How to Make Cool Excel Charts And Graphs?

Making cool Excel charts and graphs adds visual appeal and clarity to your data presentations. Most individuals will refer to data as the new gold. This is because we live in a century where businesses and individuals worldwide value data.

Almost every individual is after valuable information. What makes information worthwhile is the insights it provides. Insights provide solutions to particular challenges.

Before technological advances, data was challenging to access. Thanks to modern advancements, you can access data at the click of a button.

Have you ever found yourself struggling to comprehend raw data? If yes, it’s because you needed to refine your data to something presentable. You can only accomplish this through data visualization.

The good news is that making cool Excel Charts and Graphs can help your data irresistible.

In this blog, you will learn more about some cool Excel Charts and Graphs essential for data visualization.

Table of Content:

1. What are Charts And Graphs in Excel?
2. What are the Best or Cool Charts And Graphs in Excel?
3. Why Making a Cool Excel Chart And Graph is Important?
4. How do You Use Charts and Graphs in Excel?
5. Best Tool For Creating a Cool Excel Graph
6. How to Make a Graph in Excel?
   1. Step 1. Open the worksheet & insert the add-in for charts
   2. Step 2. Click on add-in to insert the Chart
   3. Step 3. Search chart from the add-in chart list
   4. Step 4. Select a chart from the list
   5. Step 5. Select your data and click on the Create chart button
   6. Step 6. Your final chart will appear as shown below
7. Video Tutorial: How to Make Cool Excel Charts & Graphs
8. Wrap Up

Are you ready? Let’s go.

What are Charts And Graphs in Excel?

Definition: A chart in Excel is a diagram or picture that you can use to present your data clearly and concisely. On the other hand, a graph in Excel is a diagram that you can use to focus on your raw data to show comparisons or changes over time.

Your audience can easily understand the charts or graphs you present. Why? You can easily derive meaningful insights from a chart than in raw form.

As a business owner, you must understand how to visualize your data. It helps you in many aspects of your business, such as learning customer behavior, and revenue income, and studying your business’ progress.

If you often use an Excel spreadsheet, you will find basic charts and graphs in its library. You do not need third-party add-ins to access such charts. They include basic pie, bar graphs,  and line graphs.

With the rise of data in the modern world, many individuals need help with basic Excel charts. It would be best to upgrade your data visualization to another level and access stunning charts and graphs.

What are the Best or Cool Charts And Graphs in Excel?

1. Sankey Diagram

A Sankey Diagram is an excellent chart for visualizing metrics that involve information flow, such as customer journey visualization, energy usage, revenue, and more.

Each flow in the chart varies in height depending on its quantity. As a business owner, you can identify the flow with the most significant contribution, and it is easy for you to obtain insights.

When you know how to use a Sankey Diagram, it becomes easy for you to visualize data with information flow.

Below is an example of a Sankey Diagram.

2. Likert Scale Chart

A Likert Scale chart is a scale on which respondents choose their level of agreement and disagreement. It is one of the best Excel charts. You can use this chart to perform a product or service analysis as a business owner.

This chart visualizes survey data. In most instances, you want to determine if your customers are happy or unhappy with your products and services.

A Likert Scale helps you visualize many responses in a short time. It is easy to read and interpret.

A Likert Scale appears as shown below.

3. Multi-Axis Line Chart

This chart type uses two axes to display the correlation between two variables with different measurement scales. It uses continuous and categorical data. In a Multi-Axis Line Chart, every point is connected to the next with a straight-line segment.

The advantage of this chart is that it uses a limited space to display plenty of information. You can uncover hidden insights and trends between two variables.

A Multi-Axis Line Chart appears as shown below.

4. Waterfall Chart

A Waterfall Chart is one of the cool Excel graphs that displays running totals in addition and subtraction of values. You can use this chart to understand how negative or positive values affect a metric such as revenue income.

The chart appears as a bar chart. Each bar has a different color which helps you note the difference between positive and negative values.

Initial and final values start on the horizontal axis. On the other hand, the intermediate values appear as floating columns. Waterfall Charts are primarily used in financial analysis.

A Waterfall Chart appears as shown below.

