Researched profile. Starter Story's AI research system compiled this page from 7 public sources — the founder didn't write it. Automated research can misread or misattribute a source, so treat figures as best-effort. How this works →
How Excel Exercises Grew
Hands-on Excel training website with interactive browser exercises
How did Excel Exercises grow?
Excel Exercises grew largely through SEO, with founder Jake Shimota writing detailed blog articles about Excel functions that attracted search engine traffic. Growth also came from university and corporate deals, as users who tried the training recommended it to their bosses and teams, and from paid social media advertising. The company also earned backlinks by offering free premium access to schools and non-profits, and word-of-mouth from satisfied users contributed to its growth.
Channels
-
SEO
· 3 mentions · 2 sources“So from zero to 10K, when I was getting this started, I think I posted on Reddit a couple of times, but real growth came from SEO. And what this looked like was just me vomiting a bunch of words onto as many pages as I could for a really, really long time. So I had these blog articles about diffe...”
highShow 2 more quotes
“Excel Exercises found significant growth through organic search. Jake Shimota wrote detailed articles about various Excel functions, making them more engaging and intuitive than typical documentation. This content strategy attracted search engines, leading to increased traffic.”
medium“SEO Excel Exercises found significant growth through organic search. Jake Shimota wrote detailed articles about various Excel functions, making them more engaging and intuitive than typical documentation. This content strategy attracted search engines, leading to increased traffic.”
medium -
Word of mouth
· 2 mentions“The growth of Excel Exercises was also driven by word-of-mouth. Satisfied users, impressed by the quality and utility of the product, recommended it to others.”
mediumShow 1 more quote
“The growth of Excel Exercises was also driven by word-of-mouth. Satisfied users, impressed by the quality and utility of the product, recommended it to others. This organic spread was particularly effective during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people were seeking to improve their digital skills.”
medium -
Advertising on social media
· 1 mention“And then from 10K to 30K, I started paid advertising. So that was the biggest turning point in terms of growth, but also in terms of how I think about the business, because when all your traffic is free and organic and you have really low operating costs, then every new subscription is like, you ...”
high -
Reddit
· 1 mention“when I was getting this started, I think I posted on Reddit a couple of times”
high -
Product-led growth
· 1 mention“also from 10 to 30, something that accelerated growth was that I started getting more university and corporate deals. I think people would call it like a product led growth motion where someone tries my training. They like it a lot. They go to work and they tell their boss, like, Hey, we should g...”
high -
Backlinks
· 1 mention“To further boost their SEO efforts, Excel Exercises leveraged backlinks from reputable organizations. By offering free premium access to schools and non-profits, they earned links back to their site from these institutions, which significantly enhanced their search engine ranking.”
medium
How 3,289 businesses grow
-
Social media64% ◀
-
Referral/Word-of-mouth64% ◀
-
Search/SEO58% ◀
-
Email47%
-
Community37% ◀
-
Content/Inbound35%
-
Partnerships32%
-
Events24%
-
Paid ads23%
-
Outbound/Sales19%
-
Press/PR17%
-
Marketplaces/App stores12%
-
Podcasting4%
-
Influencer partnerships3%
