How To Create Viral Infographics That Build Backlinks
- Amy Balliett
- August 15, 2011
Infographics serve many purposes: they inform, entertain, grow your brand, and can bring your site valuable inbound links which are vital for SEO. Most importantly, when posted by a blog or website, the inbound links you get are valuable “behind the gate” links. This means that, rather than posting them as a signature or in the body of a comment on a blog post or forum thread, the overseer of the blog has given you their seal of approval and said “Yup, I like this!” That kind of support from the person in charge gives the link and the infographic the status and credibility that you’ll need to make your infographic link-worthy.
Give People What They Want
First and foremost, your infographic needs to be interesting and fulfill a definite need. Infographics are visual essays of a sort. A tightly constructed thesis statement is vital to an infographic’s success. That thesis, again, has to speak to something that people actually care about - this is what’s going to make people share it.
Examples: when gas prices shoot up, people suddenly become much more interested in alternative fuel sources (which they promptly forget about when gas prices go back down to something that they are willing to pay). This provides a great opportunity for an infographic about alternative fuel cars.
While Twilight was big, you saw infographics comparing and contrasting the different “sexy vampires” throughout movie and book history, alongside werewolves and other monsters.
You need to have your finger on the pulse of your demographic and make them an infographic that they will really latch onto. If your infographic isn’t about a subject that your audience cares about, it doesn’t matter how good it looks, your audience won’t to link to it.
Make It Look Amazing
Good design is key to a good infographic. Data visualization, “storytelling,” and an inviting, appropriate color palette are all elements that come together to create a visual symphony for viewers. Let’s face it: no one reads, absorbs, and commits to memory every part of an infographic, no matter how interesting or well-made it is.
In fact, you don’t really need this to happen with your infographics - you want your readers to see them, absorb the most important parts quickly, and then, as a knee-jerk reaction, instantly post the embed code on their blog, add a link to their wall, Tweet about it, and (if necessary) call up Grandma and walk her through the necessary steps to log into her AOL account, access her email, and find the link to the infographic (and also thank her for the five dollars in the last birthday card).
Include An Embed Code
Everywhere your infographic goes, the embed code should follow. Make it easy to see, and include the text “Copy and paste the contents of this box” to make the whole process as mistake-proof as possible. Blogs that post the infographic should also include Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, and other social network buttons on their sites. It’s their responsibility to know which networks their users are most active on and include the appropriate buttons, but regardless of that, with your embed code, you know you’re covered.
A note about the embed code: keep tabs on which blogs, sites, etc. you have asked to post your infographic and follow up on any additional instances where you see it pop up. If someone is using your infographic without linking back to you, call them on it. Be polite, but be firm. If you’re using a reputable infographic firm, then they’ve likely informed you about the need to have a Creative Commons (or other copyright) credential attached to the infographic that requires people distributing your image to give you proper credit for it. This is the best way to ensure that, while people are linking to your infographic, they are also giving the proper link love that you want or need.
Be Shockingly Unique
While all infographics are made using research found elsewhere on the web, your design team can present that info in a totally unique way that will delight and amaze your fans. With this in mind, don’t give final approval on an infographic until you are shocked, amazed, and suitably delighted with the product in front of you. If you aren’t crazy about it, then you can’t expect your audience to be either. A really well-designed infographic with cool facts and attractive illustrations will bring you in links from parts of your audience that might usually be pretty quiet.
Conclusion
Getting into the world of infographics can seem daunting at first, but it’s totally doable if you keep a few basic tenets in mind: have a clearly defined thesis that answers a need, present it in a visually attractive way, using facts and images that dazzle your fans. To top it all off, include an embed code for foolproof sharing. If you remember these four things (along with the million other tips and tricks you’ll learn along the way), you’ll start seeing success with infographics before you know it.
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