Users have access to information more than ever before and with the increasing processing speed of devices and the internet, users do not like to wait if they don’t find the right information that they are looking for, they just go to the alternative source.

It has become a real challenge for businesses and advertisers to keep users engaged and this is one of the reasons to include infographics on important pages with greater importance and informational in nature.

What are infographics?
Infographics are a visual communication medium such as a chart or diagram, and the intention is to communicate the message faster and easier.

From the SEO side, if a user stays longer on the page to understand or engage it can be treated as a positive factor for ranking as the page adds value to the user.

Let’s talk in detail about how infographics work, their importance and SEO ranking tips.

How do infographics help SEO?

A well-designed infographic can capture your audience’s attention and enhance their overall page experience. By delivering compelling and useful information visually, infographics not only help users but also contribute positively to your website’s SEO performance.

Bing uses Dwell time as an SEO ranking factor. However, Google has neither accepted nor denied according to Backlinko.

Many users are visually oriented, preferring images and diagrams over text. By incorporating informative, well-crafted infographics on your site, you not only enhance user engagement but also increase the chances of your page ranking better on search engines. Additionally, these infographics can perform well in Google Image searches, further broadening your visibility.

The benefits go beyond just search rankings. High-quality infographics tend to be shared more frequently across social platforms, which can naturally lead to backlinks – links are one of the most powerful SEO ranking signals.

In this guide, we’ll explore the various ways infographics can help boost your website’s SEO and improve its rankings.

They increase engagement time on the page

Better page engagement leads to higher page view time and is considered positive for SEO ranking. One of the best ways to boost page engagement is by incorporating infographics on important pages.

Unlike text, infographics are visual, easy to relate and communicate efficiently.

By presenting data, ideas, or processes in a visually captivating way, infographics help keep users on the page longer, thus improving engagement metrics.

While bounce rate alone doesn’t provide a clear picture of whether a user’s search intent was fulfilled, Dwell time – the time a visitor spends on your page before returning to search results – does. Infographics can help increase Dwell time, signalling to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant.

They encourage social sharing

Different people may have different motivational triggers to share content on social media. Some may want to appear intelligent or professional. Some may find some content to be useful and worth sharing with their relatives, colleagues or friends. Some may just want to support a cause.

Whatever the motivation, when it comes to social sharing, it all boils down to whether the content is exciting and credible enough to share.

Good infographics, by presenting the information in a creative way, can prompt people to share your content and page on their social handles. Once your infographic or page containing infographic starts getting social validation, chances of getting additional shares, natural links and more traffic also increase.

They help build links

Earning organic backlinks are like finding advocates of your content on the internet. Your advocates must believe in and align with your content to recommend it to their visitors.

What else drives others to link to your content or infographics? They may want to give due attribution to the information they use from your infographic. They may also find it difficult to replicate in their content the information your infographic provides and hence link to your website. 

A well-crafted infographic that shares good information with creative or statistical elements has high potential to be featured by the people on their websites, thus building natural links and influencing SEO positively.

They improve brand awareness

Visitors are likely to appreciate and remember your brand if you publish a piece that simplifies a complicated concept into an interesting and engaging one or breaks down a complex process into simpler steps. 

The more value you offer to your visitors, the more they will relate to your brand.

A promising way to create such value for your target group is using infographics in your content. By providing valuable information in various formats, infographics leave a lasting impression on your audience and build your brand visibility and recall.

Types of infographics with examples

Statistical infographics

They are ideal for presenting data, numbers or statistics in a visually appealing and simpler manner. Bar graphs, charts, pie-charts or important numbers in bigger fonts are usually part of statistical infographics. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/3zHMn3C 

Conceptual infographics

These infographics define a concept, or idea through a mix of visual elements and minimal text. It can simplify complicated concepts, turning them into engaging and interesting ones. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/4eEGKCr 

Chronological infographics

They present a chronology of events in history. They help with reminiscing the timeline or progression of events with detailed information attached to each individual event. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/3zQl0Et 

Process infographics

These infographics show step-by-step flow of a process breaking it down into individual parts. They are great for communicating instructions, workflows or tutorials. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/4eEqFN0  

Comparative infographics

They make a comparative analysis between different products, processes or concepts. It makes it easier to visualize the differences, similarities, advantages, disadvantages easily by placing them side by side. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/3NkRMR1 

Hierarchical infographics

They display the flow of authority or importance in a visual manner. They can help in understand the relative ranking, order or position of the different persons and items. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/4eEjnJc 

Geographical infographics

They depict location-specific information using maps of local places, states, nationalities or even continents. They can offer insights on resources distribution, demography, metrology and much more with maps as the data visualization element. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/3NnPkcO 

