If you work in digital marketing or web analytics, then you’ve probably found yourself staring at a dashboard wondering: “Is this the best way to show the data?”
Maybe you used a pie chart just because it was there, or maybe you’ve built a beautiful graph, only to have your stakeholder ask, “Wait, what am I looking at here?”
Don’t worry, you’re not alone. I’ve made all those mistakes too. Choosing the right chart isn’t just about making your report look good, it’s about helping your audience understand what matters.
In this post, I’ll walk you through a simple way to pick the right kind of data visualization, using real examples from marketing and web analytics.
1. When You Want to Compare Things
Use: Bar chart, Column chart, Bullet chart
Why: These make it easy to compare categories side by side.
- Marketing example: ROAS across Google Ads, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
- Web example: Bounce rate for top landing pages.
2. When You Want to Show a Trend Over Time
Use: Line chart, Area chart
Why: Trends are easiest to follow with lines or shaded areas over time.
- Marketing example: Daily conversions from a paid campaign.
- Web example: Monthly traffic from organic search.
3. When You Want to See a Distribution
Use: Histogram, Box Plot, Dot Plot
Why: These help you understand how data is spread out and where the outliers are.
- Marketing example: Distribution of cost-per-click (CPC).
- Web example: Session durations grouped by time buckets.
4. When You Want to Show Parts of a Whole
Use: Pie chart (carefully), Donut chart, Stacked bar chart
Why: These work when you want to break something into pieces, but don’t go overboard with pie charts.
- Marketing example: Share of traffic from each email campaign.
- Web example: Traffic split by device type.
5. When You Want to Show Relationships
Use: Scatter plot, Bubble chart
Why: These are great for spotting patterns or correlations between variables.
- Marketing example: Ad spend vs. lead volume.
- Web example: Time on page vs. goal completions.
6. When You Want to Show Rankings
Use: Sorted bar chart, Lollipop chart (custom)
Why: You’re highlighting what’s performing best (or worst).
- Marketing example: Top email subject lines by open rate.
- Web example: Most-exited pages ranked by volume.
7. When You’re Tracking Progress
Use: Gauge chart, Progress bar, Bullet chart
Why: These visuals help you track how close you are to your goal.
- Marketing example: Leads generated vs. monthly goal.
- Web example: Page load speed score on mobile (e.g., 89/100).
What Charts Are Available in Looker Studio?
Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio) gives you plenty of options, but not every chart on this list is native. Here’s a quick reference:
| Chart Type | Available in Looker Studio? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bar chart |  Yes |
Fully supported |
| Column chart | Yes |
Just flip orientation from bar |
| Line chart | Yes |
Ideal for time series |
| Area chart | Yes |
Line chart with fill |
| Pie chart | Yes |
Use for simple breakdowns |
| Donut chart | Yes |
Same as pie, cleaner look |
| Stacked bar chart | Yes |
Show composition across categories |
| Histogram |  Not Native |
Simulate with calculated fields |
| Box Plot |  No |
Need external embed or custom viz |
| Dot Plot | No |
Not supported by default |
| Scatter plot | Yes |
Requires numeric x and y |
| Bubble chart | Yes (Community Viz) |
Use 3rd metric as size |
| Lollipop chart | No |
Custom visual only |
| Gauge chart | Yes |
Perfect for KPIs |
| Progress bar | No |
Simulate using styled bar chart |
| Bullet chart | No |
Use community visualizations |
Final Thoughts
Data visualization is not about making things fancy—it’s about making insights easy to understand. Always start with the question: “What am I trying to show here?”
If you stay focused on that and pick your charts intentionally, your dashboards and reports will do what they’re supposed to: drive action.
Need help building a dashboard or training your team on which visuals to use? Let’s talk.