5. Stacked Waterfall Chart

A Stacked Waterfall Chart is a graphical representation used to illustrate changes in data values over time or across multiple categories. It employs a series of stacked bars or columns, where each segment represents a data point.

These segments are arranged sequentially to showcase the cumulative effect of the data series, with positive values typically shown as upward segments and negative values as downward segments.

This chart format facilitates the visualization of trends, contributions, and comparisons within datasets, aiding in the analysis of complex data patterns and relationships.

6. Pareto Chart

A Pareto Chart is a diagram that is a mixture of a bar and line graph. It is one of the best Excel graphs you can use. In this chart, individual values are arranged in descending order. You can use a Pareto Chart either horizontally or vertically.

You can use a Pareto Chart to analyze data that measures the frequency of challenges. You can also use this cool chart to focus on a few factors that contribute significantly to any challenge.

A Pareto Chart appears as shown below.

7. Progress Bar Chart

A Progress Bar Chart is a visualization you can use to display progress over time. This can include an activity or a project. It is one of the creative Excel charts you can use to visualize trends over time.

You can use a Progress Bar Chart, a Progress Circular Chart, or a Butterfly Chart to strategize through monitoring and prioritizing some aspects of your business. While the Progress Bar Chart uses filled bars to show you how many tasks or projects you have completed, the Progress Circular Chart provides a circular representation of progress, offering a clear visual of how close you are to completing a goal.

The Butterfly Chart, on the other hand, offers a unique way to visualize and compare two sets of data side by side, helping you gain deeper insights into your business performance.

You can also monitor the progress of various projects side by side and see their different results.

A Progress Bar Chart appears as shown below.

8. Scatter Plot

A Scatter Plot is a chart that utilizes Cartesian coordinates to display various values in the form of dots.

You can obtain critical insights by collecting points along the x and y-axis. Furthermore, you can use this chart to identify relationships between two crucial variables.

These relationships are often known as cause-and-effect because each variable has an effect against another.

A Scatter Plot appears as shown below.

9. Slope Chart

A Slope Chart is a type of line chart that you can use to investigate data in two-time instances. You can also use this chart to compare and identify changes over time.

One advantage of a Slope Chart is that it’s more concise. It leaves unimportant data and helps your audience identify insights.

The chart is exceptionally easy to read and interpret. Even with complex data, you can easily compare various KPIs over time.

A Slope Chart appears as shown below.

10. Sentiment Trend Chart

A Sentiment Trend Chart is a data visualization that appears as a bar graph. What is unique about this chart is that it shows data changes over time with positive and negative responses.

You can use this chart to forecast future outcomes using past trends. As a business owner, you can use this chart to show the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of customers about a particular product over time.

The primary benefit of this chart is that you can easily analyze trends over time of survey or any other financial data.

A Sentiment Trend Chart appears as shown below.

11. Box & Whisker Plot

This chart is a visualization that presents your data distribution using a straightforward and compact design. You can compare various distributions side-by-side.

This graph comprises various components essential to your distribution understanding. This includes the interquartile range and median.

Reading Box Plots allows you to identify these essential values and better understand your data.

This chart can help you detect insights easily and find the median of your statistical analysis. The chart is simple in its appearance. What makes it better is that it can analyze complex data within a limited space.

The visualization appears as shown below.

Best Tool For Creating a Cool Excel Chart

One tool you can use to make cool Excel charts and graphs is called ChartExpo. This tool is a third-party add-in that you can use in your Excel application to access more visualizations and create a chart in Excel.

ChartExpo helps you consolidate complex data into a cool Excel chart and graph like an Area chart. ChartExpo allows you to customize your charts with irresistible colors to make beautiful charts in Excel.

Let’s make a cool Excel chart and graph using easy-to-follow steps.

How to Make a Graph in Excel?

To make a graph in Excel, input your data into a worksheet and select the data range. Then, navigate to the “Insert” tab, choose the desired chart type (like column, tornado chart, line, Scatter Plot, pie chart, or Pyramid diagram), and Excel will generate a default graph.

Customize and make a graph in Excel by adding titles, and labels, and adjusting formatting options using the Chart Tools. Once you’re satisfied, save your Excel file to keep your graph.

