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8 Engaging Infographic Types & How To Create Them (+ 5 Free Tools)

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If done correctly, infographics are a great visual to grab the readers’ attention while effectively communicating key points you want them to focus on within your content.

There are numerous benefits to incorporating infographics that can help your marketing strategy and build brand authority.

First, it incentivizes readers to stop and focus on the information through its well-planned design highlighting key data.

It can also play a storytelling role and guide readers through a new process or viewpoint leading to your call to action.

A recent study shows that 57% of B2B marketers are incorporating infographics and charts into their marketing content.

Not only are infographics great ways to inform readers or persuade them, but they are easier to share across social media to help reach your target audience.

Generally, people like to take in bite-sized information, and this is a creative way to accomplish that.

Infographics are useful throughout many forms of marketing content, such as blog posts, webpages, landing pages, emails, and lead generators.

Anatomy Of An Infographic

Now that you know why they are so important for marketing, we’ll break down the different components of infographics, the valuable and effective types of infographics out there, and some free tools you can use to create them.

Eye-Catching Title And Subheadings

So, for the main parts of a compelling infographic, first, you have to select the topic you want to discuss.

Then, you can lay out the main topic and subtopics with their corresponding title and subheadings.

It’s crucial they are well thought out and descriptive, so you can quickly get across to your reader what you’re trying to present to them.

Background And Research

Next, you’ll need to brainstorm and gather background information or conduct research for your topic. This is a crucial part of the process since it’s the foundation of your infographic.

Make sure you’re pulling the right information to highlight for your infographic. This could include statistics, data, or important facts for the intention and retention of information for your post.

This data can come from internal information such as customer data or research you’ve already conducted, as well as quotes from thought leaders, industry experts, or any credible sources you find along your research journey. Just make sure to verify your sources.

Layout And Design

After you have all the information you need, you can select what you’d like to use and begin the layout and design. Make sure to include attention-grabbing graphics, images, or icons.

Graphics are helpful and aesthetically pleasing elements to enhance your infographics.

It’s vital to ensure that the theme is consistent, not just throughout the infographic’s layout but also within your chosen information.

Also, make sure you keep your brand elements in mind when designing your infographic.

Now, we’ll dive into some best practices for designing an infographic and then run through the different types of infographics that can help make your data shine.

Best Practices For Designing Infographics

Below are some valuable aspects to keep in mind when designing an infographic:

  •   Pick your target audience and tailor your infographic to that audience.
  •   Determine an infographic type that best suits the information.
  •   Choose a designer or create a wireframe.
  •   Select your key performance indicators.
  •   Marketing your infographic with appealing headlines.
  •   Create a good meta description or initial copy to draw people in.
  •   Make sure you can easily share and locate your infographic.
  •   Review your infographic and get feedback from team members.

Infographic Types And When to Use Them

Understanding how and when to use the following infographics can help you better engage with your readers and make sure they are focusing on the information you want them to remember.

Here are the different types of infographics you should consider:

1. Timeline

Timeline infographics are perfect for showing the different steps to planning an event, creating a storyline for a topic, or presenting a timeline of important milestones your company has hit recently.

In addition, they are great for showing critical points in work history or when you want to further discuss projections of an event.

If you’re trying to show how long a project will take, you can show when each goal or aspect of a project will be completed in a timeline infographic.

For example, you might want to use this type if you have an upcoming project and want to detail the dates for milestones along the way to represent how that project will come to fruition visually.

If you choose to create a timeline infographic, you might want to make the dates or points stand out by using different font sizes and connecting each date with a line.

In addition, you can use different colors to differentiate between the date and subtext.

2. Statistical

Statistical infographics help your readers better understand and retain specific data points or statistics that are key to the information you’re providing.

This can be helpful to highlight information to prove a point and convince your reader with quality resources.

Again, this puts the communication effort on the numbers, making them work in your favor.

