Free Books: an SEO turnaround that drove signups
Skybrary's Free Books page was built for one of the most-searched phrases in children's reading, but almost nobody could find it. Focused content and call-to-action edits moved it from page 4 of Google to page 2 and turned it into a steady source of new accounts.
average Google position, the page's best in 12 months
clicks per day into the web signup flow from the page
entry page for completed Skybrary signups on the web
Skybrary is Reading Is Fundamental's reading app for families and classrooms. Its Free Books page offers a selection of books children can read at no cost, and it targets searches like "free books for kids," which draws about 5,400 searches a month.
In late 2025 the page averaged position 40 in Google, the bottom of page 4. Families looking for exactly what Skybrary offers were not finding it. Signups that start on the website also matter more than they look: they avoid app-store fees, so each one is worth more to the organization.
Fix the page, not the platform
A redesign would have taken months and a development queue. I treated it as a content problem instead.
- Matched the page to how families searchMapped the queries the page could win, by intent and grade level, and rewrote headings and copy to answer them directly.
- Made the next step obviousRewrote the calls to action so a parent who came for a free book could see how to keep reading with a free account.
- Measured the whole pathTraced visitors from the search result through account creation in GA4, so the page was judged on signups, not just traffic.
The edits went live on March 25, 2026. No rebuild or redesign was required.
From page 4 to the top of page 2
Average Google position for the page, comparing November–December 2025 with June 2026. Each band is one page of Google results.
The page now ranks for high-intent searches it never reached before. Clicks per day into the signup flow rose 376% over matched 83-day windows, and organic engagement improved while bounce rate fell.
The gains held into the next quarter. Free Books stayed the second most common entry page for completed web signups, and Google organic search grew to 30% of Skybrary's web signups.
My role
I led the work end to end: the search research, the content and call-to-action edits, and the GA4 tracking that tied rankings to signups.
The next step is a controlled test of where the reader and signup prompts sit on the page.
What it shows
The fastest path to growth is often a page you already have. When content matches what people are searching for, and the next step is clear, search traffic turns into new users without a redesign.