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Selecting the correct chart for your data is not an easy undertaking.
Or is it?
Well, selecting the suitable types of charts and graphs for your data story is daunting and can consume a lot of time. Over 70% of data visualization experts have reported experiencing this problem.
It turns out there’s a smart data visualization tool that solves this problem quickly and easily.
Yes, you read that right. This tool (which will be mentioned in a moment) helps over 15,000+ Google Sheets professionals create compelling data stories. Yes, irresistible data stories that get instant buy-in from the target audience.
We’ve rounded up a guide you should steal to use, especially when selecting the suitable types of graphs for your data story. Keep reading if you intend to take your data storytelling skills to the next level by using an awesome library.
In this blog you will learn:
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
A chart is a visual illustration you can use to separate noise from signals in your data.
In most business meetings, you’ll see charts and graphs incorporated into data stories.
It could be a chart showing the team’s progress on a big project. Or a graph showing the sales revenue versus competition or industry average.
Business charts make the information much easier to digest and understand. Some of the tested and proven chart categories include:
Data visualization graphs are powerful because they simplify business data by making it understandable & readable at the same time.
Besides, they make data stories compelling and irresistible to target audiences.
The bustling world of data visualization beckons, guiding us through myriads of graph types and chart varieties, each with its own story to tell. The classic bar graph stands tall, presenting categorical data in visual columns, while the line graph weaves a tale of trends over time with its sinuous peaks and troughs. Pie charts unfold the narrative of proportional relationships with their slice-of-life segments.
Across this spectrum, the intricate scatter plot charts a course of correlation among disparate yet interconnected data points. Venturing further into this rich landscape reveals specialized chart forms—like the histogram which elucidates frequency distributions, or the area chart that shades between lines to emphasize volume and change. In the realm of data visualization, each graph type and chart variety is an alchemist’s tool, transmuting raw numbers into persuasive images and powerful insights. With such tools at our disposal, we’re not just seeing data; we’re watching it come to life.
Both Graphs and Charts are popular among seasoned data visualization experts.
Let’s check out the differences.
In other words, data is represented by symbols, such as the lines in a Line Chart or bars in the Bar Chart.
As a data storyteller, do you know the number of charts at your disposal?
Well, the list is quite long. But, we’ll highlight the charts that matter the most to you. Yes, we’ll highlight the types of graphs you can use to make your data story irresistible and compelling to the target audience.
As we said earlier, there’re many charts you can use to make your data story persuasive to the target audience.
You don’t want to miss this section. Keep reading.
A Bar Chart is a graph represented by spaced rectangular bars that describe the key metrics and dimensions in your data.
You can use this chart to visualize both discrete and categorical data. The horizontal axis of the chart represents categorical data. Conversely, the vertical axis of the chart defines discrete data.
Note: Although the rectangular bars in a Bar Chart are mostly placed vertically, they can also be horizontal. For horizontally placed rectangular bars, the categorical data is defined on the vertical axis. On the other hand, the horizontal axis defines the discrete data.
Take a look at the diagram below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Bar Chart comes in different varieties to ensure you’re never short of options to visualize your data. Let’s take a look at these varieties.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Use Grouped Bar Chart if you have data with subgroups. Always remember to differentiate subgroups using high contrasting colors to make things easier for your audience.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Use Stacked Bar Graphs if your goal is to show subgroup insights in a dataset.
A Pie Chart is one of the multiple types of graphs you can use to illustrate proportion insights in a dataset. Besides, this graph is usually divided into various sectors, each representing a proportion of a whole.
Like a pizza slice, each sector in a Pie Chart represents the proportion of the key metric understudy in the data.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
A Line Chart is a type of graph that displays groups of data points joined together by a straight line.
Each of the data points describes the relationship between the horizontal and the vertical axes in the graph. A Line Chart can ascend, descend, or do both depending on the nature of your data.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
There are two types of Line Graphs, namely, Simple and Multiple Line Graphs. Let’s check them out.
A Simple Line Graph has only a curve connecting data points. The x-axis defines the independent variables (metrics), while the y-axis contains dependent variables (dimensions).
Multiple Line Graphs contain two or more lines connecting different data points across a specified period.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Area Charts are one of the many types of graphs you can use to visualize data insights.
