Whereas SEO may have been the most popular online marketing term a few short years ago, infographics have now become the catch phrase for helping a company achieve exposure in what it proving to be an increasingly competitive market. While this may be true, too much of a good thing is never sustainable over time. Many feel that as more and more companies jump on the infographic “bandwagon”, the same abuse that we have previously seen with SEO may be occurring yet again. Furthermore, many such designs are incorrectly implemented, contain useless and visually confusing filler and due to key phrase stuffing, many analysts feel that Google’s next step may actually be to impose restrictions on such tactics. Thus, the question arises as to whether infographics are still a viable marketing tool. Sites such as this one illustrate this dilemma. So, let us take a brief look at some simple guidelines that can help infographics drive a product to the customer.
Link Building Despite Market Saturation
It should be clear that thousands of bloggers and webmasters are approached to publish infographics each day. The problem is that many such pieces lack the creativity to make them appealing to such intermediaries. While static text may be the backbone of this presentation, innovation needs to occur simultaneously in the form of aesthetic streamlining coupled with unique ways to target the viewer. In essence, the medium should be malleable around the content; not the other way around.
Targeted Content
As the internet continues to grow, so do viewers’ needs continue to narrow. Thus, relevance becomes a key component in the successful presentation of an infographic. Individuals simply do not want to spend the time having to visually filter through spurious and superfluous data to eventually reach the core content that is being represented. Just as SEO was forced to modify and cease utilising such less-than-relevant content, infographics need to do the same. The core intention of these presentation needs to be clear, concise and above all interesting. This blog post further highlights this strategy.
Useful Content
In this scenario, usefulness should go above and beyond telling a reader facts that he or she may need to know. Instead, this type of link building should revolve around making the experience more fulfilling by linking out to peripheral sites that will help increase awareness of a certain product or service. This is frequently overlooked due to the fact that many designers still only appreciate the immediate visual impact of an infographic. On the contrary, those browsing tend to be extremely pragmatic in their desires. Companies such as www.seobrighton.com appreciate the importance of this approach. Infographics should recognise that and proactively engage the viewer so he or she will leave the page satisfied.
Less Clutter
Finally, infographics need to be less confusing. The designer should not saturate the page with as much information as possible but instead should make the entire presentation easy to follow. Once again, we can see similar parallels with webpages that are all but impossible to navigate due to poor graphical design. An infographic should be a pleasant experience. Streamlining the content is an excellent way to help drive a point across with a subtlety that will increase the likelihood of the visitor to take a greater interest. Simply stated, more is certainly not better.
These four tips are some of the most effective at driving an idea across to the viewer but doing so in a non-obtrusive manner. Other similar suggestions can be found here.Though some may discount infographics as having little place in modern marketing, they are nonetheless a powerful and innovative tool that should not be overlooked. As we continue to see a paradigm shift in terms of how these displays should operate, it is likely that infographics will continue to play a powerful role in link building into the foreseeable future.