2010 is the year of the infographic. Infographics are probably the most popular way not only to visualize data but also to get links this year. In modern SEO linkbait is the most common method of “link building”. To be more exact: Linkbaiting is not link building as you don’t build them manually like say in directory submission but you create content and then get the links by people you do not even contact.
Infographics have proven ideally suited to both spread awareness about issues and as viral content people share and link to.
It’s surprising though that SEO blogs and forums rarely deal with the creation of infographics to get links and exposure. The reason for this lack of tutorials may be the interdisciplinary approach an infographic requires.
- A viral marketer determines the topic of the infographic.
- An SEO specialist will find out the keywords you want to target.
- A journalist or statistician has to to research the data needed to display.
- A graphic designer has to actually make the infographic.
- A social media marketer is needed who pushes it out to social media and influencers.
Of course one person can perform several of these tasks maybe even do all of it in some cases but usually more then one person will be involved. Thus a blogger can’t really cover all of these steps. There are some blog posts out there introducing parts of the process. I’ve collected them and compiled a list of a dozen resources showing you how to use infographics for SEO and linkbait. Scroll down to check it out.
As you see below roughly half of these posts deal with the circumstances of publishing an infographic and actual examples or case studies. The other half are tutorials that explain different ways of actually creating the infographic itself.
Where do you start? The idea is the most important part. You can’t take any random data set, create an infographic and expect people to share it all over the place. An infographic has to strike a chord with many people without being the lowest common denominator. It really has to contain some info. You can’t just focus on trivia like celebrities.
Also infographics work best for huge numbers or complex processes nobody can really fathom. A great example is the BP oil catastrophe which by far extended the term spill from day one but people couldn’t really imagine the sheer size and the dire consequences of it. The BP oil spill thus spawned a huge number of infographics to illustrate the disaster.
While the term infographic also entail the “graphic” it doesn’t have to a fancy graphic. Often a combination of maps, diagrams and a few images reduced to their symbolic character are enough.
The starting point for a successful infographic one it is ready is still often Digg, the almost dead social news site. While Facebook, Twitter and even Tumblr have by now much more overall traffic and influence than Digg, the Digg frontpage can make the infographic succeed elsewhere.
Of course many bloggers, especially the less important ones who lack the ability to create killer content themselves love to include infographics in their blogs. It’s a good idea to contact some bloggers directly and send them the infographic. Of course you have to research bloggers who really care for the topic you illustrate.
On the other hand you need to display the infographic on your site or blog to get the credit and links in the first place. So you have to make sure that you are the first to publish it and that a predefined embed code includes your site as the source. Don’t forget to add the source at the bottom of the graphic itself as well.
12 infographic resources:
- The Boom of Big Infographics
- Visualize More Links and Traffic — Ranking the Best SEO Infographics
- Infographic Case Study: How We Got a Link from CNN, Drove Loads of Traffic w/ Infographics
- Beyond Friending: How To Hit Social Marketing Bullseye
- Data Visualization And Infographics To Tell Your Story
- The 7 ½ Steps to Successful Infographics
- How To Create Outstanding Modern Infographics
- The Anatomy Of An Infographic: 5 Steps To Create A Powerful Visual
- Using infographics for social media and SEO
- How to Create World Link Maps With Majestic SEO & Google Spreadsheets
- Designing an Infographic with HTML, CSS & jQuery
- Make Your Own Infographic
I agree that inforgraphics are a great link bait, but most bloggers don’t have the funds or the know-how to create them.
Personally I can create everything but the design is not my forte and creating an unprofessional infographics beats the whole point!
Blogged about just this exact same item myownself, Tad…
You can read my own take here — http://www.canuckseo.com/index.php/2010/10/seo-via-infographicsa-look-at-same-eh/
And as you can tell, I totally agree with your own take on same! Infographics as SEO Campaign blog-bait work, eh!
:-)
Jim
Hi, Tad, justa wanna thank you for mentioning my compilation about the BP oil spill on Inspired Magazine.
Keep up the great work!
Cheers
@TSSVeloso
Zarko: Exactly, that’s why I haven’t created one yet. On the other hand the resources empower everybody with enough time to learn it. Last but not least you can work together with others!
Jim: Great compilation of resources and explanation. Thank you for adding it!
TSSVeloso: It was an excellent list! I really loved it back then that’s why I remembered you. Also the fact that you covered the bigger picture, not just the spill itself was the right decision.
“Infographics” by reading this post I found it good but I don’t know how to use it properly and how links will be created automatically on different content.
The 4 other task is definitely doable even by one person, except for the design aspect, which is really hard for some, especially if you’re aiming for link bait (wherein it needs to look interesting). Design is the main obstacle for most bloggers if they’ll engage with this method, seeing as it’s a huge aspect of the tactic.
I was wondering what are some of the best free and paid tools for creating these info-graphics… could you share any?
It is all in the attention of web audience. Their attention is precious and really has to be planned carefully. This will ensure that there is a clear goal by which we can count against and measure success. I like the Link Baiting method, as this will mean that you have to create a content that will attract back links naturally. Meaningful content will always be the engine of effective internet promotion.