This chart communicates insights and patterns using the colored areas between the line segment and the x-axis. In other words, an Area Chart is an extension of the Line chart.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
There’re two variants of an Area Chart, namely a Simple and Stacked Area Chart. Let’s check them out.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
A Stacked Area chart has colored segments stacked on top of each other in a way they don’t intersect.
Scatter Plots are one of the many types of graphs you can use to visualize random data points using dot-like markers.
Notice how data points are scattered across the chart area in the screenshot below.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
There’re 3 types of Scatter Plots you can use to visualize your data. These variants are grouped based on the correlation of the data points.
Let’s check them out.
Data points are positively correlated if an increase in one metric results in an increase in the other.
Data points are negatively correlated if an increase in one metric results in a decrease in the other.
No correlation arises if there’s no clear relationship between data variables.
A Radar Chart is one of the many types of graphs you can use to visualize complex data. Furthermore, it’s a two-dimensional chart you can use to visualize 2 or more metrics in your data for insights.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
A Pareto Chart combines a Bar Graph with a Line Chart to illustrate both categories and cumulative total. Use this chart to uncover the 20% metrics contributing 80% success in your marketing campaigns.
The Pareto Chart is one of the many insightful types of charts and graphs you can deploy to make your story irresistible.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
There’re 2 methods you can use to install the ChartExpo add-on into your Google Sheets.
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
Let’s take a look at an example.
Keep reading to see ChartExpo in action. You don’t want to miss this.
Imagine you want to know the number of medals each country received in the just-concluded Olympics (Japan 2020 Olympics). Assume you have data for analysis.
Let’s use the table below for our scenario.
| Countries | Medals | Period | Measures |
| United States | Silver | Current | 41 |
| United States | Gold | Current | 39 |
| United States | Bronze | Current | 33 |
| China | Silver | Current | 32 |
| China | Gold | Current | 38 |
| China | Bronze | Current | 18 |
| Japan | Silver | Current | 14 |
| Japan | Gold | Current | 27 |
| Japan | Bronze | Current | 17 |
| England | Silver | Current | 21 |
| England | Gold | Current | 22 |
| England | Bronze | Current | 22 |
| Australia | Silver | Current | 7 |
| Australia | Gold | Current | 17 |
| Australia | Bronze | Current | 22 |
| France | Silver | Current | 12 |
| France | Gold | Current | 10 |
| France | Bronze | Current | 11 |
(We’ll use a Matrix Chart because we’re dealing with multiple variables, namely, country, period, medals, and measure).
Take a look at the insightful chart below. Do you find it easy to read?
Visualization Source: ChartExpo
The 4 most popular types of charts and graphs used to visualize data are the Line, Bar, Pie and Cartesian Graphs. This is because these charts are ‘feel and look’ familiar.
Simplicity in communicating insights is one of the significant issues you should always factor in when selecting a chart.
Charts can help boost the productivity and efficiency of staff in your business. In other words, you can leverage data to predict risks, such as declining productivity.
Charts and graphs can help you track productivity metrics in real-time. You can easily point out gaps and improvement areas with a solid visualization strategy.
A chart is a graphical representation of raw data. Essentially, data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a Bar Chart or lines in a Line Chart.
In other words, a chart is a diagram that organizes and represents numerical or qualitative data.
There’re many types of charts and graphs you can use for your data stories. However, this does not mean these two words, namely “charts and graphs” are similar.
Charts are used primarily to compare groups of data or discrete categories. Graphs display interrelations or connections of metrics and dimensions using distinctive lines, dots, bars, etc.
Like we said earlier, the number of types of charts and graphs you can use for your data story is incredibly massive.
You need a tool that provides a broader library of charts to test and select the best one. However, most tools come with a basic library that can barely satisfy your data visualization needs.
Avoid selling your data story short. Use tools that can provide you with a library with multiple types of graphs.
Let’s talk about Google Sheets because it’s one of the popular spreadsheet apps. Visualizing your data in Google Sheets does not have to be time-consuming or constrained by the limited number of charts available.
There’s an add-on that supercharges Google Sheets to produce charts that are easy to read and understand. And this tool is called ChartExpo.
So why do over 15,000-plus professionals love ChartExpo?
Sign up for ChartExpo today to create graphs that are easy to read and interpret.
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