I’m starting a series on dashboards because I think creating sexy dashboards is a critical skill every marketer needs to know. It’s going to be a long series — but by the time we’re finished, you’ll be able to create dashboards that excel in both form and function. (Editor’s note: This popular series continues on Marketing Land with!) Why Use Combination Charts? The first skill we’re going to focus on to that end is how to create a combination chart. When I took, in my dissertation, Google Analytics evangelist Avinash Kaushik asked me why I didn’t show visits and bounce rate together in the same chart. (Disclosure: I am not affiliated with MarketMotive in any way.) It’s embarrassing to admit this now, but I had no idea how to do that — or that you even could combine totally different metrics like that.
But now, I use them all the time. The reason is that they give you the ability to demonstrate data trends visually. (So thanks, Avinash!) Some classic metrics I use frequently in combination charts are: • Year-over-year data • Visits vs.
Bounce rate • Revenue vs. Conversion rate • Campaign cost vs. Conversions Download The Excel Doc If you’d like to follow along, feel free to I pulled all my screenshots from. How To Create A Combination Chart Step 1: Have a dataset with at least the two values you want to chart. (I also always.) Step 2: Click any cell inside your dataset and go to Insert > Charts > Insert Column Charts > Clustered Column (in 2013 on the PC) or Charts > Column > Clustered Column (in 2011 on Mac). With my dataset, I’m just going to select the Visits and Revenue columns since I have an extra column for conversion rate. Lg bp50nb40 driver for mac. Click for larger image Step 3: Clean up your chart with the techniques I describe in this post on.
I cleaned mine up using several of the techniques I described in that post: • Removed gridlines • Thinned out the vertical axis • Added an intuitive title • Removed the tick marks in the horizontal axis • Changed the default column colors to match my branding by selecting one of the columns in the series and choosing my new color using the Fill Color icon (under Home > Font for both versions) All of these options are accessible to you by simply pressing Ctrl-1/Command-1 (PC/Mac). Click for larger image Adding A Secondary Axis Let’s say we want to also add conversion rate to the chart. I changed the Revenue series back to a column chart to decrease chart junk. One super cool trick to adding a new data series to a chart you’ve already created is to just select the column, copy it, select the entire chart (you’ll see the whole chart outlined), and then paste it in.
How to Make 2D Excel Graphs Look 3D. Problem to be solved. Flat 2D graphs are boring, 3D graphs are hard to read. 2D graphs made to look 3D are the best of both worlds. This tutorial was created using Office 2011 for Mac. 1.1 Flat 2D Graph. 1.2 3D Graph. Can’t read the heights of the bars accurately. 1.3 2D Graph. How to edit and change the appearance of your graphs on Excel 2011 for MAC. Extend your axis value. Change the font.
It won’t look amazing because we’re pasting in a value that’s less than one. But then, all you have to do if you’re following along with the download is: with the chart selected, choose the new series by going to Chart Tools > Format tab > Current Selection > Series “Conversion Rate” (2011: Charts tab > Format tab > Current Selection > Series “Conversion Rate). To change the chart type to a line chart, I’ll break out the processes for 2013 and 2011 separately since the steps for the Mac are so different. 2013 (PC): With the Conversion Rate series selected, choose Design tab > Type > Change Chart Type. Then, in the Change Chart Type dialog, set Conversion Rate to Line from the drop-down.
And put it in a secondary axis by selecting that option. Then click OK. 2011 (Mac): With the Conversion Rate series selected, choose Charts tab > Change Series Chart Type > Line > 2-D Line > Line.