Easy steps to create an infographic

So you want to make an infographic. Of course you do; visualizing information is a fun and effective way to share. Infographics convey a lot of information quickly and including an infographic in a social media post can boost your views and likelihood to be shared significantly. On Twitter alone, Infographics get 832% more retweets than articles or images.

So lets do it!

Like every other aspect of your content marketing strategy, when it comes to infographics you need a plan. Think it through to the end before you even begin. Knowing the purpose and the audience for your infographic is the first step.

Information

Once you know the purpose and audience, it’s time to think about the information and design:

• What type of information will you be collecting for the infographic?
• What parts do you know and which will be determined by the design?
• What graphic elements do you want to use?

I like to gather all my information for the infographic before I start on the design process. This way, I know what information is being included and get a better idea of how much information needs to fit and the overall big picture that I’m trying to convey.

When it comes to the actual nuggets of information, statistics work great. If you’re planning to use text instead of numbers, keep the text short. Too much reading can ruin an otherwise good infographic. The graphic should be easily scannable so readers can learn something from a glance.

Design

I’m not a graphic designer. So, when I need to design, I turn to a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) program, Easel.ly which gives ideas, templates, and allows you to drop in graphics and shapes etc. There are quite a few free online infographic creation tools you can work with. WYSIWYGs are great if your not a graphic designer, but they can be limiting too; graphic design software will allow for much more customization.

Here are a few design tips for creating interesting infographics:

• Choose appropriate color pallets that fit your topic and type of graphic.
• Mix up the fonts, use some serifs and some sans serif fonts for variety.
• Keep it simple; don’t try to tell too many stories in one graphic.

Revise

Now that you’ve created the graphic, you’re probably excited to share it. But wait, before you publish, take one last look and make sure that:

• All your content is in the graphic
• The illustrations are accurate
• The sections flow and connect to the main theme
• It can persuade and educate about the topic
• It’s easily understandable

Now you should be ready to create your own infographic. But, if you aren’t quite comfortable jumping in just yet, you can still harness the power of infographics by sharing others’ work. There are some wonderful resources out there for finding popular infographics, like the Infographic Journal, which claims to have all the best infographics in one place.

Infographics are a powerful tool for spreading information quickly. Making your own helps you establish yourself as an industry leader. Creating them is easier than you might think with the potential for high ROI. Do it!