Value first, the ask later.
The old site pointed at a subscription. The new one opens with eight practice tests and a complete guide, free and no signup — paid plans arrive only once someone has used the product.
French exam prep · Website + Platform
A freemium exam-prep platform for Québec immigration.
TCF Québec had ranked for years on a legacy site. We rebuilt it as a freemium preparation platform — free practice tests and score tools first, paid plans after — and migrated the old URLs so the search authority carried over by design.
The brief
Turn a site that had ranked for years into a freemium platform — without losing the search authority it had earned.
- Free-first funnel
- Score tools
- Paid plans
- Brand rollout
- SEO-safe migration
What we did
Three decisions behind the rebuild
Answer the real question.
Applicants don't ask how to prepare — they ask which test to take and what score they need. Score calculators, a PSTQ explainer and a test comparison settle that first, and the prep funnel follows.
A rebrand built not to lose rankings.
The old site kept serving while the new build came together. URLs were preserved where possible and mapped with redirects where not — rankings preserved by design, not left to the cutover.
What we built · Before and after
The same property, before and after the rebuild
The inherited site had done its job for years. The rebuild gives the same property the brand register the rest of the TCF family now operates in.
Before · the inherited site
After · the freemium platform
What we built · The platform
One page, one path: arrive, try free, learn the method, convert
Four screens from the live build — the value-first order from the decisions above.
ArriveThe promise, set in red
Try freeThe exam, before any signup
MethodWhere to start, by module
ConvertPlans, then the cautious reader
ArriveThe promise, set in red
Try freeThe exam, before any signup
MethodWhere to start, by module
ConvertPlans, then the cautious reader
What we built · Design system
A study-platform colour and type system
Colour
Primary
Accent
Surface
Type
vraiment
One type family carries the whole surface — from the single word that holds the brand promise to the long-form FAQ at the foot of the page. A red accent held back for the trial CTA and the maple-leaf mark.
Outcome
What shipped
The scope, delivered. The platform is live and free to try at tcfquebec.com.
Free firstPractice tests and the preparation guide open to anyone — before any signup or payment.
Score toolsScore calculators, a PSTQ explainer and a test comparison answer the immigration question first.
Brand rolloutThe Québec property now trades in the same identity as its sister site, TCF Canada.
SEO-safe migrationURLs preserved where possible, redirected where not — rankings preserved by design.
Want this for your institution?
Education is a standing Digilayers solution — websites and platforms for schools, academies and training programs, built the same way.
More case studies
All workCarrying a rebuild that has to preserve what works?