Valeria Publications

What do a YouTuber, a notary, an accountant, and a hairstylist have in common?

They can use different types of content for their business.

Whether it’s YouTube videos on hair care tips or blog posts on the latest tax laws, content creation is a standard for business.

But sometimes business owners can sacrifice quality for quantity. They would much rather put out content than have none.

Like consistency, quality is a very important part of content marketing. It doesn’t matter how much content is produced on your website if it’s bland or terrible.

That’s why you want to focus on the visual aspect of your content, even if you’re a content writer or copywriter.

Why is graphic design so important for content marketing? Let’s find out.

Elements of Graphic Design

What is graphic design?

Graphic design is the creative combination of text and images in various publications. If you’ve come across a picture in an eBook or a magazine, you’ve seen graphic design in the flesh.

What are some of the elements used in graphic design?

• Shape.
• Form
• Texture
• Imagery
• Typography
• Color.

Graphic designers use these elements to convey certain messages through their visuals.

Think of graphic design as cooking. There are many meals that can come out of simple ingredients. And graphic design is the same way.

It can be used to create so many stunning visuals for your business.

How Graphic Design Can Improve Your Content Marketing

Some people view graphic design as just the creation of images. But it’s much more than that.

It’s the unique way that text and images are used to convey messages. This is done so effectively that it’s difficult to notice at times.

Think about it. Have you ever thought about why you get nostalgic when looking at the Coca-Cola logo? That is a prime example of how graphic images can invoke certain emotions within us.

And that’s just one example of how graphic design benefits content marketing. Some other benefits are:

A Consistent Brand Identity

Like content, every business needs a brand. Even more importantly, they need to know how to share that brand across all platforms.

Graphic design can do more than just help businesses establish their brands. They can assist with the way that those brands are perceived by the public.

Minute details like the shapes, lines, and layout of your content convey more than you can imagine. When these design choices are consistent across all your content and platforms, it helps your business stand out.

A Boost in Content Engagement

Graphic images can also be used to increase engagement with your content.

So many of your customers could be visual learners. They could respond with more enthusiasm to visual-based content.

Let’s say you produce two pieces of heavy-data content. One is in the form of a blog post and the other is in the form of an infographic. Same data. Different forms.

Which one do you think is going to automatically draw your customers’ attention? The infographic.

Not only is it shorter; it presents the same data in a more visual manner. Even customers who don’t care to read text for too long will take the time to scroll the information.

Improves User Experience

Graphic design can also increase the user experience of your website.

As much as we’re all sick of SEO, it’s a vital part of your website content. If your content isn’t compatible with SEO guidelines, it won’t rank high in the search engine results pages.

Some of the recommended guidelines include:

• Easy navigation throughout website pages
• Easy readability
• Search intent
• A strategic use of keywords
• Images.

Graphic design covers all these bases. You can create beautiful images to help break the text up in your written content.

You can design your page layouts to be as simple as possible for your customers to navigate.

When designing images, you can include keywords in your meta descriptions to help draw more traffic to your website.

You can even use the right typography that can make readability enjoyable for your customers.

The more your content is filled with these recommendations, the greater the user experience with your customers. Websites with great user experience are ranked high on search engine results pages.

Using Graphic Design in Your Content

Even if you’re a copywriter, there are practical ways for you to include graphic design in your content.

Create Images That Enhance Your Writing

Content creation doesn’t have to be either or. You can include images into your written content that can enhance the messaging.

And it doesn’t have to be stock photos or generic visuals that everyone’s seen before. You can create original images that can add a unique touch to your written content.

And there are so many options for you to take advantage of.

There is software that allows you to create all kinds of images, from cartoons to realistic photos.

No matter what route you take, think about the way that the image will portray your written point. Then take advantage of the next tip: using illustrations.

Take Advantage of Illustrations

What are illustrations? Visual depictions of a concept. That’s it.

Does that mean that you must recreate a Picasso painting as a graphic? No. But you could.

When it comes to illustrations, there are so many options. Cartoons. Comic strips. Detailed art.

Creating these types of images can seem intimidating, but they don’t have to be. Remember this: choose a design software that you’re comfortable with using and can make illustrations seem like a breeze for you.

And finally…

Use Your Designs to Tell A Story

Whatever images you create, make sure that they assist in telling a story for your customers.

Who says that you only need words to tell a story? Visual elements can also be used to tell a story to your customers.

A great example of this would be a short comic strip. Let’s say you’re a copywriter. You could create a comic strip sharing the most common copywriting tips with your customers.

If you wanted to get creative, you could form the comic strip in the form of an action movie.

Final Thoughts

Graphic design and content marketing go hand in hand.

It can be used to enhance your content and market it across different platforms. It can increase the amount of time that your customers engage with your content.

Whatever content marketing goals you want to reach, graphic design can make it easier.

For more information on graphic design, check out my blog posts Make Your Content More Appealing With Readability – Valeria Publications and Increase Your Website Traffic With Color Psychology – Valeria Publications.

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