Whether you’re using data visualization to convey a point you’re trying to make or you’re showcasing data from an analysis your team has conducted, proper data design is essential for creating visuals that satisfy everyone. Charts and infographics can be visually appealing, but they are likely not worth the time and effort if they do not effectively convey information to the audience.
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How does storytelling relate to data visualisation?
Visualization is the process of translating data into a visual format that allows the audience to comprehend at a glance what the data is saying to us. This could involve obtaining population data from a municipality and making a pie chart that displays the age ranges of all residents, or examining a bar chart to determine that the typical smartphone user has gradually downloaded more applications over time. Then, after introducing the data, we employ content storytelling to further clarify what the data is showing us.
For example, if we know that the average user currently downloads two more apps than they did five years ago, we can assume that users are likely utilising their phones more. This can assist us to introduce our main point or solution, such as an app cleaning utility to help customers remove apps they no longer use or behavioural changes for users who wish to use their phones less.
The most effective data visualisation tools
If you want to make your own data visualisations, which is encouraged so you don’t utilise someone else’s data without permission, there are a number of tools you may use to collect information that will influence the major points of your content story. These free and paid resources include the following:
- presenting you with a graphical format for the data
- providing raw data for graphic creation
- allows you to import your raw data so you may create the necessary visualisations to effectively describe the data points
Creating your own data visualisations can help you produce imagery that demonstrates your point, persuades viewers to take action, or facilitates the visual explanation of your arguments. Whether you need an analysis of your data to identify your next moves or an examination of data trends through time, these tools can assist you.
Google Trends
Most SEOs are familiar with Google Trends, but practically any industry can utilise it to quickly determine what is trending in their particular field of products. For instance, if you are an e-commerce site, you may use Google Shopping Trends to see which products are currently being searched for. The page also highlights significant surges for specific e-commerce product phrases, such as “y2k aesthetic.”
Additionally, Google Trends displays the daily global search trends for specific nations. This is really helpful if you’re seeking statistics pertaining to a specific country or the overall pulse of a region, such as music or current events.
The primary area of Google Trends enables you to compare numerous topics at once to observe the fluctuation of user interest over time.
This information can be utilised to demonstrate how specific audiences have acquired or lost interest in a topic over a specified time period.
Google Graphs
If you already have data that needs to be plotted into charts, Google Charts under Google’s development tools is an excellent way to accomplish so. It enables you to import data, which you can then visualise and embed on your website.
It is absolutely free and fully customisable. It also includes a gallery of examples of available charts, which can assist you in selecting the best one for your data.
Because you must use HTML5 and other code to retrieve the data, this solution may demand greater technical expertise.
In addition, Google Data Studio is comparable to Google Charts, where you may input many data sources to generate API-connected visualisations and live charts. However, it focuses mostly on delivering an internal data dashboard rather than charts for content sites that are accessible to the public.
Moz
Consider using Moz if you want to exchange keyword research or search data over time. Moz Pro enables you to track campaign statistics over time (in addition to researching competitors), while the set of free tools enables you to view data on certain keywords or connections.
This data analysis can be used in marketing materials to describe search trends over time, or in internal stakeholder content, such as when you want to illustrate the success of your organic content campaigns or how the number of links to specific pages has increased over time since you began updating old posts.
Tableau
Tableau is likely the most well-known available data visualisation tool. It offers both free and paid versions. Tableau Public, the free edition, requires a software download, but then allows users to create data visualisations for free (with some limitations that are lifted in the paid version).
To view some of the data visualisations made using Tableau, they offer a free 3D “art gallery” that allows you to navigate around actual projects. Here is an example covering “Work Like an Artist: Daily Routines of Famous Creatives” by a user who used information from books by Mason Currey, Wikipedia, and blog postings on creatives’ work routines.
External data from company user data
Many large organisations make some of their data available to the public, which can be extracted to construct a data analysis or trend report over time. Two excellent examples include:
Spotify Rankings
If you want to observe how music and other media hosted on Spotify perform over time, check out Spotify Charts, which displays trends in certain music genres and by country.
Amazon Sales Data
You can also explore Amazon product trends, such as its list of best-selling books or lists of the most popular products in various categories. This information is extracted by external applications, such as Amzscout, so that you may track the sales of specific products over time.
Pivot tables
Don’t underestimate the power of pivot tables and charts in Excel or Google Sheets if you’re seeking the simplest approach to graph raw data. These can quickly and automatically generate charts and other data visuals within your saved spreadsheet. There are numerous tools available for creating great charts and visuals. In some instances, Google Sheets may have somewhat different formula functions compared to Excel.
In conclusion
To learn more about data-driven storytelling, be sure to explore MOZ’s recently revised Learn Center page. Whether you are using a simple tool like Google Sheets or wish to create a beautifully-designed infographic in Tableau, data visualisation is a fantastic method to enhance your storytelling narrative by showing your point and enhancing your audience’s grasp of the subject at hand.
A large collection of data is advantageous, but it might be useless if you do not know how to organise it to meet your purposes.