If your company recently completed a study and wants to showcase the outcome or attach an infographic to a case study to quickly highlight the data, a statistical infographic could be a great way to do so.

3. Flowchart

Like the timeline infographic, a flowchart breaks down the main components of an event or project but focuses more on the actual steps or significant points along the path to completing a task.

It’s a visualized and summarized representation of key ideas. This can be useful if you are trying to simplify explaining a process and help your readers better understand each step.

If you choose a flowchart infographic, ensure that each step has cues to the next step.

For example, you can separate subtitles and content with different colors and sized fonts. This can also be helpful if you’re trying to communicate a new process within your company, need to create a how-to guide, or show a hierarchy.

4. Informational

An informational infographic could be perfect if you want to make a couple of key points pop.

It would also be helpful if you’re going to communicate an overview of an event or new idea. It’s a great way to summarize or give the main points to a more in-depth topic.

It can be helpful to include these types of infographics in a blog post to help quickly and effectively relay information to your readers where you plan on providing future content about a particular concept.

The title and subheadings are key here; they need to be descriptive and engaging if you’re explaining a complex topic.

You can help differentiate the points by putting them in blocked sections with different colors. Although, don’t go overboard, just select a couple of colors for the infographic’s theme.

5. Comparison

Comparison infographics are perfect for comparing two different products or services.

For example, you can compare your company’s product to another or describe the pros and cons of why a product would work better in one situation over another.

Comparison infographics are also great for producing a list of some of the positives and negatives of a viewpoint or if you want to compare different stances on a topic.

But, it’s important to keep the information concise so as not to overwhelm the reader with too much data.

6. List

People often create to-do or checklists in their daily life to keep track of what they want to accomplish, and this can transfer over to helpful infographics.

For example, if you want to create a summary or list of tips or main points on a topic, a list infographic can be handy.

For a list infographic, keep the information succinct and straightforward; remember this is short-form content.

Also, group related information together in the layout to avoid confusing the points.

7. Maps

Map infographics are perfect for presenting information on an accumulation of locations of a business in different geographic areas or providing a quick rundown of demographics.

You can use this infographic as a visual view of the world or a specific country or city to display important information about a region.

Suppose your company has completed a survey or study on a particular region and has valuable information and statistics they want to showcase, then this infographic could be helpful.

A company can also use this infographic to show areas they service or locations for an upcoming event.

8. Interactive

If you want to slowly bring readers through a more complex idea or process, then an interactive infographic can help you complete this task.

This infographic is excellent for guiding readers on a journey while providing smaller chunks of data at a time that they can go back and forth between on their own time.

If there are key points in the infographic that readers want to learn about first, they can select those before exploring further.

It is essential to think about the user experience here to ensure they are guided to the call to action on your infographic.

5 Free Infographic Tools

The following are some fantastic tools to make effective infographics with numerous features and customizable templates.

It’s important to find a user-friendly platform that can help you easily create influential infographics, so if you’re interested in using an infographic tool, consider these:

Takeaway

Infographics are a great creative tool for content creation and marketing.

They are a compelling way to tell a story and help your readers retain the key information you want them to for a content piece.

It’s important to take the time to choose the right infographic and focus on each phase of the design process to make sure they’re effective.

Remember to start with the goal of your infographic, and then it’ll be easier to figure out which one is best for the content and the types of graphics and design elements that would be most helpful.

This visual storytelling is one of the best ways to efficiently communicate with your readers.

More Resources:


Featured Image: alexdndz/Shutterstock

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Google Updating Cryptocurrency Advertising Policy For 2024

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Google Updating Cryptocurrency Advertising Policy For 2024

Google published an announcement of upcoming changes to their cryptocurrency advertising policies and advises advertisers to make themselves aware of the changes and prepare to be in compliance with the new requirements.

The upcoming updates are to Google’s Cryptocurrencies and related products policy for the advertisement of Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts. The changes are set to take effect on January 29th, 2024.

Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts are financial products that enable investors to trade shares in trusts holding substantial amounts of digital currency. These trusts provide investors with equity in cryptocurrencies without having direct ownership. They are also an option for creating a more diversified portfolio.

The policy updates by Google that are coming in 2024 aim to describe the scope and requirements for the advertisement of Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts. Advertisers targeting the United States will be able to promote these products and services as long as they abide by specific policies outlined in the updated requirements and that they also obtain certification from Google.

The updated policy changes are not limited to the United States. They will apply globally to all accounts advertising Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts.

Google’s announcement also reminded advertisers of their obligation for compliance to local laws in the areas where the ads are targeted.

Google’s approach for violations of the new policy will be to first give a warning before imposing an account suspension.

Advertisers that fail to comply with the updated policy will receive a warning at least seven days before a potential account suspension. This time period provides advertisers with an opportunity to fix non-compliance issues and to get back into compliance with the revised guidelines.

Advertisers are encouraged to refer to Google’s documentation on “About restricted financial products certification.”

The deadline for the change in policy is January 29th, 2024. Cryptocurrency Coin Trusts advertisers will need to pay close attention to the updated policies in order to ensure compliance.

Read Google’s announcement:

Updates to Cryptocurrencies and related products policy (December 2023)

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SEO Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2024

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SEO Trends You Can’t Ignore In 2024

Most SEO trends fade quickly. But some of them stick and deserve your attention.

Let’s explore what those are and how to take advantage of them.

If you give ChatGPT a title and ask it to write a blog post, it will—in seconds.

This is super impressive, but there are a couple of issues:

  • Everyone else using ChatGPT is creating the same content. It’s the same for users of other GPT-powered AI writing tools, too—which is basically all of them.
  • The content is extremely dull. Sure, you can ask ChatGPT to “make it more entertaining,” but it usually overcompensates and hands back a cringe version of the same boring content.

In the words of Gael Breton:

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t use AI to write entire articles. They’ll be boring as heck. Instead, use it as a creative sparring partner to help you write better content and automate monotonous tasks.

For example, you can ask ChatGPT To write an outline from a working title and a list of keywords (which you can pull from Ahrefs)—and it does a pretty decent job.

Prompt:

Create an outline for a post entitled “[working title]” based on these keywords: [list]

Result:

ChatGPT's outline for a blog post. Pretty good!ChatGPT's outline for a blog post. Pretty good!

When you’ve written your draft, you can ask to polish it in seconds by asking ChatGPT to proofread it.

ChatGPT proofreading my content and making it betterChatGPT proofreading my content and making it better

Then you can automate the boring stuff, like creating more enticing title tags…

ChatGPT writing enticing title tagsChatGPT writing enticing title tags

… and writing a meta description:

ChatGPT writing a meta descriptionChatGPT writing a meta description

If you notice a few months down the line that your content ranks well but hasn’t won the featured snippet, ChatGPT can help with that, too.

For example, Ahrefs tells us we rank in position 3 for “affiliate marketing” but don’t own the snippet.

Ahrefs showing featured snippets that we don't own, despite ranking in the top 3Ahrefs showing featured snippets that we don't own, despite ranking in the top 3

If we check Google, the snippet is a definition. Asking ChatGPT to simplify our definition may solve this problem.

ChatGPT rewriting a definition and making it betterChatGPT rewriting a definition and making it better

In short, there are a near-infinite number of ways to use ChatGPT (and other AI writing tools) to create better content. And all of them buck the trend of asking it to write boring, boilerplate articles from scratch.

Programmatic SEO refers to the creation of keyword-targeted pages in an automatic (or near automatic) way.

Nomadlist’s location pages are a perfect example:

Example of a page from NomadListExample of a page from NomadList

Each page focuses on a specific city and shares the same core information—internet speeds, cost, temperature, etc. All of this information is pulled programmatically from a database and the site gets an estimated 46k monthly search visits in total.

