a step-by-step guide to building an excel graph [quick tip]

7/30/2019 A Step-By-Step Guide to Building an Excel Graph [Quick Tip]

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spreadsheet full of data into a chart that actually, you know,

means something. Here are the simple steps you need to

build a graph in Excel.

Step 1: Get your data into

Excel.

First, you need to input your data into Excel. This is the easy

part! You may have exported the data from elsewhere, like a

piece of marketing software or a survey tool. Or, you might be

inputting it manually.

In the example below, in Column A, I have a list of the

responses to the question Did inbound marketing

demonstrate ROI?, and in Columns B,C, and D, I have the

responses to the question Does your company have a formal

sales-marketing agreement?. For example, Column C, Row 2

illustrates that 49% of people who have an SLA also say that

inbound marketing demonstrated ROI.

Step 2: Choose a type ofgraph to create .

You have plenty of choices for charts and graphs to create.

This data will look best in a bar graph, so let's pursue making

that one. To make a bar graph, highlight the data and include

the titles of the X and Y axis. Go to the Insert tab, click

Charts, click Column, and choose the graph you wish (in


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this example I will be picking the first 2-D Column choice -- just

because I prefer it over the 3-D look).

Step 3: Switch axes, ifnecessary .

If you want to switch what appears on the X and Y axis, right

click on the bar graph, click Select Data, and click Switch

Row/Column.


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Step 4: Adjust your

labels and legends , if

desired .

To change the layout of the labeling and legend, click on the

bar graph, then click the Layout tab. Here you can choose

what layout you prefer for the chart title, axis titles, and

legend.

In my example, I clicked on Chart Title, and selected Above

Chart. To format the X axis title, I clicked on Axis Titles,

clicked Primary Horizontal Axis Title, and clicked Title Below

Axis. To format the Y axis title, I clicked on Axis Titles,

clicked 'Primary Vertical Axis Title, and chose Rotated Title.

To change the placement of the legend, click Legend on the

Layout tab and choose your preferred location.


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Step 5: Change the Y

axis measurement

options , if desired .To change the type of measurement shown on the Y axis,

right click on the Y axis percentages, and click Format Axis.

Here you can decide if you want to display units located on

the Axis Options tab, or if you want to change whether the Y

axis shows percentages to 2 decimal places or to 0 decimal

places.


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The resulting graph would be changed to look like this:


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Step 6: Reorder data , if

desired .

To sort the data so that the software choices appear in

descending popularity order, click on the column that is most

important to you (in this case I picked column B), click on the

Data tab, and click Filter. Then go back to Column B and

click the down arrow and click Sort Largest to Smallest.


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If you click on the downward arrows located at B1 and C1, you

can choose to sort based on smallest to largest or largest to

smallest, depending on your preference. Here, I sorted largest

to smallest on B1.


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Jim Payne 2:45 PM on May 03, 2013

Pretty easy, right? What other Excel functions have you

always wanted help with?

Image credit: CraigMoulding

It would be nice to show people the F11 function

instead of embedding a graph onto their data page.


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Kristin 3:27 PM on May 03, 2013

Fred 4:01 PM on May 03, 2013

Sonny Parker 4:39 PM on May 03, 2013

Danilo 5:40 PM on May 03, 2013

It's cleaner, and helps for consistent formatting as

you transfer your graphs to reports. Shazaam!

I'd love a step by step on creating pivot tables to

illustrate data and trends.

Ditto on Kristin's request

I am building a YouTube channel with 1000's of how-

to videos for PC applications. You should find these

tasks at http://www.youtube.com/knowvidz.

You should make a guide for OpenOffice Calc too!


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PetsCo PetShop Online 6:49 PM on

May 03, 2013

Jason 7:06 PM on May 03, 2013

Randall Magwood 8:42 PM on May 03,

2013

Rajeev Ranjan 10:19 PM on May 03, 2013

TCC Sampit 11:56 PM on May 03, 2013

Thanks Good article, I'm using my best to rank online

petshop

Love! This will help me add some nice visuals to my

banking spreadsheet!

I actually learned a little bit of this in college and from

bulk uploading items to Amazon and Tradebit. But

this is a great refresher about Excel.

hey great tutorial for the beginner like me.


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Koundeenya 2:32 AM on May 04, 2013

Pinsi 3:35 AM on May 04, 2013

Ian Grindey 6:59 AM on May 04, 2013

Danny Hall 7:35 AM on May 04, 2013

thank you for the tutorial, great article and very

useful. Greetings TCC Sampit.

Whoa! I never knew Excel had these many features.

I used to design graphics wherever I wanted graphs

or charts. Duh! Thanks for explaining.

This is awesome, Sara! Thanks for the easy tips!

This is the most clearly written set of instructions I've

ever read. Thank you. Sales charts are not really my

thing but excel does far more than most people

could imagine, so I'll be watching this blog for more

excel tips.


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Seowaps 8:18 AM on May 04, 2013

Dedektr 8:33 AM on May 04, 2013

Daniel 2:06 PM on May 04, 2013

Yogesh Goplani 2:20 PM on May 04, 2013

What a great piece. I've bookmarked this and will be

using in future. Also ditto on Kristen's comment.

Hubspot article thank you very helpful at all. My step

by step always read your article carefully to business

strategy

I have tried a very nice program of works. I would

recommend. thenk u

Thanks again, always nice to have this tool under my

belt. It's great info as always


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Rob Jansen 4:53 PM on May 04, 2013

Suzanne 7:29 PM on May 04, 2013

Ryan 6:42 AM on May 05, 2013

Gracious Store 4:39 PM on May 05, 2013

A great tutorial Sara. Thank you.

Your post has uncanny timing. I've been using

graphs off an internet site. Next on my to-do list was

to learn how to make Excel graphs.

There are so many features in Excel that most

people don't even know about and this post

illustrates that point. I'm a big visual person making

snazzy graphs is important to me.

I use Excel quite a lot but I picked up a couple of new

ideas from that - thanks Sara. As marketers I guess

we often present data in a textual format where it

would be far better to represent it visually. The

above is proof of that. Regards


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Clair 1:39 PM on May 06, 2013

Jake Roslyn 1:39 PM on May 06, 2013

Rina 2:40 AM on May 10, 2013

Thanks for sharing with us how to represent data in

graphic format using excel

Hi Sara! Thanks for the nice writing. One thing is

clear that if anyone wants to be successful, he/she

have to be aware about his current working situation

and the condition of improvement . So i think using

Excel graph could be a great idea. :)

Excellent post. I often find as well, that the most

simplest aspect of Excel graphs that folk miss is a

Descriptive Heading.. It helps you to more effectively

communicate what you're showing in your graph to

others... Regards JR

Without the help of other software, we've been able

to create a graph from excel Bookmark it ....


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Daniela Persichetti 8:18 AM on July 02,

2013

Even if it's a basic excel tutorial its still very useful :)

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