Congrats! You’ve decided to create an infographic for your business or organization.
Infographics are an excellent way to share tips and information as well as educate people on a range of subjects.
Illustrations in infographics make difficult topics easier to understand; people can quickly scan the images in your infographic.
The accompanying text adds value and provides more detail about your graphics.
I’m a big fan of infographics and have shared dozens of them over the years on this blog.
Personally, I like how infographics break down a particular topic through beautiful illustrations and text explanations.
And I’ve noticed the more popular and effective infographics have a good balance of images and text.
That’s why I was thrilled to find Visme’s 7 Steps to Writing Compelling Infographic Copy, sharing their tips on crafting meaningful copy for your infographic.
Check out the infographic to learn how you can write interesting copy for your infographic. Or, if you prefer to read, check out the text version of the infographic.
Created by Visme.
7 Steps for Writing Compelling Infographic Copy
1. Write a short and snappy headline.
Use numbers, adjectives, and keywords in your headline.
And don’t forget to be explicit about how your infographic will benefit the reader in the end.
2. Structure your infographic.
Every infographic can follow a structure that looks something like this:
- Introduction: Sum up what your infographic is about
- Section subheadings: Identify different topics within the infographic, and draw the reader from one topic to the next.
- Chart and graph labels: They’ll only consist of a few words
- Sources and footnotes: If you use other sources, it’s advisable to source them
3. Don’t forget to include branding.
Ensure your branding is included in the image itself. That can be a link back to your website, or more visual branding in your chosen colors or design schemes.
4. Don’t overload the graphics with text.
As a rule, you can’t have more text than images in an infographic. The average word count of an infographic is between 150 and 400 words.
5. Write a good introduction.
This is a couple of hundred words, at most, that explains the problem or topic covered and provides context.
If it goes over too many words, then you run the risk of them clicking away and finding something else to read.
6. Include explanatory narrative.
The images in your infographic are the “meat” of your visual, so the accompanying text should simply explain what the reader is seeing, not bring in new ideas.
7. Proofread everything you write.
If even one error slips by you and ends up in the image, it can be embarrassing at best.
At worst, it can actually change the meaning of your text altogether.
Please note that infographics can cause issues with providing sufficient alt text depending on the interface and potential limits on the size of an alt text field. Visually infographics can be very beneficial, but be sure to provide the equivalent information in alt text for a non-sighted person.
Hi Adam,
Thank you for your comment.
Yes, it’s true infographics can be a challenge for providing alternative text. I always recommend a text version of the infographic is included, as I did with this infographic, so everyone can access the information in the infographic.
This is a new resource for me. Thank you! I get a request once or twice a year in my job to make these to visually share about our services, but they are always a struggle between what content I’m provided, and agreeing on a design that is interesting along with branding. Something that will take practice and trial-and-error, I think.
Hi Amy,
You’re welcome. Another resource you might want to check out is Canva, which offers a free and paid plan. I was on the free plan for years, creating graphics, images, etc. for several sites. They have infographic templates you can use.