For our example, now we will make a graph in Excel below:

Cities	States	Sales	Profits	Orders
Irvine	California	18766	2975	756
Hemet	California	18788	2564	485
Oxnard	California	18743	2263	412
San Jose	California	18788	2891	607
Fresno	California	16406	2132	915
Irvine	California	17765	2859	413
Malibu	California	20532	2940	828
Austin	Texas	20016	2802	611
Dallas	Texas	20122	2387	683
Plano	Texas	19574	2198	876
Houston	Texas	21251	1894	594
El Paso	Texas	24605	2496	980
Denton	Texas	24003	2495	770
Katy	Texas	24817	2369	902
Miami	Florida	21330	2400	727
Tampa	Florida	18381	2805	995
Naples	Florida	24537	2893	848
Destin	Florida	19211	2698	834
Ocala	Florida	18064	2108	936
Sanibel	Florida	24180	2643	945
Seaside	Florida	21804	2586	564
Orlando	Florida	19673	2916	658
Lakeland	Florida	20070	1947	989

To get started with ChartExpo to make a graph in Excel, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Open the worksheet & insert the add-in for charts

Step 2. Click on add-in to insert the Chart

Step 3. Search chart from the add-in chart list

Step 4. Select a chart from the list

Step 5. Select your data and click on the Create chart button

Step 6. Your final chart will appear as shown below

Insights

• Naples is the most income contributor city.
• Irvine provides the least sales but it produces high profits.
• Fresno has low sales and low profits.

FAQs:

How do I make a graph on an Excel spreadsheet?

To create a graph on an Excel spreadsheet, follow these steps:

Enter Your Data:

• Input your data into the Excel spreadsheet. Place each dataset in separate columns or rows.

Select Data Range:

• Highlight the data range you want to include in your graph by clicking and dragging over the cells containing the data.

Insert Graph:

• Go to the “Insert” tab on the Excel ribbon at the top of the screen.
• Choose the type of graph you want to create from the “Charts” section. Common options include column, line, pie, bar, and scatter plots.

Customize Your Graph:

• Once you’ve inserted the graph, Excel will generate a default graph based on your selected data. You can customize various aspects of the graph, such as titles, labels, colors, and styles, by selecting different options in the Excel ribbon or by right-clicking on elements of the graph.

Finalize and Save:

• Review your graph to ensure it accurately represents your data and communicates your intended message.
• Save your Excel file to preserve your work.

How do you make Excel graphs look cool?

Excel is one of the best spreadsheet tools in the world. Its visualizations may appear less cool to your audience.

To make Excel graphs look cool, you have to supercharge your Excel with a third-party add-in called ChartExpo. With ChartExpo, you can create cool charts in Excel and customize them to make them appear appealing.

How do I make an Excel graph look more professional?

You can make an Excel graph appear professional by using the ChartExpo third-party add-in. The tool can help you go a long way in customizing and making your graph in Excel with different colors to show other variables.

ChartExpo enables you with more customizations, such as adding legends on graphs so that they have a title.

Wrap Up

We have learned that data is a goldmine in the modern world because of its beneficial insights. Data visualization is the key to changing large data sets to simple insights.

We have learned that using cool Excel charts and graphs is the best way to visualize data. We have covered each one of them in detail.

The following are the best charts and graphs you can use in your Excel:

1. Sankey Diagram
2. Slope Chart
3. Multi-Axis Line Chart
4. Pareto Chart
5. Likert Scale Chart
6. Waterfall Chart
7. Stacked Waterfall Chart
8. Box and Whisker Plot
9. Scatter Plot
10. Sentiment Trend Chart
11. Progress Bar Chart

One of the best tools we have discussed that can help you create a chart in Excel is a third-party add-in called ChartExpo.

With this tool, you can create and customize your charts in Excel so that your insights become more appealing. Many data analysts have benefited from using this tool to visualize their findings.

We have learned that it takes easy-to-follow steps to create cool Excel charts and graphs with ChartExpo.

Now it’s your turn to do it. Start a 7-day free trial with ChartExpo to access Excel’s best charts and graphs.