How to Use Infographics to Enhance Your Small Business Website

This  post comes from guest author, Megan Totka, the Chief Editor for ChamberofCommerce.com.

An infographic is a creative, colorful way to display information that is relevant to your website. Many blogs and websites use infographics to help illustrate important points in their content. Some examples of information that might be included in an infographic would be statistics, flow charts and keywords. While some readers may appreciate reading well-written content, some may prefer the look and feel of an infographic, especially if they are more visual learners.

Infographics have many inherently interesting qualities. Most people who read small business websites are interested in facts and statistics. Presenting them in an infographic can be a fun and dynamic way to share information that might otherwise be dull or dry. The Small Business Tax infographic created by ChamberofCommerce.com is an example of how important information that may be considered dry reading is presented in a visually stimulating and interesting way.

Using infographics can have some other perks as well:

• Easily downloadable – readers of your site can easily save the infographic (they are often presented as .pdf or .jpeg files) and use it for future reference.
• Compelling – infographics scream “look at me!” in a very polite, interesting way. As a reader, once you spot an infographic, it’s hard to look away without studying it closely.
• Easily shared – since an infographic is relatively self-contained and presents a lot of information in one shot, it is easy to share with others who may be interested.
• Informative – an infographic can fit a ton of information into a relatively compact space. Instead of several paragraphs that need to be read to gain knowledge that has been presented, an infographic offers a lot of information in a small space.

Small businesses can utilize infographics in a variety of different ways. Infographics have the capability of going viral and have the ability to drive a lot of new traffic to your small business website. It’s important to be aware of this. Make sure that your website can handle a good deal of traffic. Also, it’s important to have other compelling content on your website that will keep readers coming back, and more importantly, actually buying or using your product or service.

Infographics can also be relatively inexpensive to add to your website or article. If you as a business owner or manager have experience with Photoshop or other graphic design programs, you can even make your own. Otherwise, many graphic design companies will make them for you if you provide all of the necessary information.

While using illustrations to convey information is not a new concept, the use of infographics has increased tremendously in the past few years. They make the web more visually interesting and are likely to experience even more exponential growth in the near future, especially with the advent of sites that are primarily visual (such as Pinterest or flickr). Small businesses should definitely consider using infographics to improve their offerings on websites and blogs.

Category: Guest Post, Infographics, Marketing, Website Tips