Characteristics That Make Infographics Go From Good, to Great

Infographics do what scores of boring data can never do: garner attention. When an infographic is done right, it sums up dense statistical information into bite-size chunks that can be easily understood in a matter of minutes.

Rather than reading through reports full of jargon and numbers, the reader can instead look at images and graphics paired with short snippets of words to gain understanding of the material depicted. No wonder they’re a big hit!

Still, not all infographics are good ones. If done poorly, they can be nearly as boring as the original data. Don’t make a boring infographic. Instead, read about these characteristics that will help you take your infographics from good to great.

Accuracy

If you think design is the primary characteristic of a great infographic, think again. The most important detail is to ensure that the facts and figures presented are accurate. Nothing is worse than an infographic that goes viral yet contains inaccurate information. It’s not only embarrassing for the creator, but for everyone who shares it. To avoid this embarrassment, be extra careful when handling data.

Design

Okay, so it may not be the most important element of an infographic, but the design is pretty important. It’s tempting to use an infographic generator with stock images to throw together a visual, but it’s a bad idea. Readers want to see fresh images that accurately highlight and reflect the data being presented.

Choose a designer with an eye for detail who can create sharp, succinct images to summarize key points. The overall design should have the perfect balance of words and images and shouldn’t look too cluttered.

Originality

Some topics are done to death already. Does the world really need another infographic on how to create the perfect blog post or the benefits of twitter for business? They’ve been done, and they’ve been done well.

Unless you have something new and groundbreaking to bring to the table, don’t cover the same material. Think of an original idea to present to readers, such as statistics about online gambling Delaware. This ensures that your information is valuable and also increases the chances that your infographic will be shared and used a lot.

Timeliness

An infographic about mobile users and Christmas sales will be very timely in the months of November, December and January. You can even throw October in there for the folks who like to start early. But an infographic on Christmas mobile sales will be received poorly in April when most people are thinking about Easter.

Similarly, a visual about Google’s original Penguin updates is now untimely considering that they’ve launched Penguin 2.0. Present information during a time that it will be useful to the most people.

A great infographic can draw traffic, inspire discussion and even get a viral buzz going on blogs and social media. You can’t just slap a bit of text on some graphics, though. Use these tips to make your infographic stand out.