What is an Infographic?
An infographic is a clear, colorful, and well-organized image which conveys information to the viewer in an engaging manner. It is usually used for one of two purposes: to break down a process into simple and easy-to-follow steps, or to clearly illustrate a concept in terms that are relatable and easy to understand. A good infographic grabs the attention of its target audience and holds it for long enough to pass on its information.
Infographics are also designed to circulate on websites,blogs, and social networks. A relatively simple infographic can capture the attention of your social media followers, leading them to click on an associated link for more detailed information.
Why are Infographics Important?
What makes infographics so special? Why is an infographic superior to a simple text description for detailing a process step-by-step?
The answer lies in what it’s being used for. Infographics are essentially a digital fact sheet. They’re an excellent first step in making an otherwise complex idea seem more approachable.
An infographic creates a mental map for your visitors: it provides a simplified outline of a process, such as inbound marketing, metalworking, or cooking the perfect omelet. It doesn’t include everything, but it makes a multi-step process seem less overwhelming. They can also make sense of large amounts of data. If, while reading more detailed information on the subject, your reader loses track of where they’re at? They can refer to the infographic that led them to the information.
Without an infographic in place, a confused visitor is more likely to become frustrated. Frustrated visitors will leave your website, in search of content that they can process more easily. Our culture views images as succinct information, conveying only the most vital points of a concept; newspapers have used the comic medium to smoothly convey highly involved viewpoints, on important subjects, for centuries. The presence of an infographic reassures your visitors that they will understand what you have to share with them. It promises that their lives will be somehow made easier through sparing you a few more minutes of their time.
What Makes a Good Infographic?
1. Strong, colorful visual elements. The infographic should be stylish and visually appealing. It also needs to remain consistent, so that it’s easy to follow. It should be simple—not only in the way it breaks down information, but in its aesthetics. Too many objects or colors can lead to visitors’ eyes being drawn to the graphic—only to be immediately distracted. You also want to avoid overlapping elements which are too similar in color, making them difficult to tell apart.
2. An easily comprehensible message. Infographics are meant to be introductions to a topic or a concept. They serve to draw in visitors and convey importance. Those visitors will then progress to more thorough content, which you have provided by way of blogs, service pages, or other media. The image itself remains a handy reference point for keeping basic steps in perspective, but if a subject is important enough to need an infographic, an infographic isn’t enough to explain the whole story.
3. The right size. Size is a critical element of infographics for two reasons. First, you want to fit the size of the screen on which your infographic is being viewed. Second, you want to hold your visitors’ attention. If an infographic is too wide, it will wind up being reduced in size to fit its medium, which may render its content unclear and difficult to follow. Design your infographic to be too long, and your visitors’ attention may wander. There is no “standard size” for infographics, but a good starting point would be a height of about 2000 pixels and a width of between 600 and 750 pixels
More Info on Infographics
Infographics are still a relatively new idea to modern digital marketing; many enterprises fail to use them to their full potential. Consider looking up the following sources for some additional information on how to create and deploy infographics effectively.
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