs and articles. To drive traffic and bring value to users, it’s important to create different kinds of content to engage with your readers.

Today, infographics are liked and shared on social media platforms 3 times more than other types of content. These visually enticing graphics display content in ways that allow information to be easily digested by users. Despite their ability to capture readers, some infographics are more successful than others.

So, how can you create an infographic that’s valuable, shareable, and will drive traffic to your site?

Get inside the mind of your target audience

Who are you trying to target? What kind of information is your target audience looking for? And what type of content resonates best with this audience?

Before you begin creating your infographic, conduct some content research and ideation to see what type of valuable information you can bring to your target audience. Determine what problems your readers are having and choose the best topic for your infographic. Buzzsumo is a great tool to look for topic and niche areas that really drive clicks and traffic.

A successful infographic needs to have value. If there isn’t a need for the type of information you’re offering, then chances are, it isn’t going to generate much traffic.

[clickToTweet tweet=”50% of businesses surveyed used infographics to promote their brands. More details here.” quote=”According to Statista, 50% of businesses surveyed used infographics to promote their brands.” theme=”style2″]

Use reliable, trustworthy information

One of the most important characteristics of an infographic is having reliable and trustworthy information for your readers. Your ideas should be supported by statistics and facts to add more credibility and strength.

Here is where Statista comes in. Statista is an online static portal where you can search for statistics on hundreds of thousands of topics. A free subscription is all you need.

Don’t forget to cite your sources as well! You want users to be able to trace where the facts were generated from. This also prevents you from getting in trouble for using other people’s studies.

K.I.S.S.

One of the main purposes of an infographic is to simplify complicated concepts and breaking down your ideas into bite-sized information that your readers can absorb. This means keeping it simple, succinct, and focussed (K.I.S.S).

When you put too much information in your infographic, the infographic becomes cluttered and more difficult for your readers to understand. If one infographic isn’t enough to display your ideas, consider breaking down the information into several infographics that are more specific.

Make sure the content flows properly

An infographic can be hard for users to follow if it is disorganized. The information in your infographic should be organized in a way that makes sense. You want to be able to tell a story with your infographic.

While your infographic may not always be able to flow like a story or have specific steps to follow, organize the graphic into sections to help flow from one idea to another.

Always Have Relevant and Updated Information

Many infographics are only relevant for a short period of time, especially when the information is constantly changing. A successful infographic should remain relevant as long as possible, that’s why time sensitive infographics can be a great way to keep traffic coming back to your site.

For example, an infographic like our Facebook Dimensions cheat sheet is updated often to reflect the constant changes of Facebook’s image sizing guidelines. Your infographic should be the most relevant and the most reliable source of data for users to use.

More Graphics, Less Text

Many content creators make the mistake of having too much text in their infographic. This defeats the purpose of creating an infographic that helps readers to process information more effectively.

This infographic on creating an awesome infographic is a great example of ideas being cluttered when there is too much text. If there is too much text, try turning them into graphics or use symbols to represent the idea instead.

Use conflict to get more eyeballs on your infographic

Interesting data can alleviate your content, especially data that is controversial. When there is conflict in the data or idea you’re conveying, discussions are often generated. This can get more traffic to your infographic. However, this does not mean you should be incorporating data that isn’t true.

Because we are all different, we don’t always agree with each other. While some may agree with the points you’re saying in the infographic, there are individuals that would disagree. This type of conflict can help generate comments that drive more people to discuss about your infographic.  

Choosing the right colors

This may seem a little silly, but colours can affect the way your information is communicated. Colours can affect our mood, feelings, and the way we respond to what we are looking at. In fact, studies have shown that the use of colours can increase comprehension by 73% and improve readership by almost 40%.

While your infographic may not be used to influence purchasing of your readers, it helps them to understand your information. For example, contrasting colours can create a dramatic effect, which is best used for sharing conflicting ideas.

Outreach

Simply creating amazing content won’t get you the results you’re looking for. In order to gain traffic and popularity, it’s important to promote your infographic. This is where you will need to outreach and let others know that you’ve creating an amazing piece of content.

When outreaching for your content, ensure you’re looking at bloggers and professionals that are relevant. You want to send them your infographic with a mindset of sharing valuable knowledge and bringing value to them.

Submit to Directories

In addition to promoting your infographic through outreach, submit your infographic to directories. There are numerous directories online that are dedicated to infographics. Here’s a list of free directories for you to submit your hard work!

Creating an infographic isn’t enough if no one is seeing it! Try using some of the tips above to elevate the quality of your infographic and drive more traffic to it.

Author Bio: Rebecca Hill is the Outreach Coordinator at TechWyse, an SEO agency in Toronto, Canada. While she isn’t building relationships with bloggers and influencers in the marketing world, she can be seen rooting for the Blue Jays.