Creating Winning Graphics To Generate Referral Traffic
With eCommerce platforms and online searches monopolizing the way companies win business, informative graphics and powerful visuals are more important than ever.
Businesses today compete to grab the attention of loyal visitors to their sites and win the interest of new and prospective paying customers. Marketers and creatives benefit from having up-to-date insights and the best digital tools to create winning graphics. These are essential skills for generating referral traffic back to their website.
Recent Google updates have prioritized the user experience in online searches so coming up with informative content, with meaningful graphics, is vital. There is an immense value in having graphics, images, and logos with useful, user-friendly messaging that highlights your business’ products, services, and unique selling points (USPs). Therefore, optimized visual communications and infographics, coupled with targeted strategies, can help to promote your products and drive referral traffic back to your channels to encourage customers to buy.
So, for companies looking to achieve growth targets, this article explores how to create engaging and strategically effective graphics that align with your company’s messaging and marketing campaigns. Cover image via Philip Oroni.
Defining Referral Traffic and Adapting to Change
Referral traffic refers to visitors who arrive at your website from links on other websites, rather than directly typing your URL or finding you through a search engine. This type of traffic is valuable because it often comes from users who are already interested in your content or services, having been directed to your site by a trusted source.
Regardless of the size of your business or the sector your business operates in, if you want to expand your online reach and generate referrals, it’s important to adapt digital marketing content, such as graphics, SEO techniques, and targeted content according to both your audience and Google’s search engine constant shifts.
While referral traffic will significantly boost your website’s visibility, credibility, and overall performance in search engine rankings, you must keep pace with change. Google’s ongoing updates are rolled out to ensure and monitor how useful online content is, with innovative ways to support visitors’ searching online. Google’s AI Overview simplifies online searches to make complex search query responses easier to understand. It also has a useful “break it down” option inviting users to delve further into topics.
Developing Informative Infographics
In line with Google’s role to improve experience, your infographics are powerful tools for conveying complex information in an easily digestible format. To create infographics that generate referral traffic, start by choosing topics that are relevant to your target audience and align with current industry trends. This ensures that your content will resonate with viewers and increase the likelihood of sharing. Incorporate data-driven insights to provide valuable information that can’t be found elsewhere, making your infographic a go-to resource in your field.
When designing your infographic, use your brand colors and typography to establish and maintain brand consistency with your overall visual identity. This helps reinforce brand recognition even when the infographic is shared on other platforms. Structure your infographic to tell a compelling story or narrative, guiding the viewer through the information in a logical and engaging manner.
Don’t forget to include your logo and website URL for branding purposes, as this will help drive traffic back to your site when the infographic is shared. Remember, the ultimate goal is to create infographics so useful and visually appealing that other websites want to share them, naturally generating backlinks and referral traffic.
Optimizing Images for Search Engines
To improve your chances of appearing in image search results and creating graphics and images that can boost your rankings, you’ll want to focus on SEO optimization in combination with visuals. Start by using descriptive, keyword-rich file names for all your images as this can help search engines understand the content of your images and rank them appropriately. Next, add alt text to all images, accurately describing the content. This not only helps with SEO but also improves accessibility for visually impaired users.
Image compression is crucial for faster loading times, which is a key factor in user experience and search engine rankings. Compress your images without sacrificing quality to ensure they load quickly across all devices. Additionally, create image sitemaps to help search engines discover and index your images more efficiently. This extra step can significantly improve your visibility in image search results.
Creating Clean Designs
One way of putting across a clear message is by creating a “clean website design” that has minimal elements for a more effective and concise message. You can achieve this by highlighting one main message with a bold headline or choose images that directly support your targeted content. While you’ll want to create something visual, eye-catching, and exciting, ensure that your text and information is easy to read in a prominent text or font, using bullet points or short phrases over long paragraphs.
Your aim is to enhance readability, avoid mess and distraction (there is plenty of that already on pages!), and focus the reader’s attention on your key content. This approach creates a clean, uncluttered look that helps visitors quickly grasp your message, which in turn, can generate referrals.
Implementing Interactive Graphics
As far as innovation goes, interactive graphics are taking off and will help to engage your audience more than ever. Interactive graphics, while remaining informative and clear, can also encourage readers to want to dive in deeper, which can increase the time they spend on your site. Create clickable infographics that reveal more information as users interact with different elements. Develop before-and-after sliders for photo editing demonstrations, showcasing your expertise and the power of your services.
Design quizzes with visual elements related to photography or graphic design to educate and entertain your audience. Build interactive portfolios that allow users to filter and sort images based on different criteria, providing a personalized browsing experience. Interactive content keeps visitors on your site longer and increases the likelihood of shares and referrals, as users are more likely to share engaging, unique experiences with their networks.
Optimizing for Mobile Readers
With the majority of web traffic coming from mobile devices, ensuring your graphics are mobile-friendly is crucial. Use responsive design principles for all graphics to ensure they adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes. Regularly test how your images appear on various devices to identify and fix any issues with display or functionality.
Consider creating vertical infographics specifically designed for easy mobile scrolling, catering to the natural way users interact with content on smartphones. When designing graphics, ensure that any text is legible on smaller screens, using appropriate font sizes and contrasts to maintain readability across all devices.
Incorporating CTAs
Every graphic should have a purpose, and incorporating clear CTAs guides users towards desired actions. Use action-oriented language in your CTAs, such as “Download Now”, “View All Products”, and “Learn More,” to encourage immediate response and drive visitors to your key pages. Make your CTAs visually distinct from the rest of the graphic, using contrasting colors or distinctive shapes to draw attention.
Place CTAs strategically within your graphics, considering the natural flow of information and user eye patterns. Experiment with different CTA designs and placements through A/B testing to optimize their effectiveness. By refining your CTAs based on performance data, you can significantly increase the likelihood of users taking action and generating referral traffic.
Creating impactful graphics alongside targeted text is key to driving referral traffic and enhancing your online presence. Implementing ideas for an omni-channel visual marketing campaign, align visuals with your overall strategy and maintain consistency across the campaign. In addition, track the performance and analyze data to continuously improve your graphics’ effectiveness. Likewise, Google’s updates, online search techniques, and valuing the user experience should remain at the forefront of your marketing agenda.
By implementing these strategies, you’ll create winning graphics that not only showcase your expertise in photography and image creation, but also generate significant referral traffic. Your visuals become powerful tools for online business growth, engagement, and long-term success.
