Infographics for a photographer's blog

Infographics has quite recently become an acknowledged tool of content marketing. It is really effective! In order to understand why, we need to define what exactly an infographic, after all, is.

What is an infographic?

The full name of this notion is, of course, ‘ZXs “information graphic”. All of us could see the examples in textbooks, guides and, apparently, in the Internet.

Truly magical tool of promotion Image© ra2 studio, photolia

Infographic is one of the most convenient sources of information which is provided through visual representation. It describes and explains data in the simplest way possible, quickly and clearly. There is, in fact, even an infographic on infographics.

This way of conveying things to the public has become so popular lately because the inflow of information nowadays is higher than ever, especially in the web.

It is not just a diagram; an infographic integrates knowledge with juicy design, transforming it into a medium for conveying data in an offbeat and visually-appealing format. The aesthetic design draws the viewer in, that’s why, among other things, infographics would better not only be clear and straightforward but also eye-filling and engaging.

Why do I need it?

It seems that infographics have no disadvantages. Even more, there are plenty of benefits:

• Visual tool is always a win-win. If a person who visits your site is visual-oriented (like more than 60% of the population) an infographic is the greatest way to present complex data.

• It works quickly. While texts can be lengthy and take too much time to explore, easy-to-read

  infographics give you all in one picture from the first glance. Today most of us have short attention spans due to the modern way of life and of data delivery. Thus, infographic is a brilliant tool to grab the customer’s attention within those 2–4 seconds before he decides to leave the page.

• Viewer’s imagination is engaged. Notions and textual data in infographics can be compared pictorially, that’s why the concept you are trying to convey to the audience is again easier to comprehend.

• It’s highly viral. Somehow people are crazy about sharing infographics. Maybe that’s because they are stylish and catchy, maybe because of their clear approach to information, maybe it’s just a trend. Anyway, don’t miss the chance! Because of this viral nature the infographic makes visitors link to your page. People who share or embed it into their own content create quality inbound links.
• Just like simple pics, infographics can be optimized for search engines: they will index the image and display it in results page (for instance, Google will do this by means of its “Page Rank” algorithm). Besides, the optimized infographic will contribute to the on-page SEO.

Tips and ideas on creating infographics

• You can reprocess written content into infographic format, thus reaching customers in a totally new way without actually replicating the content.
• You can make it as a step-by-step instruction guide helping readers quickly grasp something that might be difficult to explain in another form.
• Position yourself as an expert. Let infographic reveal your knowledge of a topic and show your expertise.

• Make it funny! Humour has always drawn much attention. Here’s an example of jokingly telling your customers that photographer’s work is not a bed of roses: http://blog.blurb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/how-photographers-spend-time-1.jpg

• Infographics for you blog should be, first of all, interesting for your potential clients. For instance, they may need something like this well-known posing guide for full-length portraits in order to know, how to behave during a photoshooting: http://gencept.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20+-Amazing-Infographics-Cheatsheets-For-Photographers_posing-and-posing-ideas-@-GenCept.jpg Or they might be interested in criteria of choosing a wedding photographer (of course, you should meet all the requirements so that they would make a decision in your favour): http://www.digbyrose.com/wp-content/uploads/wedding-photography.png

• For inspiration, check out the top 19 photography infographics: http://blog.hhcolorlab.com/photographic-industry-trends/the-top-19-photography-infographics

If you want more reposts, shares and likes you’ve got to think about your content. Infographics is also a part of this. Image© bloomua, photolia

Probably no other method or medium allows to convey information as quickly and productively as a good infographic. Still, it is not time yet to forget about other types of content: encouraging videos, helpful and motivating texts and your unrivaled protected photos with a watermark.