Quizlet · B2C · study flashcards app
Let students' and teachers' flashcards rank in Google for long-tail searches
Most important of four growth loops; low-cost acquisition
Workedseoproduct-virality
What they did
Every flashcard set created by students and teachers becomes indexable content, so Quizlet wins long-tail search queries while other edtech companies fight over head terms. Pair the organic user-generated content with a distinct SEO strategy; paid ads only as a supplement.
What happened
SEO was identified as the most important of Quizlet's four core growth loops; guest cites its very low-cost organic acquisition.
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · The Subscription Value Loop: A Formula for Growth – Phil Carter, Elemental Growth“Quizlet's an example of a company that has done a really nice job growing through long-tail SEO, right? There's so much flashcards content created on Quizlet by students, by teachers.”
“even though there are plenty of other EdTech companies out there competing for head terms, Quizlet has a really strong advantage in long-tail search queries.”
Related topics
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New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from Quizlet
All 13 Quizlet tactics- Ask a few quick questions about why when people cancelFound a third of 'no longer need' churners were just done with one test
- Hire a banker to run a buyout so the founders keep buildingSold to Quizlet; revenue roughly doubled during the process
- Add a monthly plan for students who start partway through the school yearKept after testing; no numbers given
- Give lapsed users a new free trial if they left a year ago and are active againSome success in several tests; no numbers
- Win back lapsed students with content from classmates in their own courses
More from this episode
- Quizlet: Map the few user actions and loops that drive growth, then model themGuest says it made growth more systematic; no numbers
- Quizlet: Have core product own retention and growth product own onboarding and monetizationResonated with the team and executives; no numbers
- Quizlet: Stay free for years, then add a low-priced subscriptionBuilt a teacher-student network effect; guest says rivals that monetized faster failed
- Quizlet: Copy Blinkist's honest free-trial screen that explains exactly how the trial worksGuest says a big lift in subscriber conversion and revenue; no numbers
- Quizlet: Buy a homework-help product to cover a need users already hadMoved the app into homework help; no numbers
- Quizlet: Let new users use the app during onboarding instead of describing it
- Matter: Add a feature that turns podcasts into readable transcriptsSubscriber conversion almost doubled
- Matter: Show the paywall more often and earlier, and improve its copy and imagesPaywall views more than doubled; ~30% more users subscribed
- uDocz: Survey what students would pay, then drop the Pro tier and cut the yearly price+12% subscriber conversion, +10% net subscription revenue, better margins
- Show the paywall once in the first session, then again when free uses run outGuest's go-to pattern across clients; no numbers
- Offer a discount to users who haven't paid by the time 90% of subscribers usually haveGuest calls it very effective; no numbers
- Quizlet: Estimate word of mouth from direct, branded-search and social signups per active userRevealed back-to-school and exam spikes in edtech; no numbers
- Superhuman: Ask users how disappointed they'd be without the app, then build for the fansGot past the 40% product-market fit line quickly (founder's blog post)
- Elevate: Run sales and discount promotions once someone can own themCohost calls it a huge unlock; no numbers