Leading French online-learning organization reports strong results from going mobile
other sites, digiSchool offered free teaching content for which users would otherwise have had
to pay. The fact that the co-founder of digiSchool, Thierry Debarnot, was well aware of
AdSense’s potential also helped.
Thierry discovered AdSense in 2006 when he was keen to
increase revenue for his original site, marketing-etudiant.fr, and applied the lessons he’d learned
to digiSchool. As he explains, “It’s possible that without AdSense I’d never have spent so much
time online and perhaps digiSchool wouldn’t be here today.”
In 2014, digiSchool went international. Today, digiSchool’s portal site is a gateway to 12 other
free sites. These are all designed to enable students worldwide, aged between 15 and 25, to
learn, study for specific qualifications, and build dynamic learning communities online.
Last year, digiSchool was used by one in two French high school and college students, and one
in three French junior high school students. As you might expect from a pioneer, digiSchool was
an early adopter of the opportunity presented by the mobile and tablet revolution. Currently, the
company offers a total of 17 applications that cover anything from spelling in five languages
to studying for a driving licence.
The challenge
Going mobile was important to digiSchool, and they had to decide how to approach it. Thierry
explains, “Depending on the device, a user needs very specific interfaces. We had to figure out
whether content worked best on a mobile site or an app.”
After extensive user testing, the company established that mobile apps were best for delivering
content like quizzes, lessons and videos, but a mobile site was better for reading the news. This
is when digiSchool turned to Responsive Web Design (RWD).
Responsive Web Design
RWD has been key to the success of digiSchool’s mobile site. This scalable, complete solution
doesn’t require changes across multiple sites, and has enabled digiSchool’s mobile site to
evolve rapidly. At the same time, RWD content is more user-friendly to navigate, which has
helped digiSchool offer RWD mobile sites for its other services.
All the signs suggest that RWD is working for digiSchool. As Anthony Kuntz says, “When it
comes to education and young people, we’re mobile leaders, with more than two million unique
users every month.”
Implementing RWD has clearly improved the mobile user experience and now users spend 25
percent more time on the mobile site than they previously did. The company also earns 20
percent more from its mobile site users than it does from its desktop site users.
Leading French online-learning
organization reports strong results
from going mobile
About digiSchool
www.digiSchoolgroup.com
Lyon, France
Offers educational courses via an online
portal, 12 sites, and 17 apps
Goals
Deliver best experience to users
Monetize mobile experience
Grow worldwide presence
Approach
Prioritize mobile
Monetize with Google solutions
Use RWD on mobile sites
Results
Massive jump in daily mobile page
views from 57,000 to 500,000
25% increase in time spent
on mobile site
Two million unique views on
mobile every month
Over 25% of monthly turnover
is generated on mobile devices
“Because of the business we
now do on mobile devices,
we’ve become leaders in
digital education in France
and are expanding abroad.”
Thierry Debarnot
Co-founder
digiSchool
Google Case Study – Page 1/2
Working with Google
Today, digiSchool uses DoubleClick for Publishers Small Business (DFP Small Business),
Google’s ad management solution for publishers, to serve a significant number of campaigns.
They also use DoubleClick AdExchange, AdSense and AdMob to generate income for
the company.
Looking ahead
Looking to the future, digiSchool regards mobile as its lever for growth. They are committed to
transitioning all services and content to mobile as quickly as possible. In 2014 alone, digiSchool
invested approximately 35 percent of its turnover to develop its entire mobile offering, including
both site and applications. After all, without this commitment, they wouldn’t be a market leader
for digital education in France.
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