Interactive Content: Building strong links via infographics.

July 8, 2013

In response to the growing need to get creative in the link building world, our content team has been putting a lot more effort into developing Infographics as part of the outreach process.

The offer of a resource with great data and a huge visual impact is something that’s useful to both the bloggers we want to work with and their readership. Ultimately, it’s a more engaging method than standard Guest Posting.

We tested our theory with our friends at ppcgb.com, who specialise in parts and accessories for performance cars.

I reached out to autoblog.com, an AOL-affiliate in the Auto industry, and we worked up something that fit with both their editorial style, and the needs of PPCGB. At our end, we researched the facts and got the infographic made up. They then wrote the story and broke it as news.

the cost of motoring compared worldwide v2

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/05/29/infographic-the-cost-of-motoring-around-the-world/

The primary response was fantastic.

Socially:

Facebook Shares: 329

Tweets: 100

Google+ +1s: 30

On-Page Comments: 61

These are great figures and it shows that infographics are exactly the sort of thing that make a big impact socially. The big benefit of social success is a boost in visitors to the page, meaning an increase in click-throughs and a generally stronger link.

The secondary response was where the real magic happened.

Backlinks

Dozens of pages ‘borrowed’ the infographic, and after a bit of nudging via email and Twitter, they all supplied proper author credits to PPCGB and ultimately contributed to a fantastic link profile.

More than that, high-authority domains from around the world found a use for the infographic, each focussing on a different aspect of the information (examples below). That’s one of the major benefits of dealing with infographics as a platform: as long as the information is laid out simply and is visually stimulating; it has universal appeal.

The Greek version of Autoblog:

http://www.autoblog.gr/2013/06/01/infographic-the-cost-of-owning-a-car-world-wide/

‘Auto News’: A Russian car blog

http://autonews.autoua.net/novosti/issledovateli-izuchili-stoimost-vladeniya-avto-v-r.html

‘Carplace’: A Portguese lifestyle website

http://carplace.virgula.uol.com.br/infografico-mostra-custo-de-ter-um-carro-ao-redor-do-mundo/

‘Niconico’: A Japanese Pop Culture website

http://ch.nicovideo.jp

Overall, we’ve been able to prove the power of infographics, and undeniably, people love them.

BUT…

Just like anything in the world of digital marketing, change is constant and there is always a need to think one step ahead. There’s been a lot of talk lately that the next updates to Google’s algorithms will factor in methods such as infographics, so we’re currently working on ways to drive traffic and links directly to our client’s sites.

We’re currently working on building resource-type static pages, which answer big industry questions. ‘Definitive Guides’ and ‘How tos’ as well as entertaining and engaging content which is purpose-built to make a big impact on social media.

We’re always looking to push the limits and create more engaging content to get people spending time with each brand, so get in touch to talk about a Content Marketing strategy to suit your brand.