Listicles and Infographics

Recall the day they said the newspaper was going to die? Or the day when they said television and the Internet would slowly bleed small newspapers from existence? Newspapers may represent the medium itself, but what if the day came when the traditional news article itself would die?

In a world dominated by social media, the advent of visually striking infographics and listicles has become one of the most effective tools for companies to create content and garner serious web exposure. Here is a list of why listicles and infographics are the best content drivers for websites:

1. Visuals

Listicles and Infographics are built on grabbing the best visual format and pictures available. Think of what strikes you more when you scroll across a page. Is it the headline, the picture, or the tiny font below that actually encompasses the content of the article? You mainly look at the headline and the picture above. Listicles and Inforgraphics are big and bold and contain visually striking pictures and headlines that attract the reader.

2. Capturing Dwindling Attention Spans

Farhard Manjoo of Slate states that about 38 percent of web users leave a webpage without even scrolling. Think of these people as the drifters of the Internet. A visually infographic does not require scrolling and can still get your message across. Listicles can capture readers’ attention and ensure that there is no heavy duty reading ahead.

3. Viral Presence

Listicles and infographics are the best content drivers because they are the most liked by consumers and therefore the most shared. Whether it’s a listicle of the most Likeable The Force Awakens characters or of The Rolling Stone’s Best Albums, or an infographic of wage inequality across different regions of the world, these formats are entertaining and what social media consumers desire. These represent the most shared content posts and are the best ways to easily distribute content, whether it be through email campaigns, Twitter shares, Tumblr links, etc. When viral, they also present some serious link back potential.

4. The Format

Listicles are so compelling because they provide rankings and ratings for content. This curates debate and expresses opinion. Social media consumers are more likely to engage in comments and sharing of listicles to engage in online debate to express their own opinions. Infographics, on the other hand, can convey as much information in a detailed picture than an article could, which requires tireless lists, statistics, and large paragraphs to explain the location, importance, and relativity of each statistic.

5. Easy and Fun to Make

What is easier to make than a numbered list accompanied by a picture and a short paragraph? Listicles organize themselves and provide a better format than traditional online articles to convey lots of information in very brief space. Infographics require a little more effort because it involves manipulating a picture, but are still relatively easy to edit on standard picture editing tools. They also get the creative juices flowing, allowing for some fun work.

6. Traditional is Boring

Remember when we asked if you remember when you first heard that the newspaper was going to die. Well the same process is happening across online content. I’m sure you’re trying to hold your attention as long as possible to prove to yourself that you can read through this entire article. I made this section intentionally lengthy to show why listicles are easier to read and still convey the same amount of information. Well, companies have traditionally shredded the traditional article format for the MAT release format of 400-700 words and a picture to accompany that. Unfortunately, this article style is still not enough to pull in readers and most have used listicles and infographics as easy and incredibly brief ways to convey content. Of course, newspapers and the MAT release format are not going to die and are often advisable for certain content, but listicles and infographics still remain some of the top content drivers due to their entertaining nature and social media flare. If you’ve made it through this entire post, you probably were aided by the listicle format. For those only looking for certain points of information, you no longer have to skim for across long paragraphs. You can simply just scroll to a specific point. Looking to explain the water shortage by legislative county in California? Infographics provide an easy, simple picture with explanation that could take an entire one hundred page book to explain. Sometimes pictures speak louder than words.