Do Infographics Help SEO? (A Deep Dive Into The Pros & Cons)

In today’s digital landscape, where content is king, infographics have become a mighty tool in a marketer’s arsenal. These visually appealing data representations not only have the power to engage audiences but also hold potential SEO benefits. However, is everything about using infographics positive, or are there drawbacks that need consideration as well? Let’s take a deep dive into the pros and cons of using infographics for SEO purposes.

The Pros of Using Infographics for SEO

Enhanced User Experience

Infographics break down complex information and present it in a digestible format, significantly improving user experience. Websites that prioritize UX often see increased user interaction, lower bounce rates, and longer session times – all positive signals to search engines.

Viral Sharing Potential

Infographics are highly shareable. When designed effectively, they can go viral, earning your site social signals and backlinks, which are critical for SEO. According to research, infographics are shared and liked on social media three times more than any other type of content.

High-Quality Backlinks

The visually striking nature of infographics often leads to other sites linking back to the original source, granting your website high-quality backlinks. This not only diversifies your link profile but also boosts domain authority – a big green light in the eyes of many search engines.

Brand Awareness and Recall

An infographic can significantly increase brand visibility and recall because it often includes a logo, brand colors, or messaging. As more sites feature your infographic, your brand reach expands, indirectly supporting your SEO through increased search volumes for your brand name.

Accessibility and Inclusivity

Infographics cater to both visual learners and people with disabilities, like those using screen readers, when accompanied by alt text. This inclusive approach can play into search engine algorithms that prioritize accessible content.

The Cons of Using Infographics for SEO

Design Costs and Skills Required

Creating a compelling infographic requires design skills and/or the budget to hire a professional designer. It can be resource-intensive, as producing high-quality visuals is more costly and time-consuming than plain text content.

Over-Simplification of Information

There’s a fine line between simplification and over-simplification. An infographic that dumbs down information too much can mislead its audience or leave out crucial details. This potentially leads to dissatisfaction and decreased trust.

SEO Technicalities

While infographics can be appealing, they typically contain text within an image, which search engines can’t read as easily as HTML text. To mitigate this, you must ensure proper use of alt text and include a transcript of the infographic’s content to make it SEO-friendly.

Mobile Responsiveness

If not designed with responsiveness in mind, infographics can be hard to read on smaller devices, leading to a poor user experience. Since Google’s shift to mobile-first indexing, this could adversely affect your SEO efforts.

Risk of Irrelevance

An infographic must be highly relevant to your audience to be effective. There’s a risk of spending considerable resources on an infographic that doesn’t resonate with your target demographic or isn’t tied closely enough to your content strategy.

Best Practices for Using Infographics in SEO

If you decide to incorporate infographics into your SEO strategy, here are some best practices to follow:

Optimize for Search Engines

Use descriptive file names, alt attributes, and support the infographic with crawlable text to ensure search engines can index the content. Including an HTML transcript of the text you used can benefit both accessibility and indexability by search engines.

Prioritize Quality and Relevance

Ensure that your infographics are of the highest quality, both in terms of design and information accuracy. They should also be highly relevant and valuable to your target audience.

Ensure Responsiveness

Design your infographics so they are easily viewable on various devices. Tools like scalable vector graphics (SVG) can be useful for maintaining quality across different screen sizes.

Use Infographics to Complement Your Content

Rather than building pages that only contain an infographic, use them to complement comprehensive articles that tackle a subject in-depth. This approach capitalizes on the benefits of both text and graphics for SEO.

Promote Your Infographics

Share your infographics across social media platforms, with bloggers in your niche, and on infographic directories. Promotion increases the likelihood of shares and backlinks, amplifying the potential SEO benefits.

Track Performance

Like any other SEO strategy, it’s crucial to track the performance of your infographics. Use analytical tools to monitor metrics such as views, shares, backlinks, and ultimately, their impact on your site’s traffic and rankings.

Conclusion

Infographics can be a double-edged sword in the field of SEO. While they have the ability to transform your content’s appeal and drive significant engagement, they come with potential setbacks that demand a strategic approach. However, when executed correctly, the pros often outweigh the cons. By optimizing for search engines, targeting relevance, and following best practices, infographics can serve as a powerful component of your SEO strategy.

Essentially, infographics should not be your sole strategy but rather an integral part of a broader, multi-faceted SEO game plan. With the right mix of quality content, technical optimisation, and user-focused design, infographics can enhance your SEO efforts and contribute to your overall online success.