Every marketing platform explains itself in its own vocabulary, and each one assumes you already use the others. The result is that most business owners run three or four of them without ever being told, plainly, what each one is for.
These nine guides fix that. Each one covers a single platform in the same shape, so once you have read one you know where everything is in the next. No jargon without a definition, no screenshots of menus that changed last month, and an honest note on what each platform cannot tell you.
The series
Nine platforms, in the order you set them up
The order is not alphabetical and it is not arbitrary. Measurement comes before spending, because until an enquiry is counted properly, no ad platform can be judged.
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1
Google Analytics 4Website measurement
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2
Google Search ConsoleOrganic search insights
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3
Google Business ProfileLocal search and maps
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4
Google AdsPaid search advertising
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5
Meta AdsPaid social advertising
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6
Facebook and Instagram PagesOrganic social presence
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7
LinkedIn AdsB2B paid advertising
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8
Google Merchant CenterProduct feed for Shopping
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9
Google SheetsYour own business data
Before you spend
Measurement first, reach second
The first three guides cost nothing to act on. The rest cost money, and they are only judgeable because of the first three.
Guides 1 to 3, free
Count what happens on your website, see what people already search to find you, and claim the listing that answers a nearby search. No budget required, and nothing downstream is readable without them.
Guides 4 to 9, paid or optional
Buy attention on search, on social feeds, or by job title, and list your products where shoppers compare them. Every one of these is judged with the numbers the first three produce.
The common and expensive mistake is running this backwards: spending for three months, then discovering the enquiry form was never counted as a conversion, so nothing in that period can be evaluated. An afternoon on guides one to three protects every dollar that follows.
Not all nine
You probably need three
Almost no business should be on all nine. The right set depends on what you sell and who buys it.
A local plumber
Analytics, Business Profile, Google Ads. The listing does most of the work.
A B2B consultancy
Analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads. Long sales cycles, named buyers.
An online store
Analytics, Merchant Center, Google Ads, Meta Ads. The product feed is the foundation.
Get a shortlist in two minutes
Our free planner asks what you sell, what counts as a win and where you are now, then hands back the platforms in the order you should set them up, what a customer is worth, and what a first test should cost. No sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
If you would rather read the reasoning than answer questions, the Getting Started with Digital Marketing guide covers how to choose objectives, set a budget and judge the result, in five chapters.
Build your planThe promise
Every guide has the same nine parts
Same shape, every time, so the second one you read is faster than the first.
- At a glance
Role, cost, owner, setup time, and whether Clearly can read it today.
- The one question
What the platform is for, in the words a business owner would use.
- How it works
A real diagram of the mechanism, not a screenshot of a menu.
- The numbers
Three or four metrics, each answering a question, each with a worked example.
- Setting it up
Five steps with a time against each, in the order that avoids rework.
- Three misreads
The wrong reading, then the right one. This is where the money is lost.
- In Clearly
What our report shows for that source, and plainly when it cannot yet.
- Cheat sheet
Every term in one table, to come back to rather than reread.
- Common questions
The five questions people actually ask, answered without hedging.
Before you start
Common questions
Which guide should I read first?
Google Analytics, number one, whatever you sell. It is the only platform on the list that measures your own website rather than someone else's surface, and every other guide refers back to it. If you already have Analytics working and an enquiry counted as a key event, skip to the platform you actually spend money on.
Do I need to be on all nine platforms?
No, and trying is the most reliable way to do all of them badly. Most businesses need three: a way to measure, a way to be found, and one place to pay for reach. The planner gives you a shortlist for your business type in about two minutes.
What if I only have an hour?
Read guide one, then the guide for wherever your money currently goes. That pairing answers the only question that matters in an hour: is the thing I am paying for producing anything? The other seven will still be here next month.
Are these guides about Clearly, or about the platforms?
About the platforms. Each guide has one short section near the end on what our report does with that source, and the rest is usable whether or not you ever sign up. We would rather you understood your Google Ads account than bought a dashboard for it.
Read them in one report instead of nine tabs.
Connect what you already have and get a report that explains itself. No card required.