Product features infographics

They showcase features of a product or a service emphasizing the key ones while also highlighting the standard ones. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/4861ocg 

Interactive infographics

These are the more engaging ones which allow users to interact with the visual elements such as hovering over the icons to display the information attached to it. These use animation effects to make information more attention-grabbing. Here is an example: https://bit.ly/4gUeM7j 

Things to consider while designing/creating infographics for SEO

Find the gap

Do some research on your topic. Go to Google images and search your topic. Review what’s already available for the topic you are planning to design infographics for. If you find nothing of good quality, then grab on to the opportunity and design and upload a quality infographics. If the topic may be trending and others may have already designed quality illustrations, then aim to provide uniqueness to your infographics so that people can notice it.

Do the size optimization

Infographics designed in vertical/portrait style work better as they fit well on the page and are still readable. One of the popular image sharing sites, Pinterest recommends designing visual creative in 1000px x 1500px. So look out for the style, size and also keep the file size optimal while maintaining visual quality for quick loading.

Optimize for mobile

Make your infographics mobile-friendly and responsive in design(if interactive). Don’t make the elements too small in the infographics otherwise it will be hard to read for the user on mobile devices.

Display facts and avoid opinion

People are more inclined to share facts and not opinions. So stick to facts as much as possible. Give a reason to others to share and link to your page or infographics by providing credible information.

Include your brand elements on the infographics

Don’t forget to add your logo and use brand colors and themes as much as possible. If you offer quality content to your audience through infographics, they would start relating to your brand as an expert or thought leader. Hence, you can’t miss on to this added benefit of infographics. If people share an infographic with your brand logo and elements, it can boost brand awareness significantly.

Common mistakes to avoid with infographic SEO

No matter how appealing your infographic looks, if you don’t pay attention to certain things, then you won’t be seeing the results you want with your infographics. You would definitely want to avoid these mistakes while doing your infographic SEO. 

– Overloading Infographics with Data: Data points are good to have but by overdoing them, you may lose the attention of your audience. It’s Okay not to include certain less relevant points or may be include them in other supporting text portions of your write-up.

– Ignoring Mobile Optimisation: Mobile accounts for more than half of the internet traffic. So missing on optimization for mobile may mean missing on to the best experience for a sizable proportion of your audience. So ensure your infographic display correctly on your mobile with a lean and mean design and optimal readability 

– Neglecting Alt Text and Metadata: Including Alt text and metadata are a must practice for image SEO. So how can we miss this for our infographic? So make it easier for the search engines and for your users find your infographic by describing your infographic(including keywords) with alt tag and adding a title tag for your infographic

– Resolution Too High or Too Low: Low-resolution infographics can lead to poor visual quality. Similarly uploading way too high resolution can increase the file size significantly and it can increase page load time. Make sure they are visually optimized to look good on both mobile and desktop while keeping the file light in size for quick loading.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Are infographics SEO friendly?

Infographics offer a lot of benefits for SEO. They bring better engagement, increase dwell time, reduce bounce rate, drive more traffic, encourage social sharing, earn organic backlinks, build authority, enhance customer experience, improve keyword rankings and also build your brand awareness.

How to optimize an infographic for SEO?

To optimize your infographic for SEO, use the right keywords in your file name, alt text, title tags, meta description and surrounding text. Optimize your file size for quick loading while also maintaining an optimal resolution. Design it well to display correctly on all devices including mobile. Optimize your URLs by including keywords and keeping them short. Incorporate relevant data points to enhance the content’s relevance.

What are the 5 key elements of a successful infographic?

1. Your infographic should be exciting and attention-grabbing.
2. It should contain credible information including valuable facts and stats where needed.
3. It should be simple and easy to understand.
4. It should be unique in a certain manner to stand out from the competition.
5. It should be mobile-friendly and responsive and also optimized in size for faster loading.

What are the 7 steps in creating an infographic?

1. Define your audience.
2. Define the purpose of your infographic.
3. Gather information, facts and data.
4. Select a template that serves your infographic goal.
5. Design the infographic with icons, visual elements, minimal text and your logo.
6. Add your infographic in your write-up.
7. Optimize for SEO by adding meta-deta, including social share buttons and a CTA.

What not to do in an infographic?

1. Don’t overload the infographic with too much information and data.
2. Don’t miss on to optimizing your infographic for mobile.
3. Don’t confuse your users with odd infographic template choice.
4. Avoid giving opinionated information in infographic.
5. Don’t forget to add your brand logo.
6. Don’t miss out on important SEO actions.

Related Read: How to get traffic to a new website?