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A picture is worth a thousand words — that’s true. A picture creates the ideal image in the human mind, and nothing beats that! When it comes to data, a chart is worth more than a thousand data sets. Regardless of your level of expertise, you would gain a fresh perspective of how charts work, and how to create one by merely looking at these Excel charts examples.
When it comes to making informed business decisions, you need data. And that goes beyond looking at the raw, unrefined data represented in an Excel sheet, you would need to translate your data into digestible information.
Speaking of translating data into digestible information, that’s where Excel charts come into play. And to get a good grasp of Excel charts, you’ve got to take a close look at these Best Excel charts examples.
In this blog all the visualizations are made by ChartExpo library. You can follow this guide on how to add Excel Add-in to use this library to present your data efficiently.
Before diving into Excel charts examples, here are few types of Excel charts you should get a good grasp of.
Every data representation is unique. To get the best out of your data visuals, you’ve got to know what your audience is looking for and structure the data in such a way as to meet their needs. Simply put, your choice of chart is dependent on the type of data you want to visualize. If you’re a newbie, here are some Excel chart examples, and you will see how to create charts using these Excel charts examples?
Pie Chart is a good fit for people who want to quantify items, and represent these items in percentages.
Within the circular graph of the Pie Chart, there are slices of pie that show the relative size of the data. Whether you are managing a business, or you desire to represent your data to a team of stakeholders in your corporation, a Pie Chart will help you compare areas of growth like profit, exposure, and turnover.
| Product | Unit Sold |
| Smart Phones | 15 |
| Accessories | 38 |
| Laptops | 8 |
| LCD | 18 |
| Headsets | 13 |
| Smart Watches | 9 |
A typical Pie Chart that’s created using Excel charts will look like the image below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
You know there is another alternative of Pie Chart is to use Donut Chart, it can also represent the same data to better analyze the results.
Donut Chart is like a pie chart but only difference is center area is cut and empty.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
The Bar Chart is a graph with rectangular bars. A typical Bar Chart can be plotted vertically or horizontally. When plotted vertically, you would see the bars standing up. But with the horizontal plot, the bars would be lying flat from left to right.
Double bar graph is a form of bar graph which can show your data side by side by presenting the data based on the length of the bars.
| Search Terms | Previous Month | Current Month |
| Smart Phones | 10 | 15 |
| Accessories | 50 | 38 |
| Laptops | 15 | 8 |
| LCD | 10 | 18 |
| Headsets | 10 | 13 |
| Smart Watches | 5 | 9 |
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
With a Line Chart, a series of data points are connected using a continuous line. A Line Chart pretty much helps you to represent the history of data points using a single, continuous line. It’s easy-to-understand, simple, and represents changes over time. With Multi-Axis Line Chart, you get the option to have multiple values on the same visualization based on different scales.
Analyzing data points can be quite overwhelming. If you are like most marketers, you will most likely experience paralysis by analysis — but you can overcome that using a Multi-Axis Line Chart. With this visualization, you get to easily identify trends and pinpoint patterns.
Creating Multi-Axis Line Chart is easy. All you’ve got to do is download the ChartExpo add-in for Excel, and create a Line Chart similar to the one below.
Let’s say you run an online business, and you’ve gathered sample data as below.