Estimated monthly search traffic to NomadListEstimated monthly search traffic to NomadList

Programmatic SEO is nothing new. It’s been around forever. It’s just the hot thing right now because AI tools like ChatGPT make it easier and more accessible than ever before.

The problem? As John Mueller pointed out on Twitter X, much of it is spam:

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t use programmatic SEO to publish insane amounts of spam that’ll probably get hit in the next Google update. Use it to scale valuable content that will stand the test of time.

For example, Wise’s currency conversion pages currently get an estimated 31.7M monthly search visits:

Estimated monthly search traffic to Wise's currently conversion pages (insane!)Estimated monthly search traffic to Wise's currently conversion pages (insane!)

This is because the content is actually useful. Each page features an interactive tool showing the live exchange rate for any amount…

The interactive currently conversion tool on Wise's pagesThe interactive currently conversion tool on Wise's pages

… the exchange rate over time…

The exchange rate over time graph on Wise's pagesThe exchange rate over time graph on Wise's pages

… a handy email notification option when the exchange rates exceed a certain amount…

The email notification option on Wise's pagesThe email notification option on Wise's pages

… handy conversion charts for popular amounts…

The handy conversion charts on Wise's pagesThe handy conversion charts on Wise's pages

… and a comparison of the cheapest ways to send money abroad in your chosen currency:

The useful comparison table on Wise's pagesThe useful comparison table on Wise's pages

It doesn’t matter that all of these pages use the same template. The data is exactly what you want to see when you search [currency 1] to [currency 2].

That’s probably why Wise ranks in the top 10 for over 66,000 of these keywords:

Wise's keyword rankings for currency conversion pagesWise's keyword rankings for currency conversion pages

Looking to take advantage of programmatic content in 2024 like Wise? Check out the guide below.

People love ChatGPT because it answers questions fast and succinctly, so it’s no surprise that generative AI is already making its way into search.

For example, if you ask Bing for a definition or how to do something basic, AI will generate an answer on the fly right there in the search results.

Bing's search results for "definition of mental health"Bing's search results for "definition of mental health"
Bing's search results for "how to add drop down list in google sheets"Bing's search results for "how to add drop down list in google sheets"

In other words, thanks to AI, users no longer have to click on a search result for answers to simple questions. It’s like featured snippets on steroids.

This might not be a huge deal right now, but when Google’s version of this (Search Generative Experience) comes out of beta, many websites will see clicks fall off a cliff.

How to take advantage of this SEO trend

Don’t invest too much in topics that generative AI can easily answer. You’ll only lose clicks like crazy to AI in the long run. Instead, start prioritizing topics that AI will struggle to answer.

How do you know which topics it will struggle to answer? Try asking ChatGPT. If it gives a good and concise answer, it’s clearly an easy question.

For example, there are hundreds of searches for how to calculate a percentage in Google Sheets every month in the US:

Estimated monthly search volume for "google sheets percentage formula" via Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerEstimated monthly search volume for "google sheets percentage formula" via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

If you ask ChatGPT for the solution, it gives you a perfect answer in about fifty words.

ChatGPT's answer to the Google Sheets percentage calculation formulaChatGPT's answer to the Google Sheets percentage calculation formula

This is the perfect example of a topic where generative AI will remove the need to click on a search result for many.

That’s probably not going to be the case for a topic like this:

Example of a topic that AI shouldn't impact too muchExample of a topic that AI shouldn't impact too much

Sure. Generative AI might be able to tell you how to create a template—but it can’t make one for you. And even if it can in the future, it will never be a personal finance expert with experience. You’ll always have to click on a search result for a template created by that person.

These are the kinds of topics to prioritize in 2024 and beyond.

Sidenote.

None of this means you should stop targeting “simple” topics altogether. You’ll always be able to get some traffic from them. My point is not to be obsessed with ranking for keywords whose days are numbered. Prioritize topics with long-term value instead.

