How to Create Powerful and Easy Heat Maps in Excel

Heat maps are a valuable visual tool for analyzing complex data sets. By using color-coded charts, heat maps make it simple to identify positive and negative trends that may have been difficult to spot from raw data. In this guide, we will walk you through how to create three different types of heat maps in Excel, including a simple heat map with conditional formatting, a customizable heat map, and a geographic heat map. Let's get started!

What Are Heat Maps in Excel?

A heat map in Excel is a visual representation of data, using colors to highlight patterns and correlations in thousands of data points. Lighter shades represent lower values, while darker colors indicate higher ones. However, the colors can also be inverted to better showcase essential data points. For example, you can use green for higher conversion rates, red for lower rates, and orange for values in between. You can also utilize gradient shades to fill cells, as displayed in the example below.

The Advantages of Using Heat Maps

• Efficient Data Interpretation: Heat maps allow for quick and efficient interpretation of data, saving time and effort.
• Spotting Trends and Patterns: Heat maps uncover hidden trends and patterns that may be overlooked when looking at raw data.
• Improved Presentations and Reports: Heat maps transform dull spreadsheets into engaging and informative visuals, making reports more impactful and effortless to understand.
• Simplifying Decision-Making: Whether you're a logistics manager analyzing delivery times or a marketer tracking campaign performance, heat maps can aid in decision-making by highlighting key data points and areas for improvement.

How to Make Heat Maps in Excel

Follow these step-by-step guides to create various types of heat maps in Excel with different formatting options.

Making a Heat Map with Conditional Formatting

For example, let's say you want to analyze the monthly expenses of different departments within a company.

1. Open Excel and input your data. Click and drag to select the numerical data you want to include in your heat map. In this example, we will use the expenses from January to June for each department.
2. Open the Conditional Formatting menu. Go to the �Home� tab and click �Conditional Formatting� in the �Styles� group.
3. Apply Color Scale. From the dropdown, select �Color Scales.� A set of preset color gradients will appear. Choose one that best fits your needs. For this example, we will select �Green - Yellow - Red Color Scale.� This scale will create a gradient of colors, with green representing lower expenses, red for higher expenses, and yellow for values in between.

Creating a Heat Map with a Custom Color Scale

There may be instances where the default color scales in Excel may not accurately represent your data, or you may want to align the color scheme with your brand colors. In such cases, you can create a custom color scale.

1. Follow the same steps as above to select your data and open the Conditional Formatting menu.
2. From the dropdown, select �Color Scales,� then click �Customize Colors.�
3. Choose a color for the starting point and end point of your scale and adjust the gradient as desired. You can also add additional color points to represent different values.

Creating a Geographic Heat Map

Geographic heat maps in Excel allow for a visual comparison of values and categories across different regions, such as countries, states, counties, or postal codes.

1. Select your data, including the headers, and in the Ribbon bar, select a Map chart or Recommended charts to allow Excel to suggest the most suitable map chart for your data.
2. To color-code your map with conditional formatting, double-click on the map to trigger the formatting menu and choose your preferred color scheme.
3. As you switch between options and colors, the changes will be automatically applied, making it easy to experiment and find the best visualization for your data without going back and forth.Communicating Data Effectively with Heat Maps: A Guide
4. Utilizing heat maps in Excel is an efficient and impactful method for presenting data. These visual representations are a powerful tool for communicating crucial information to your team, managers, or stakeholders. No matter what type of data you are analyzing - from marketing campaign success to monthly expenses to sales trends - heat maps provide a clear and user-friendly overview that can assist with strategic decision-making. Discover the benefits for yourself by implementing them in your next presentation.