How to Make an Infographic (With Examples)

45% of marketers say infographics are their favorite media format. It’s a quick, digestible way to share information with any audience.

Sadly, most companies think they’re hard to make, so they miss out on their benefits. In reality, making infographics is easier than ever—with no compromise on quality.

In this guide, you’ll learn why infographics are so useful, how to make them, and how to distribute them.

Why Create Infographics?

Infographics are graphic summaries of information. They use minimal text and maximum imagery to explain complex ideas in a quick, digestible way.

18% of B2B companies and 13% of B2C companies use them because of their powerful benefits:

• Increased shareability. Original graphics simplify difficult concepts. This provides the “a-ha!” moments that inspire sharing.
• Greater exposure. Your graphics will appear in image search results (Google, Pinterest, etc.) relevant to their topic, leading to more exposure.
• Better storytelling.  Infographics help you explain your ideas in a clearer, more compelling way.
• Natural backlinks. Whenever other writers find your graphic useful, they will link to it and cite it.
• Thought leadership. Original graphics establish your brand as a thought leader and boost credibility. People know you’re serious about your professionalism if you can produce original, high-quality content.
• Better search rankings. Google looks for content providing a variety of rich media. One of the best forms of media is infographics, which provide quick and easy access to information.

How to Make an Infographic

24% of organizations wish they could make more infographics. The truth is they’re much easier to make than most people think.

Here’s how to make effective infographics without technical knowledge or outsourcing:

1. Pick an Idea or Topic

Your infographic is only as good as the idea it represents. Readers won’t get any of the benefits described above if it doesn’t provide value.

Here’s how you can reliably find useful topics to summarize as infographics:

Summarize an Industry Study

Infographics are an excellent way to present the hard work you put into your original industry study. Here’s an infographic that summarizes a data firm’s entire industry marketing report:

By turning industry reports into infographics like this, boring reports become fun to read. The information above is much easier to understand compared to a long data report.

Reinforce Blog Content

A visual aid can help you explain complex ideas in your blog posts. Since infographics are so comprehensive, they’re perfect for this.

Target a Keyword

The right infographic can rank for a keyword all on its own.

In the below example, HubSpot created a post just to feature an infographic. Rather than being a visual aid for text, the infographic acts as content by itself.

Answer FAQs

Visuals are a great way to provide clear answers. Infographics let you list out every common question about a topic with concise responses.

Create a Tutorial

You can simplify confusing instructions by turning them into a multi-step infographic.

Create a Timeline

A timeline infographic is a great way to discuss topics spanning a certain period of time. Examples include explaining your company’s history, the evolution of a topic, or recapping a historical era.

Infographics Topics to Avoid

In some cases, infographic formats don’t work well for certain topics, and you’d be better off with text or video formats. In general, you should avoid topics that are too complex to translate into infographics, like highly technical content (detailed instruction manuals, coding rules, etc.).

2. Identify Your Audience

Like content, infographics aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. To know what information and details to include, you need to understand your target audience.

For example, a beginner audience will need information that’s obvious to advanced viewers. Managers will only need insight into more advanced topics, and so on.

3. Collect Data

With your audience and topic in mind, it’s time to gather and organize all the data you’ll need for your infographic.

This data can be yours, or it can come from a third party. If you use third-party data, be sure to cite it.

4. Find a Template (Optional)

Using software like InDesign, you can create your own infographic from scratch. But you’re much better off using software like Canva, which has an endless number of templates.

Imagine you’re creating a timeline infographic. You can search “timeline” on Canva and find thousands of fully customizable timeline graphics.

You can still make your infographic from scratch, but it’ll take a lot of time and skill. Templates make things much easier.

5. Design Your Infographic

If you decide to design your infographic from scratch, it’s time to gather all your data and start designing. Include these essential elements:

• Title. Tell people what your graphic teaches them with a descriptive headline.
• Graphics. Adding graphics like arrows, symbols, and other designs makes your infographic more readable. When you don’t use effective graphics, you’re missing the visual cues that make infographics so effective.
• Text. An infographic is obviously not all text. For simplicity, you shouldn’t include more text than necessary, but a certain amount is needed to cover the topic well.