Bonus: 3 SEO trends to ignore in 2024

Not all SEO trends move the needle. Here are just a few of those trends and why you should ignore them.

People are using voice search more than ever

In 2014, Google revealed that 41% of Americans use voice search daily. According to research by UpCity, that number was up to 50% as of 2022. I haven’t seen any data for 2023 yet, but I’d imagine it’s above 50%.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

75% of voice search results come from a page ranking in the top 3, and 40.7% come from a featured snippet. If you’re already optimizing for those things, there’s not much more you can do.

People are using visual search for shopping more than ever

In 2022, Insider Intelligence reported that 22% of US adults have shopped with visual search (Google Lens, Bing Visual Search, etc.). That number is up from just 15% in 2021.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

Much like voice search, there’s no real way to optimize for visual search. Sure, it helps to have good quality product images, optimized filenames and alt text, and product schema markup on your pages—but you should be doing this stuff anyway as it’s been a best practice since forever.

People are using Bing more than ever before

Bing’s Yusuf Mehdi announced in March 2023 that the search engine had surpassed 100M daily active users for the first time ever. This came just one month after the launch of AI-powered Bing.

Why you should ignore this SEO trend

Bing might be more popular than ever, but its market share still only stands at around ~3% according to estimates by Statcounter. Google’s market share stands at roughly 92%, so that’s the one you should be optimizing for.

Plus, it’s often the case that if you rank in Google, you also rank in Bing—so it really doesn’t deserve any focus.

Final thoughts

Keeping your finger on the pulse and taking advantage of trends makes sense, but don’t let them distract you from the boring stuff that’s always worked: find what people are searching for > create content about it > build backlinks > repeat.

Got questions? Ping me on Twitter X.



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Mozilla VPN Security Risks Discovered

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Mozilla VPN Security Risks Discovered

Mozilla published the results of a recent third-party security audit of its VPN services as part of it’s commitment to user privacy and security. The survey revealed security issues which were presented to Mozilla to be addressed with fixes to ensure user privacy and security.

Many search marketers use VPNs during the course of their business especially when using a Wi-Fi connection in order to protect sensitive data, so the  trustworthiness of a VNP is essential.

Mozilla VPN

A Virtual Private Network (VPN), is a service that hides (encrypts) a user’s Internet traffic so that no third party (like an ISP) can snoop and see what sites a user is visiting.

VPNs also add a layer of security from malicious activities such as session hijacking which can give an attacker full access to the websites a user is visiting.

There is a high expectation from users that the VPN will protect their privacy when they are browsing on the Internet.

Mozilla thus employs the services of a third party to conduct a security audit to make sure their VPN is thoroughly locked down.

Security Risks Discovered

The audit revealed vulnerabilities of medium or higher severity, ranging from Denial of Service (DoS). risks to keychain access leaks (related to encryption) and the lack of access controls.

Cure53, the third party security firm, discovered and addressed several risks. Among the issues were potential VPN leaks to the vulnerability of a rogue extension that disabled the VPN.

The scope of the audit encompassed the following products:

  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for macOS
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Linux
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Windows
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for iOS
  • Mozilla VPN Qt6 App for Androi

These are the risks identified by the security audit:

  • FVP-03-003: DoS via serialized intent
  • FVP-03-008: Keychain access level leaks WG private key to iCloud
  • VP-03-010: VPN leak via captive portal detection
  • FVP-03-011: Lack of local TCP server access controls
  • FVP-03-012: Rogue extension can disable VPN using mozillavpnnp (High)

The rogue extension issue was rated as high severity. Each risk was subsequently addressed by Mozilla.

Mozilla presented the results of the security audit as part of their commitment to transparency and to maintain the trust and security of their users. Conducting a third party security audit is a best practice for a VPN provider that helps assure that the VPN is trustworthy and reliable.

Read Mozilla’s announcement:
Mozilla VPN Security Audit 2023

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Meilun

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