Last Updated on by Artem K.
Contrary to the popular belief – infographics not only work…they rock!
We are a link building service that works with E-commerce SEO link building and SaaS link building.
I wrote this guide after working with a bunch of related projects.
This means that what I am about to share with you below is tried and tested.
Tired of reading?
Watch me talk you through this entire post AND give you even more details:
Why Infographic Link Building is So F-ing Awesome?
In my opinion, this type of link building has the highest potential ROI.
Because you can get in crazy authoritative places that do not accept guest posts (nor do they accept any other kind of pitch).
Nor do they accept anything less that a cool story.
Infographics also work in difficult niches because difficult niches are super boring and everyone is happy when they get some colors splashing (I am serious).
The Notorious Infographic Link Building in 5 Basic Steps (+ Bonus)
Follow these steps and you will get spectacular results….
Step 1: Find An Explosive Topic That People Care About
The best way to do it is by using:
- Ahrefs Content Explorer
- Buzzsumo
- Google News (I love this one)
What are you looking for?
Something along these lines:
- A controversial topic
- A listicle-type article
- New research
Very important: the theme you find must be popular.
How do you know if something is popular?
- Method 1: Check the number of referring domains (you need Ahrefs here) pointing to the article (great for listicle-type evergreen-ish info content)
- Method 2: Just see what’s trending in the news (you can also check Google Trends)
Real Example (from a former client)
They sell CBD oil to people.
We figured that there was a lot to learn about CBD and that the entire industry is shady (controversial topic).
We also figured that there are many number-ish details we could share with the audience (and numbers are awesome for visual representation).
As a result we came up with this awesome infographic which got featured in a bunch of places with very little outreach.
Step 2: Fill Infographic With Content
Now is the time to add some content to it.
It is also time to understand things like:
- Your target audience
- Your content length
- Your colors
Your colors and target audience would have a lot in common.
They would also correlate with the topic you are talking about (that’s why our CBD visual above is green-ish).
No matter what you do – KISS! (don’t have too many different colors, don’t try to address eVeryOnE…pick someone instead).
When it comes to content length…
Keep.
It.
Short.
Short means – no more than 10 points (ideally, 3-7).
Do not have crazy walls of text!
This is why most infographics fail – they are too big and complicated.
The goal of the graphic is to make reading data a lot easier.
Here is the Word Doc I use for when giving assignments to our graphic designer – you can steal it now (File > Make a Copy).
Very Useful Tips:
- Try to have some sort of a number/statistic in every point. Just have numbers!
- Use research that someone else had already done but couldn’t make it look good (I love PubMed, ScienceDirect and basic News Articles)
Step 3: Find a no-BS Infographic Designer
You can use Upwork but I say – f*ck it (their commissions are massive).
Go to Craiglist and post a job there!
You will find amazing people to work with.
Notes of advice:
- Ask for previous works (before even doing anything))
- Ask for a free draft (once you give them a green light but still not sure); you can say that it’s to see whether they are going into right direction
- Prepay 50% via PayPal (I use this all the time when I hire a new person; both sides feel secure that way)
Now, more specifically about the hiring process…
When I was looking for a designer, I wrote something like this:
I know you are trying hard but I am not going to exhibit infographics in Reina Sofia in Madrid or even Centre Pompidou in Paris.
I just want a beautiful visual to represent my content.
The reasoning behind..
A lot of infographic designers try to exaggerate the amount of work they do by giving you crazy deadlines (e.g. it would take 1 week to come up with a concept and draw characters, another week to prepare a draft…jayzus, I am not Pixar!)
You should know that you can find the right person that will do an amazing job without all this “creative fluff” (I mean no disrespect but sensible creative people know that it’s hard to work with them at times).
We are building links here for goodness sake! 😎
So our goal here – find someone who:
- Can deliver things quickly-ish (7 or less days on average)
- Charges less than $200 (yeap, you might not be working with westerners)
- Has a style you yourself like (just see their portfolio)
- You enjoy talking to (trust your gut)
Step 4: Send Them the Project Outline
In my case this is the Doc file I shared with you above.
It makes life easier for everyone because:
- You have a standardized file your lovely designer gets used to over time
- You have a checklist (of some sort) to go through before submitting the project outline – it makes your process simple.
Sometimes I may also send them visuals I want them to steal from.
They are usually on a completely unrelated topic but there is something about them that I like (e.g. colors, composition, simplicity…)
Actively push them to ask you any questions they might have – this depends on you! 😉
After you get the first draft:
- Check for spelling mistakes and typos (very important and very common)
- Find anything you don’t like and possibly ask them to change things (but be careful because, chances are, you have no idea what you are talking about; whenever in doubt, just KISS!)
- Do not try to be (too) annoying asking for too many changes because it doesn’t really matter (you will be fine if it just looks good)
After, hopefully, a minimum amount of back and forth communication you will get your infographic as a PNG file.
Now is the time to pay your designer and move one to the next part…
Step 5: Pitch Your Infographic to Anyone Relevant
Not gonna say anything…
This IS a massive step!
Because if the subject of the infographic that you created is general enough that many people will be interested in it you can spend the next 6 months doing nothing else but promoting what you have just created.
Where do you pitch it?
- Reporters. Find people that covered similar topics in the past and pitch your visual to them.
- Relevant Websites. Got a visual on CBD? Just pitch it to every CBD blog there is!
- Relevant Websites that Accept Guest Posts. The first two should be your main focus but if you want to squeeze it all out, shoot for websites that actively accept guest posts.
A word of advice…
Go for massive sites!
The ROI with them is non-linear.
If you get accepted in one of them, you just win right away!
(At the time of writing we got a green light from DailyHive (and you can check what kind of a website that is) for one of our clients…just one single link of that caliber puts you so ahead of the competition!)
BONUS!
> How to Pitch?
I recommend you reach out with 2 emails:
- Initial pitch
- 1 Follow-up email (if you don’t hear from them)
—-
Initial Email would say something like:
Hey [Name],
Just saw your post/article on [whatever they wrote about] here – [URL].
Are you planning to write on something similar?
We designed a cool infographic on [topic of your work].
It talks about:
- [one]
- [two]
- [three
You can check it out here [URL].
Would be awesome to hear back from you.
—-
Follow-Up (assuming it’s the same email thread):
Just one last friendly bump and you won’t hear from me 🙂
If you think there is a chance the infographic will fit your next topic, just take it!
A nice time of the day to you [Name].
Conclusion
Infographics work and it’s the idea behind that matters.
If the idea is awesome, you will kill it…
If the idea is awesome but you were unlucky with timing, you won’t succeed just as well (hence checking the news is a good idea).
P.S. We offer infographic link building as a service so if you want to try getting some very special links, then we can help – get in touch. 😎
Other cool resources you can check out:
- How to Get High‐Quality Backlinks With the TRUST Formula [Case Study] (brilliant case study)
- How to Get Backlinks With Guestographics (the general concept)