Column charts are pretty straightforward, but we’ll give you a few tips and tricks here on building and using them.
Use Cases
Column Charts, though one of the most basic chart types, can be very useful. You can use column charts to track the change over time for a certain category or to compare different categories.
For example, you could use a column chart in order to track total number of users over the last two years (or other time frame). Additionally, you could track how many leads you bring in from different sources with a column for each source.
Building a Column Chart
To build a column chart, first, log in to your Grow account and click Add Metric. Choose your data source, connect your data, and press continue.
In Edit Metric, click on the chart type menu at the top right to view the list of charts. Go ahead and select Column Chart.
Next, you’ll need to select your data series. This will be the columns that are displayed on your metric. In the column to the left, click the blue Add Value button, then select the column header that you want to add to the table.
If you want to format your column chart, you can do so after you’ve added the data. In the left-hand panel, you can expand the arrow next to your selected data.
In this drop-down, you can format your numbers, change the color of your column, and rename your column data.
If you want to add more columns to your chart, click the blue add data series button. This will create columns that are alongside the first data series columns. (If you want to see stacked columns, you’ll need to switch the chart type to Stacked Column Chart.)
To add labels to your column chart, click the grouping three-dot menu. Then enter your label selections under Display. If you have a date column in your data, Data Explorer will automatically select that column as the x-axis.
You can do additional formatting on your chart labels, in addition to setting a key value and/or a goal line.
Tip: Using 2-Value Axes
Note: Given that this chart type is often used for comparisons, one formatting option that may help your chart is to use 2-value axes.
2-value axes are useful when each data series may be on a different scale. For example, if my sales revenue is in the thousands, but my actual count of sales is in the hundreds, 2-value axes would allow you to see both without unnecessarily squishing one data series or the other because of its relative size.
To enable 2-value axes, click the three-dot menu on a data series, then assign a data series to the right axis.
