In the world of SEO, there are constant changes – in Google’s algorithms, the role of social media in SERP positions, which tactics are still white hat… But one thing remains the same – infographics are still a great asset to build links.
In fact, today we’ll tell you why infographics are one of the best tools to amplify your SEO strategy in 2019 and beyond, as well as 9 ways they can maximize your link building and SEO efforts.
Infographics are inherently shareable
Working as a writer for Chanty (and other publications before), I can’t even remember how many times I thought to myself – I would really use an infographic here! Alternatively, I thought – This could be a really good infographic. They are a great way to convey lots of information in one space and they’re an excellent asset if you want your content to be shared.
The reason is simple – they allow you to jam-pack lots of information from different sources into a new visual asset. If the data behind the infographic comes from credible sources and is compiled around a popular topic, it’s destined to succeed.
Moreover, people love infographics because they show information in a more visual way instead of plain text. As science has proven, humans process images 60,000 times faster than they do with text.
For example, Hubspot makes quite a few marketing infographics that get lots of shares. They do this by taking data from other online resources (statistics, statements, survey results) and putting them together in one place around a certain topic – i.e. video marketing. For a content marketer (like myself), sharing an infographic such as this one along with my post is a more effective (albeit lazier) way of driving that point across, instead of writing a couple of hundred words and citing 12 different sources.
Do some promotion to get your infographic noticed
Once your infographic is done, it’s time to think of ways to get it in front of large masses of people. You may have the best design and content out there, but that alone won’t get you any SEO value from your infographic. It’s time to get proactive and start promoting – these are just some of the ways you can do it.
1. The usual – blog and social media
Promote the infographic as a post on your own blog and social media channels to get started.
2. The sources
If you’ve used a great piece of information to create your infographic, why not notify the source? They will be likely to share it on social media or perhaps even link to you if you’re lucky.
3. Target sites that quote the sources
Okay, here’s a clever hack. Using a tool such as Ahrefs, Moz or Serpstat, go to the page with the source for your infographic and see which sites linked to it. In other words, find those pages that link to the same source you used.
Now you can do outreach to those websites and ask the editors to use your infographic as well since you turned the data into an attractive image they can use instead of text.
4. Get in touch with influencers
You probably know an influencer or two within your niche who can share the infographic on their websites or social media profiles. Make sure to reach out to them with a personalized email and explain why your infographic is simply awesome.
5. Include infographics as part of your guest blog strategy
If you’re working on your SEO, you’re most likely doing guest blogs as well. The majority of websites that accept guest post require images throughout the post, so it’s a perfect chance to use your newly created infographic.
For example, this infographic is part of a guest blog we did at Chanty on the anatomy of exit-intent popups:
Infographic for SEO
6. Reach out to websites within your niche
Say that your infographic is about the most popular types of cat food in 2019. Instead of waiting for people to find it, contact websites dealing with pet care and food and tell them about your neat cat infographic. Besides earning a link or two, you’ll build some great relationships.
7. Paid promotion
If all else fails, you can get some eyeballs (and hopefully links) from your infographic by paying for promotion. Whether it’s through social media ads or syndication, this is a quicker (albeit more expensive) alternative to doing all the legwork yourself.
8. Reach out to business partners
If you have distributors, partners or affiliates, they can help to distribute your infographic around.
9. Contact bloggers and journalists
I do a lot of writing on productivity and work-life balance. As a blogger and a writer, if someone sends me a new case study, research or an infographic about these topics, I will definitely read them. If they’re quality resources, I’ll also include them in my upcoming posts. Same goes for infographics – if they’re valuable, content creators and editors will find a place for them on their websites.
Make the sharing worthwhile
If you’ve made a great infographic (and promoted it), it will attract some attention. Now, it’s all about making sure that attention translates to SEO juice and getting some backlinks. To get started, make sure the infographic is branded with your company logo and has a URL to your homepage in a place or two. Besides making sure that when it’s shared, readers go back to your website, it’s also a way to build a reputation.
But then again, people “accidentally borrow” images all the time, and the infographic itself isn’t worth much to you for SEO if you don’t get a link back. You can do it by plastering your URL all over the infographic, but there’s another way.
Alternatively, leave an HTML code containing the infographic that people can use to share it and directly copy and paste it into their blog. That way, they immediately give you a link straight to your site.
Conclusion
Even though some SEOs might claim that infographics are outdated as a format to build links, they still have a place in today’s marketing. If done the right way, infographics can get you tons of attention, social shares and ultimately links.
Mile Živkovi?
Author bio’s: Mile Živkovi? is a content writer and work-life balance expert at Chanty – a simple and AI-powered Slack alternative. When Mile isn’t busy writing epic posts on productivity, work-life balance and time management for Chanty blog, he’s probably driving somewhere. His hobbies include cars (huge fan of Alfa Romeo), photography and collecting pocket knives. You can catch him on LinkedIn.