Creating a state/highway map with markers – February 12, 2023 at 12:59AM

I’m kind of a GIS hobbyist currently, I’ve really only ever used QGIS for viewing/exporting drone photogrammetry imagery. I’m trying to create a state map that includes major highways, and has markers and text at specific coordinates. I’ve been able to get the first two by importing shapefiles, but I’m struggling with the markers. I’m in QGIS currently, but I’m not married to it if there’s an easier way. One method I tried was the .kml import option and created the markers in Google Earth, but I’m not sure how to make them actually visible. Can anyone help guide me on how to achieve this? I’m not really sure what other details may be important, maybe there’s a far easier system than QGIS. Thank you!