Make sure you have a good design by looking up inspiration for your infographic. For example, a search for “FAQ infographics” turns up tons of FAQ examples.

And if you’re using a template, all you have to do is fill in the information you gathered.

But no matter how you design, there are a few basic rules to follow:

• Visible font size. Make your fonts big enough so everyone can read them. People won’t read your infographic if they have to squint to read it.
• Comfortable spacing. Your infographic can’t be cramped. Leave adequate spacing between graphics and text for best readability.
• Comprehensiveness. Don’t be afraid of making an infographic long. A good infographic fully satisfies the reader’s curiosity.

6. Branding and Adding Sources

Don’t forget to add your logo somewhere on your infographic once you’re done. And if you use a third-party source, remember to cite them.

How to Distribute Infographics

Creating your infographic is only half the battle—getting eyes on it is the other. 

Here are the most effective strategies for getting your infographic seen by as many people as possible:

• Share with your email list
• Offer as a download in exchange for contact information
• Share on social media
• Ask other sites to include it in their content
• Create a blog post about the same topic as your infographic and include it
• Include it in a webinar or other live event
• Add it to existing blog content and landing pages

Best Tools for Making and Creating Infographics

Without the right tools, creating quality infographics is impossible. Here are the best options available:

1. Canva

Canva is a web-based design tool that streamlines the entire design process. You can select and customize one of the thousands of templates.

Almost every element is customizable, and you can swap colors and fonts to get exactly the look you want. It’s also got a minimal learning curve, making it one of the best infographic design tools for any audience.

There is a premium version, but its free version is more than enough to create quality infographics.

2. Visme

As with Canva, Visme is a design tool designed for both novices and advanced users to create professional visuals.

Its drag-and-drop editor makes creating graphs and other advanced elements easier than with Canva. And while it doesn’t have as many templates as Canva, there’s still plenty to choose from.

3. Adobe Express

Although Adobe has more advanced tools like Photoshop and InDesign, they designed Express for users who want to create quality designs quickly.

While Adobe Express is free, editing is more challenging than Canva and Visme.

4. Adobe InDesign

InDesign is Adobe’s flagship design tool. You can create highly detailed and complex infographics with its advanced features.

For advanced designers who don’t mind spending more time on infographics, InDesign is a great choice. However, InDesign isn’t really necessary in most cases.

Even it’s few features that can’t be replaced by a more streamlined tool like Canva aren’t worth the effort an InDesign graphic takes. It also has a steeper learning curve than other tools, so learning how to use all its features can be challenging.

Lastly, InDesign isn’t free. To use it outside of free trials, you’ll need an Adobe Cloud subscription.

Best Examples of Infographics

In the next section, we’ll show you infographics explaining complex ideas in easy-to-understand graphics. These examples will help you create infographics offering rich value to your audience.

English Literature Timeline

This infographic shows the exhaustive history of English literature in an easy-to-follow format.

As you can see, it’s okay to collect a lot of information for an infographic. A properly formatted design can handle almost any volume of data (within reason).

Steps to Career Development

This example explains how you can speed up your career development. By using block graphics, it reduces a detailed guide into easy-to-follow chunks.

It’s a prime example of how effective graphics can make complex concepts much more engaging.

Steps of Marketing

In a sleek, comprehensible way, this infographic shows you five steps to marketing.

A custom icon reinforces each step to the reader. This is highly effective since people process images much faster than text.

Packing Trip

This packing trip infographic is another example of graphically simplifying a lengthy process.

Digital Marketing Success

There’s no rule saying infographics have to be big. It’s okay to create graphics explaining simple concepts, as seen below.

Company Structure

Below is a smaller infographic explaining an example company’s structure. As you can see, infographics are highly versatile.

Brief Timeline

If you want to outline a shorter timeline, you can do it just like the infographic does below.

Make Your First Infographic Now

Infographics are the best way to explain tricky concepts in easy-to-understand terms. Video also does this well, but it’s not as convenient as infographics, because users have to sit and watch it.

With tools like Canva and Visme, creating infographics is easier than ever. Making one used to take hours of work and advanced design skills—now, anyone can do it in minutes.

Considering the power and simplicity of infographics, it’s time to start creating them. If you create and distribute them effectively, you’ll boost search visibility, engage more people, and grow your business.