As you might be able to tell from its name, an infographic is a way of sharing information in a graphic form. Infographics are graphic forms of data that are created to be visually appealing and easy to read and digest. While certain forms of business have used infographics for quite some time, in recent years they have grown in popularity because of computer technology, the internet, and social media. These tools make them easier to create and also easier to disseminate.

Who Uses Infographics and Why

Many businesses and organizations use inforgraphics to present information in visual, small sized chunks that make it easy for people looking at the information to take it all in. We’ve grown so used to seeing infographics online and in print publications that most of us don’t stop to think about what makes them so effective. According to Customer Magnetism, a digital and social marketing group, a good infographic is thirty times more likely to be read than text alone.

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What constitutes good infographics? The answer seems to be a well-designed combination of words, numbers, and graphic images. The numbers are usually statistics or data that can be quickly read and absorbed. When well-designed, infographics can be very eye-catching and draw readers in to glance quickly through the information presented. In this age of quick, almost instant information, infographics can help businesses engage with potential customers in ways that text alone does not. Infographics can also help companies who use them to show up higher in search engine searches online, which means more people are likely to click through and visit their pages. Beyond working as a marketing tool for potential customers, they can also prove useful as communication to people seeking certain specific kinds of information, perhaps about the weather or about political trends. For this reason, you will often find infographics in magazines and newspapers. More recently, some teachers are finding infographics helpful tools to share information and inspire conversation in the classroom.

What Makes Infographics Engaging

Because so many people use them for so many reasons, you can easily find tips for designing inforgraphics. Different people have different ideas about what makes one effective, and sometimes how you make them will depend on what you’re seeking to communicate and why. Giving your page an interesting title, using a background that isn’t white, including statistics and other numbers and strong but minimal text seem to be some of the tips you will find. There are now online tools that allow you to create infographics, sometimes for free and sometimes for a fee, in a variety of forms. These may include posters, timelines, business reports, or pages specifically designed with blogs or other social media platforms in mind.

Living in an information age, it can be hard to avoid infographics, which have become a common form of presenting information visually. Whether you are a business person seeking new customers or a teacher wanting to get across information to students in a creative way, an infographic can be an effective way to engage people today.