| Date | Clicks | Impressions | Conversions |
| 5/1/2021 | 1483 | 18766 | 55 |
| 5/2/2021 | 1313 | 18788 | 57 |
| 5/3/2021 | 1345 | 18743 | 60 |
| 5/4/2021 | 1256 | 18788 | 63 |
| 5/5/2021 | 1304 | 16406 | 59 |
| 5/6/2021 | 1407 | 17765 | 60 |
| 5/7/2021 | 1498 | 20532 | 65 |
| 5/8/2021 | 1597 | 20016 | 58 |
| 5/9/2021 | 1587 | 20122 | 61 |
| 5/10/2021 | 1483 | 20125 | 64 |
| 5/11/2021 | 1565 | 23783 | 59 |
| 5/12/2021 | 1587 | 22942 | 57 |
| 5/13/2021 | 1599 | 23127 | 70 |
| 5/14/2021 | 1620 | 24548 | 78 |
| 5/15/2021 | 1788 | 23448 | 80 |
| 5/16/2021 | 1768 | 23408 | 91 |
| 5/17/2021 | 1987 | 25473 | 89 |
| 5/18/2021 | 1939 | 24959 | 81 |
| 5/19/2021 | 1987 | 23710 | 86 |
| 5/20/2021 | 1964 | 24221 | 98 |
| 5/21/2021 | 1740 | 23317 | 89 |
| 5/22/2021 | 1748 | 24431 | 85 |
| 5/23/2021 | 1876 | 23785 | 79 |
| 5/24/2021 | 1826 | 22247 | 83 |
| 5/25/2021 | 1920 | 23851 | 83 |
| 5/26/2021 | 1886 | 24875 | 90 |
| 5/27/2021 | 1769 | 24015 | 94 |
| 5/28/2021 | 1869 | 25689 | 104 |
| 5/29/2021 | 1823 | 24416 | 99 |
| 5/30/2021 | 1899 | 25874 | 114 |
| 5/31/2021 | 1924 | 26146 | 98 |
By merely using a Multi-Axis Line Chart, you get to easily monitor the trends over time.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
The Comparison Bar Chart represents sections of the same data category using bars. The bars in a Comparison Bar Chart are usually placed adjacent to each other. If you’re looking for a reliable way of visually comparing data, then the Comparison Bar Chart is your best shot.
Aside from comparing items between different groups, the Comparison Bar Chart helps in tracking changes in your data points over a period. To get the most out of your Comparison Bar Chart, the changes in your item over a period have to be large.
Creating the Comparison Bar Chart using Excel is quite easy — all you need is to gather a reliable data sample as shown below.
| Country | Social Media | Usage |
| USA | 190,000,000 | |
| USA | 110,000,000 | |
| USA | 48,650,000 | |
| USA | 160,000,000 | |
| India | 270,000,000 | |
| India | 69,000,000 | |
| India | 7,750,000 | |
| India | 59,000,000 | |
| UK | 37,000,000 | |
| UK | 23,000,000 | |
| UK | 14,100,000 | |
| UK | 27,000,000 |
After gathering your data sample, you’ve got to proceed to create a comparison Bar Chart similar to the one displayed below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
The Grouped Bar Chart, clustered Bar Chart, or the multi-series Bar Chart is somewhat an extension of the Bar Chart. With the Grouped Bar Chart, you get to plot numeric values for levels of two categorical data points instead of one.
Just like the regular Bar Chart, the Grouped Bar Chart shows the distribution of data points across various data categories. However, with the Grouped Bar Chart, you get to compare two various categorical variables instead of one.
The Grouped Bar Chart is used to show how the second category data point changes within each level of the first. You can also use it to show how the first category data points change across levels of the second.
Creating the Grouped Bar Chart using Excel is somewhat straightforward. First, you’ve got to gather data similar to the one below.
| Country | 0-14 Years | 15-64 Years | 64 Years and above |
| United Kingdom | 5,000,000 | 20,000,000 | 3,000,000 |
| Germany | 6,000,000 | 29,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
| Mexico | 17,000,000 | 31,000,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Japan | 9,000,000 | 44,000,000 | 10,000,000 |
| Russia | 13,000,000 | 49,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
| Brazil | 26,000,000 | 55,000,000 | 3,000,000 |
After gathering data from reliable sources, you’ve got to proceed to plot your Grouped Bar Chart similar to the image displayed below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Sentiment trend chart is a coolest data visualization to show your versatile data in a single visualization. For Example, if you have feedback data and you want to analyze positive vs. negative and also want to see the trend then this chart is a good option. Let’s suppose you have a following data.
| Month | Positive Feedback | Negative Feedback |
| Jan | 43 | 57 |
| Feb | 46 | 54 |
| Mar | 43 | 57 |
| Apr | 48 | 52 |
| May | 47 | 53 |
| Jun | 38 | 20 |
| July | 60 | 30 |
| Aug | 89 | 40 |
| Sep | 67 | 50 |
| Oct | 60 | 55 |
| Nov | 54 | 24 |
| Dec | 89 | 40 |
Next, you’ve got to use the data to create a Sentiment Trend that is similar to the image shown below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
There is a complete guide available which you can follow to see how you can create trend chart in Excel.
Sankey diagrams are a specific type of flow diagram used for visualization of material, cost or any flows of data. They have directed connection (between at least two nodes) featuring flows in a process, production system or supply chain.
Creating one in Excel is somewhat easy — all you’ve got to do is install the ChartExpo Excel add-in and start creating Sankey Diagram.
