How To Create Infographics That Go Viral
Starting a blog that grows at an impressive rate is no easy task.
It’s HARD work, right?!
It takes time, patience and the right mix of tactics to drive impressive amounts of traffic.
But blog growth can be easier:
Each type of content will attract certain types of people.
When you expand and start covering other content types, you’ll be able to tap into an entirely new group of readers that prefer those other content types.
One of the best ways to get started is to use infographics.
Why?
They allow you to display information in a way that’s super easy to digest and HIGHLY shareable.
I’ve personally found it a lot easier earn links from them than regular blog posts, even with very little promotion.
In this post, I’ve put together an infographic to help you create your own infographics that gain traction fast (yep, it’s an infographic about infographics).
Be sure to check out the extra advice I’ve included below. I talk about how to create your own graphics with no design experience and strategies to make use of existing content and drive more traffic to your content.
Want to share this image on your site? Just saved the image above and upload it to your blog. But, be sure to include a credit link back to this post!
How do I create my own infographic if I don’t have any design experience?
This is a bit tricky because the design of your infographic will make a huge difference to how successful it is.
But, there are tools and platforms to help:
Canva – This is a free image editing tool used by millions of people. It’s easy to use and has pre-loaded graphics. Most graphics are free but you can buy others. Inside you’ll find all sorts of design templates which includes infographics. Inside the infographic template, you can pick out pre-made layouts and adjust them however you like.
Venngage – This tool is purpose-built to help you create infographics. It includes a large selection of templates, and has a free plan to help you get started.
Fiverr – Sometimes it’s more effective to outsource the design of your infographic. Fiverr is a low-cost option, but be prepared to spend more than 5$ to get a decent infographic. Be careful when searching for an infographic designer here, as with a lot of gigs, you have to search for a while to find the right supplier. You might just find a diamond in the rough.
PeoplePerHour – This is another site you can use to find designers. It’s a lot more expensive than Fiverr, but because you pay more, you’re likely to get better work. Still, it’s always possible to find designers that do poor work, so be sure to check out reviews and samples. The site is based around a pay per hour model, but if you check out the “hourlies” you’ll find designers that provide infographics at a one off cost.
When it comes to outsourcing in general, you get what you pay for.
It may take trial and error to find a decent designer.
The key is to make your brief as detailed as possible. Let the designer know EXACTLY what you are after.
Give them everything you want including and give them direction for the design.
The more they have to work with, the more inline it will be with your expectations.
How else can you give your infographic a boost?
The infographic above covers factors that are more quantifiable but what else can you do to move the needle and increase your chances of going viral?
Choose the right topic – This can make or break any infographic. If people just aren’t interested in a particular topic, your infographic could fall on its face. Think about what resonates best with your audience, what’s trending at the time, hot button topics, or which topics you know go down well.
Topics that have the possibility to illicit an emotional reaction have the potential to work very well.
Influencers – Crafting an infographic around influential people in your niche can work well.
When an influencer is featured alongside other big names, they’ll be more likely to share your content.
Smart promotion – There are plenty of ways to promote your infographic, but one that works incredibly well is blogger outreach. The idea is that you find bloggers in your niche and invite them to publish your infographic on their blog. This works best if you go for bloggers who you know already publish infographics.
Take it a step further by offering to write an intro along with the infographic.
Repurpose existing content – What happens when you’re stuck for ideas? You’ve got plenty of content on your blog already, so how about turning one of your existing posts into an infographic?
Try co-branded infographics – There are a few ways to do this. A while back I worked on a co-branded infographic with TweakYourBiz.com and 24Slides. I provided the content from an existing post, 24Slides designed it and TweakYourBiz.com hosted it. This got an extra 32,000+ eye-balls on my content, on top of the 7,000+ on my original post.
You don’t have to host it on another site, but if that site has a larger audience, it could work wonders. Either way, you have more people invested in the creation of the content, so you’ll be able to reach more people.
Conclusion
There’s no magic button that’ll make your infographic go viral.
And the truth is that some may not go viral at all.
But using the tips listed above, you will maximize your chances that your next infographic will grow your audience.
That’s all we’re really after though isn’t it?
Infographics can help you build your audience faster, and each time you publish one, you’re likely to grow your audience even further.
Eventually just publishing an infographic will be enough to earn more links and generate more traffic, but in the beginning, you need to be willing to put in the leg work to get it out there.