Excel Tutorial: Weaving a Successful Story with Combination Charts

Combination charts, as the name suggests, blend different chart types within a single visualization. This allows you to showcase diverse aspects of your data, creating a richer and more informative story. This tutorial will guide you through crafting a powerful combination chart, featuring a line chart for website traffic overlaid with bars highlighting conversion rates.

Preparation:

1. Gather your data: Ensure you have two sets of data: one for website traffic (ideally over time) and another for conversion rates corresponding to the same timeframe. This could be monthly website visits and conversion percentages for each month.
2. Organize your data: Arrange your data in a clear table with two columns: one for time periods (e.g., months) and separate columns for website traffic and conversion rates.

Building the Chart:

1. Select your data: Highlight the entire data range, including both time periods and both data sets.
2. Insert a Combination Chart: Head to the Insert tab and click the Combo Chart icon (looks like a line and column chart combined).
3. Choose your chart types: In the Insert Chart dialog box, select All Charts and then Combo. From the left panel, choose Line for your website traffic data and Column for conversion rates.
4. Secondary Axis for Clarity (Optional): If the conversion rate values differ significantly from website traffic numbers, consider using a secondary axis for better comparison. Right-click your conversion rate data series, select Format Data Series, and under the Axis tab, check the Secondary Axis box.
5. Customize and refine: Click anywhere on the chart to access the Chart Design and Layout tabs. These offer numerous options to personalize your chart, like adding titles, formatting axes, adjusting colors, and including data labels.

Telling the Story:

1. Highlight key trends: Use contrasting colors and data labels to emphasize peaks in website traffic and corresponding changes in conversion rates.
2. Emphasize relationships: Analyze whether high traffic periods correlate with higher conversions or if certain periods show unexpected trends.
3. Add context: Include relevant information like marketing campaigns or website updates coinciding with changes in traffic or conversions.

Tips and Tricks:

• Experiment with different chart types (e.g., area chart for traffic) to see what best suits your data and story.
• Use clear and concise titles and labels for easy interpretation.
• Ensure consistent formatting and color schemes for a professional look.
• Consider adding trendlines or annotations to highlight specific insights.

By following these steps and implementing your creativity, you can construct compelling combination charts that effectively communicate your data’s multifaceted story. Remember, the key is to choose chart types that complement each other and clearly present the relationships within your data.