Infographics & Its Use on Websites
You want to start your own website. You’ve done all your research, you’ve collected all the required data; and now, you’re stuck. You’re looking at the huge amount of data at hand and you have no idea how you’re going to put it all up on your website. Infographics is an important element in a well written content and enhances the overall appeal of content.
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You may know exactly what data needs to be shown on your website, but you don’t know how to do it without putting your viewers to sleep or worse, driving them away ‘forever’.
This article will deal with using infographics in order to:
- Depict all important information on your website;
- Make understanding the information easy for the viewers; and
- Hold the attention of your viewers without giving them the need to browse elsewhere.
- Infographics:
Let’s start by understanding what infographics actually mean. The term infographics is actually a combination of two terms: (i) information and (ii) graphics. Thus, infographics is the use of graphics, pictorial representations and other visual aspects to clearly and effectively communicate information to the reader.
There are different types of inforgraphics and the table below gives a gist of the same:
| Type of Infographics | Meaning |
| Information Infographics | Generally contains more words rather than charts, drawings, images or other forms of visual representations; |
| Timeline Infographics | Used to explain a timeline by explaining the chronology of events; |
| Chart Infographics | Using charts, pie diagrams and the like to portray information; |
| Comparison Infographics | Using visual representation in order to compare and contrast two aspects; |
| Process Infographics | Use of visual elements (such as a flow chart) in order to explain a process and thereby help in decision making. |
Please note that the above is not a conclusive list of infographics. Only those that are frequently used have been listed.
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Infographic vis-à-vis Text :
Below is an example of how an infographic would fare in comparison with a text with details:
From the statistics of COVID 19 cases reported in the USA based on source since January 2020, we can infer that while 81% of the cases are under investigation, 10% of the cases were due to travel to corona prone areas and 9% were due to close contact with infected people.
VS
Though we arrive at the same conclusion on reading the paragraph and analysing the pie chart, it is obvious that a large number of people will prefer to look at and analyse the pie chart rather than read the content. So infographics as a part of content writing is a great idea for impactful content.
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Choosing Information/ Content for the Inforgraphic:
Now that we have understood what exactly infographics are; also how they fare in comparison to text; we must then understand how to select the data that will be used to create them. It is important to understand that not every detail that we acquire from research can be used and displayed on a website. Therefore, while considering what data can be displayed, keep the following in mind:
- Retain data that will have an impact on the target audience (for example, if the target audience are people in the education sector, data related to say entrepreneurs will prove to be unwanted);
- Retain data from authentic sources (such as government websites, international organisations etc.);
- Retain information that is directly connected to your subject matter of your website;
- Include success stories or opinions of known and acknowledged individuals / entities;
- Briefly state the hurdles and the way out (if applicable);
- If you are displaying content which is not your own creation, always state the source. This will save you from a lot of unwanted law suits.
The above list is not exhaustive. Please remember that every website / topic to be discussed will require different details that need to be retained, however, the above will apply for almost all aspects and fields.
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Key Points When Designing an Infographic Element:
Infographics depend upon each individual, their creativity and the subject that needs to be dealt with. There are various websites online that provide wide range of templates for infographics to choose from. That being said, it is best to remember the following:
- Come up with an intriguing title – Short yet crisp;
- Concentrate on the topic at hand – don’t deviate or distract;
- Cite your sources & cross-check your facts;
- Keep the text to a minimum – Illustrate your content; don’t explain it;
- Keep negative space – balance your inforgraphic with the right amount of text, graphic elements and negative space;
- Talk about the next step – how the reader can proceed;
- Keep it simple- Remember less is more.
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Benefits of Infographics on a Website:
There are many benefits of using inforgraphics on your website. A few of them are:
- Effective Communication: It has been scientifically proven that the human brain processes images better than texts, therefore putting down concepts or sequences in forms of images rather than text, ensures that the audience gets a clear picture and also that there is efficient transfer of knowledge.
- Can be shared easily: What is the point of doing all that research if your results cannot be shared easily online. Inforgraphic elements solve this problem and also increases the chances of your research based infographic going viral.
- Attractive: Unlike long text paragraphs that put people to sleep, the use of colourful text, images, shapes and fonts, attracts a person’s attention and keeps it from wavering;
- Enhances SEO: An inforgraphic that is well designed will help move your website towards the top of a Google search as more people are likely to click and share it;
- Establishes Credibility: A carefully researched and designed infographic helps establish the credibility of the designer.
- Brand Promotion: Designing an infographic with the designer’s brand embedded into it doubles as brand promotion and helps accumulate goodwill.
Keeping the above in mind, it is safe to say that the benefits of incorporating infographics in a website are far reaching and commendable. It helps the designer (with increased visibility and credibility) and the viewer (with being provided credible and easily comprehendible data) and therefore the use of infographics acts as a win-win for everyone.