Scaling ezyZip — A Case for Usability and Strategic Design

Don’t Let the Monkey Logo Fool You

ezyZip may have a playful logo, but behind that cute design lies a serious growth story.

Project Summary

ezyZip is a web-based utility for zipping and unzipping files without requiring any software installation. Back in 2019, the platform had a simple, minimal design that was functional but outdated compared to competitors. Despite this, its utility and ease of use attracted around 100,000 monthly visits—a remarkable feat for a site with just 12 pages.

Collaborating with the founder Andrew Dyster, I worked to refine ezyZip’s usability while maintaining a conservative design approach to preserve SEO rankings. By focusing on functionality, simplicity, velocitym and programmatic SEO, I supported the transformation of the platform into a global tool with over 2 million monthly visitors.

Challenges

1. Outdated Visual Design: The site’s simple but outdated design raised concerns about trust and credibility.
2. SEO Dependency: Existing rankings relied on screenshots and page layouts indexed by search engines; radical changes could risk losing visibility.
3. Limited Functionality: The platform initially supported only .zip files, missing opportunities to address broader user needs.
4. Limited Language Support: While the platform was already available in 8 main languages, there was significant demand to expand its accessibility to more regions and audiences.

Research & Insights

Key Discoveries:

• Search Analytics: Long-tail keywords like "convert rar to zip" or "open 7z file" indicated a demand for more diverse file formats.
• User Behavior: Feedback highlighted that users prioritized functionality and speed over visual appeal.
• SEO Analysis: Pages ranking in top positions had consistent layouts, keywords, and embedded screenshots of workflows, making significant design changes risky.
• Platform Usage Insights: Desktop usage dominated over mobile, reflecting the platform’s primary user base.
• Business Objective: The primary focus was to scale quickly through programmatic SEO, prioritizing velocity and performance over design aesthetics, to capture and expand market share efficiently.

Our Approach

1. Conservative Design Iteration

• We focused on improving usability without drastically altering key visual elements that impacted rankings.
• Simplified navigation and improved the placement of CTAs (e.g., “Select File” and "Add from Dropbox" buttons).
• Retained legacy screenshots on SEO-sensitive pages while refining their visual presentation for clarity.

2. Incremental Functional Improvements

• Added support for rar, 7z, tar.gz, and other file formats, ensuring they integrated seamlessly into the existing design.
• Introduced video and audio converters, each with a dedicated landing page optimized for specific user queries. These pages quickly ranked for targeted keywords, driving significant traffic growth.
• Launched a series of how-to tutorials and content creation guides tailored to user needs, covering topics like file compression and conversion. These tutorials brought in an additional 25,000 views per month, further solidifying ezyZip’s authority in the space.

Each new feature was designed with a user-friendly interface to maintain ezyZip's simplicity while expanding its functionality quickly.

3. Programmatic SEO Implementation

• Collaborated with the founder to rapidly generate thousands of landing pages targeting long-tail keywords using templated strings.
• Leveraged these templates to ensure fast and consistent page creation, reducing time to scale new keyword opportunities.
• Enhanced on-page content with instructional screenshots, concise descriptions, and targeted keyword optimization, all while maintaining layout consistency to protect rankings.

4. Adding Ratings to Understand User Experience

• We implemented a ratings component to gather direct feedback from users about their experience.
• The insights gained from these ratings helped the founder better understand user needs and ultimately led to the creation of the Pro version —an ad-free offering for premium users.

Key Solutions

1. Strategic Design Updates: Simplified navigation and improved usability without disrupting SEO-sensitive elements.
2. Expanded Functionality: Introduced support for diverse file formats, broadening the platform’s appeal.
3. SEO-Friendly Content: Preserved and enhanced existing page elements to maintain top rankings for critical keywords.
4. Localized Content: Launched multilingual pages to expand global accessibility.

Results

1. Massive Traffic Growth: Monthly visitors grew by 1900%, from 100,000 to over 2 million.

2. SEO Success: Retained top rankings for high-value keywords while expanding to new ones, such as “convert rar to zip online.”

3. Global Reach: International visitors accounted for 30% of new traffic due to multilingual pages.

4. Improved User Retention: Simplified workflows and enhanced functionality kept users coming back.

Reflection: A Balanced Approach

This project reinforced a critical lesson: a functional, easy-to-use website often outperforms visually flashy but impractical designs. I also learned a lot from founder Andrew's smart implementation and leadership, which emphasized the importance of strategic thinking and a deep understanding of user needs.

While I sought to modernize ezyZip, the need to preserve SEO rankings required a careful balance between innovation and consistency. By prioritizing usability and practicality, we delivered significant growth without jeopardizing the site’s core strengths.