Let’s suppose you have a following data.
| Lead Source | Lead Owner | Duration | Lead Status | Leads |
| Webinar | Oliver | 3-6 Months | Qualified | 39 |
| Webinar | Oliver | 3-6 Months | New | 73 |
| Webinar | Oliver | 6-12 Months | Nurturing | 156 |
| Webinar | George | 3-6 Months | New | 46 |
| Webinar | George | 6-12 Months | Qualified | 104 |
| Webinar | George | 6-12 Months | Nurturing | 41 |
| Webinar | Amelia | 3-6 Months | Qualified | 73 |
| Webinar | Amelia | 3-6 Months | Nurturing | 46 |
| Webinar | Amelia | 6-12 Months | Nurturing | 43 |
Final visualization you will have as shown below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
The Pareto Bar Chart, also known as Pareto analysis or the Pareto diagram is a mix of a line graph and a bar graph. It pretty much shows the frequency of defects and other cumulative impacts. With the Pareto Bar Chart, you get to easily identify defects and observe the overall improvement of a data point with time.
A close study reveals the Pareto Bar Chart as a mix of a bar graph and a line graph. Each bar in the chart shows the type of problem (or defect). Most times, the bar height is used to show the unit of measurement — and it could be the cost or frequency of occurrence, depending on the data set.
Moving on, the bars in the Pareto analysis are typically arranged in descending order (from the tallest bar to the shortest). This way, you get to easily identify the defect by merely looking at the chart.
Finally, the Line Chart found in the Pareto diagram shows the cumulative percentage of the defects.
Just like all data visualization tools, your first point of call is to gather data similar to the one shown below.
| Campaigns | Current Conversions | Previous Conversions |
| Campaign 1 | 540 | 510 |
| Campaign 2 | 550 | 545 |
| Campaign 3 | 115 | 99 |
| Campaign 4 | 572 | 533 |
| Campaign 5 | 93 | 85 |
| Campaign 6 | 88 | 63 |
| Campaign 7 | 497 | 485 |
| Campaign 8 | 115 | 80 |
| Campaign 9 | 489 | 470 |
| Campaign 10 | 87 | 67 |
| Campaign 11 | 107 | 115 |
| Campaign 12 | 570 | 580 |
| Campaign 13 | 97 | 90 |
Next, you’ve got to plot your Pareto Bar Chart similar to the one shown below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
So visualization in Excel doesn’t end here. There are lots of charts available in ChartExpo library which you can explore and use for your data analysis.
Creating a chart in Excel is easy — you can do that by using the ChartExpo Excel add-in. By merely downloading the add-in, you would see a wide range of chart types. All you’ve got to do is choose the right chart for your data visualization and use it.
There are various types of charts in the ChartExpo Excel add-in. You get to create Line graphs, bar graphs, grouped Column Charts, Column Charts, Comparison Charts, and lots of other visualization charts.
Simply put, the ChartExpo tool would help you create any visualization needed for your data representation.
By using the right Excel chart, you would accurately represent your data. This will, in turn, lead to the right interpretation of your data visual. Also, using the correct Excel Chart will help you make more informed marketing and business decisions in the long run.
If you want your audience (or stakeholders) to accurately interpret your data, then choosing the right Excel Chart is your best shot.
Your choice of Excel chart should be dependent on the type of data you want to report and analyze. To a large extent, it should also be dependent on what you want to do with the data. Do you want to find the relationship among data sets, or do you want to categorize your data and pinpoint the distribution of your data sets? Whatever your reason may be, an Excel chart will help you do just that.
Regardless of your level of skill set, you can easily create Excel charts by merely studying these Excel chart examples. But first, you’ve got to identify your primary reason for creating an Excel chart.
Not just that, you’ve got to know who your target audience is. This way, you can easily create an Excel chart that’s easy to understand.
Furthermore, no coding skill is required for the creation of an Excel chart using the ChartExpo add-in. If you’ve got a good grasp of how Microsoft Excel works, then creating a compelling Excel chart using any of the Excel chart templates above will be a breeze.
It’s no news that humans are visual creatures, and if you can effectively communicate using visuals, then your job is half done. Other factors that would determine whether your message was received by your audience or not could be beyond your control.
Your turn…
Which Excel chart template appeals most to you, and what kind of data will you use it to represent?
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