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It is not always easy to get and keep a reader’s attention on a law firm website. Attorney services need to be marketed in a way that catches the reader’s eye and keeps their interest. More and more, law firms are turning to create infographics. Law firm infographics are a great way to add variation to your legal content marketing strategy while engaging and educating current and potential clients. With their user-friendly format and easily digestible data, infographics make your content stand out from competitors and grab readers’ attention.
What Are Infographics?
Infographics are a visual way to present information. They break down complex ideas or information into an easily digestible format by using a collection of imagery, data visualizations like graphs and charts, and minimal text. They are often eye-catching and comprehensive, without being overwhelming.
On law firm websites, infographics are a valuable communication tool. You can take complex legal concepts and break them down visually to grab your audience’s attention and clearly convey your message. For an infographic to be successful, it needs to help readers understand and remember the content.
For law firms, infographics are helpful anytime you want to:
- Quickly explain a topic
- Explain a complex law or legal topic
- Display data or statistics
- Summarize a long-form piece of content
- Compare and contrast topics
- Raise awareness about a legal issue
To successfully implement infographics into your web content, it is essential to have a general understanding of the relationship between visual data and search engine optimization (SEO).
Infographics and SEO
As with all website content, you need to keep in mind the best practices for SEO. As with any other content type, your infographic will not be seen by Google or linked back to other sites if you are missing the key components.
To start, your infographic needs an introduction and a conclusion. Whether you house your infographic in a blog post or use it as a standalone page on your website, you need to add an element of text to let Google properly crawl your site and understand the value of your piece.
You also need to include alternative (alt) text, just as you would with any other image you add to a blog post or other website page. This common field describes the meaning of an image as it relates to the content on the webpage and is indexed by search engines. Also, screen reader software can read the alt text aloud for visually impaired individuals.
Finally, you need to include a keyword-rich file name and caption to make sure Google can find the image and users can access it through the search tool Google Images.
Common Uses of Infographics for Attorneys
Different industries use infographics in different ways. If you are looking to give your law firm’s website something extra, consider these uses:
- Firm branding. With the correct information and design, an infographic can help a law firm build its brand. Infographics can bring attention to relevant practice areas and successful settlements or verdicts. Lawyers might consider having a map that depicts location if they serve cities or states across the country.
- Client education. When users visit your website, they are likely searching for specific information on legal subjects. Infographics can help people grasp a complex legal concept that may be more difficult to understand from plain text.
- Bios. If you are looking to revamp the bio page on your website, infographics might be the answer. Whether you choose an experience timeline, skills bubble chart, or a tree map, your new bio will help readers visualize your credentials. That is also an excellent spot to insert LinkedIn information or other social media pages.
- E-books and newsletters. If you want to promote your e-books or newsletters, consider doing so via an infographic. Long publications may not keep readers’ attention, but a cleanly designed infographic can make the material more readable and exciting.
- Pro bono promotion. By promoting your pro bono efforts via an infographic, you can help build goodwill. You may consider creating a chart that demonstrates the amount of time you have spent on pro bono cases or other community activities.
If you are ready to jump into making infographics for your firm, it is essential to know what is involved in creating a quality piece.
How to Create Quality Law Firm Infographics
To design a compelling infographic, you need to start by determining how to structure the information you want to present visually. Remember that our brains seek patterns to help us make sense of the world faster, so creating patterns within an infographic will enhance the story you are trying to tell. In terms of actually creating infographics, you have two options: hiring a graphic designer or learning to build them yourself. If you choose to create your own infographics, online tools can help. Some of the most common are Canva, Piktochart, Infogram, and easel.ly.
Choose a Format
Before you start designing your infographic, you need to choose the best format for the data you want to share. Below, we will look at the eight most common types of infographic formats.
- Statistical – Statistical infographics are focused on numbers and data visualizations through charts and graphs.
- Information – Information infographics are the most text-heavy, and work best as summative, standalone visuals.
- Timeline – Timeline infographics are most used to take history concepts and visualize them by highlighting important dates or giving an overview of events.
- Process – A process infographic provides a summary or overview of the steps in a process, like the personal injury lawsuit process.
- Geographic – If you are looking to visualize location-based data, demographic data, or other large quantities of data, a geographic infographic uses map charts.
- Comparison – Comparison infographics divide infographics into two or more options to compare and contrast topics.
- Hierarchical – Hierarchical infographics display information from greatest importance to least, typically in a pyramid format.
- List – List infographics are ideal for making a basic list more eye-catching and creative, which can help the information flow and be better remembered.
Choose Style Elements
When it comes to designing the style elements on an infographic, there are a number of directions you could go. Start by considering the basic design elements like lines, borders, circles, and squares to map out your content to make it easier to read. In terms of colors, you can use contrasting colors to guide your readers’ attention. It is best to choose one color that contrasts with all of the other colors in the graphic and use that to make the most important information standard out.
Consider using three different font styles to create a text hierarchy when choosing fonts. The main header font should be the largest and most stylized. Section headers should be smaller and less stylized but should still stand out on the infographic. Finally, the text font should be the smallest and most basic but still easy to read.
Know Your Audience
It is likely the infographics you design are for potential, current, or past clients. As such, you need to make sure the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand. Avoid legalese, complex concepts, and any not directly relevant information.
Check Your Facts
Every piece of information on your infographic needs to be researched and cross-checked. Inaccurate data is not only misleading to clients but harmful to your reputation. If you are pulling statute numbers or other citable data for your infographics, be sure to include links to your sources. This way, you can reference your sources, as can your readers.
Tell a Story
Remember that infographics are most successful when they have a clear and focused message. Consider the legal concept you want to present and break it down into a beginning, middle, and end. You can use those pieces to visually convey how your client will work their way through the legal system.
Brand the Infographics
No matter where you are posting your infographic, you want to make sure you include a link to your law firm’s website, so readers know your law firm created it. You may want to consider branding your infographic with your company logo and colors so that it aligns with your brand and personality. Also, include social media buttons to your firm’s profiles. The more exposure your law firm gets, the more likely your content will receive attention online.
How Law Quill Can Help With Infographics
With the right law firm infographics strategy, you can keep your audience engaged. Remember to regularly experiment with infographics to see how they perform and enhance your marketing. If you are in need of guidance, Law Quill is ready to assist.
We are here to help and would welcome the opportunity to visit with you for free regarding your law firm website’s content, and how we can take these tasks off your plate! Schedule a free visit with us by scheduling a quick phone or zoom call at your convenience on our calendar today. You can also email us at support@lawquill.com.