Client country: Belgium

Permis Online is an online driving school in Belgium that offers interactive courses and applications that help users prepare for their B driving test from home, flexibly and at their own pace.

Permis Online has established itself as one of the largest online driving schools in Belgium over the years, distinguishing itself by its digital approach to learning to drive.

“Our platform stands out for its commitment to exceptional user experience and quality content. What makes us unique is our ability to combine the flexibility of online learning with a pedagogy adapted to each learner.”

Homepage of Permis Online featuring sections for theoretical course, risk perception, and practical course with a focus on using artificial intelligence for training.
Homepage of Permis Online featuring different course sections

“Our evolution has been characterized by constant improvements and the deployment of new initiatives. A recent milestone was our expansion into Flanders, establishing us as an emerging player in the Dutch-speaking market and strengthening our presence in Belgium.”

Permis Online take immense pride in the success rate of our students in the theoretical driving test.

While regional success rates are 41% in Brussels and 34.9% in Wallonia, our students boast an impressive success rate of 87%.

“This highlights not only the engagement of our users but also the quality of our educational content and our personalized approach.”

Wenceslas Dasnois, Founder of Permis Online, shared their struggles with unreliable hosting and poor site performance before discovering Kinsta. With Kinsta’s infrastructure and support, Permis Online now handles traffic surges with 50% faster performance and highly satisfied users. See how they achieved it below.

Company overview

  • Sector: online driving school
  • Company size: 7 to 8 employees

The problem

Permis Online needed fast, secure, and reliable hosting to support its growing user base. With so many users relying on the site, downtime and slow load times weren’t an option.

Unfortunately, their previous host couldn’t provide the stability or performance necessary for a smooth user experience. When an advertising campaign was derailed due to a site outage that lasted over 24 hours, the team knew they had to find a better solution.

Permis Online advertises preparation for the theoretical exam in 2024 with interactive online application.
Permis Online advertises preparation for the theoretical exam in 2024 with interactive online application.

What’s more, the team needed a fast, professional helpdesk, but their previous hosting provider couldn’t guarantee acceptable response times for a site that constantly registers dozens of simultaneous users.

When they found their site stuck in the middle of an advertising campaign, they decided they couldn’t wait any longer and had to find a more reliable host.

“The decision to change host had become inevitable after a series of challenges with our previous provider, culminating in an outage lasting over 24 hours with no intervention or possibility of resolution on our part. This inadequate level of service was jeopardizing our reputation and the quality of user experience we strive to deliver (not to mention the loss of money!).”

The solution

“I discovered Kinsta through blog posts (which helped me solve several problems with great ease) and was convinced by the testimonials of their exceptional performance. What made Kinsta the final choice for my business was their reputation for speed, security, and most importantly, their unparalleled customer support.” – Wenceslas Dasnois

Permis Online’s switch to Kinsta, powered by Google Cloud Platform, brought the speed and reliability essential for their operations. Each site on Kinsta runs in a dedicated software container with all necessary resources—Linux, NGINX, PHP, MySQL. Kinsta-hosted sites do not run multiple load-balanced instances of each site infrastructure.

This robust infrastructure allowed Permis Online to effortlessly manage high-traffic volumes, leading to faster load times, better SEO rankings, enhanced visibility, and a improved user experience.

Effortless migration without downtime

Migrating such a complex platform was initially a concern for Permis Online, as they feared potential disruptions or data loss.

I was a bit nervous about moving Permis Online to a new host. I was worried about service interruptions, losing data, and the technical challenges that could come up when transferring such a complex platform. I reached out to Kinsta’s support team and they were amazing.”

Kinsta’s professional approach quickly put my mind at ease. [The Kinsta team] did a great job with the migration. It was a smooth, hassle-free process that far exceeded my expectations. They completed the migration the same evening without any issues.

This made us even more confident in Kinsta as a hosting partner. It allowed us to get back to focusing on growing our business and improving the user experience without any headaches.”

In addition, Kinsta’s staging environments allowed Permis Online to test everything before going live. The seamless process gave them peace of mind and allowed them to focus on growth without worrying about hosting issues.

Detailed view of Permis Online's theoretical course offerings and features.
Detailed view of Permis Online’s theoretical course offerings and features

Security and speed with Cloudflare integrations

Permis Online continues to experience sustained benefits from their partnership with Kinsta, not only initially but through ongoing performance enhancements over the years.

Kinsta’s integration with Cloudflare services has significantly enhanced both the speed and security of Permis Online’s website. Cloudflare’s global content delivery network (CDN) actively reduces load times, while its robust DDoS protection and efficient SSL management maintain the site’s security and reliability.

These continuous upgrades have kept Permis Online’s website running smoothly and securely, effectively resolving the issues previously encountered with other hosting providers.

The result

Switching to Kinsta immediately improved Permis Online’s website. With over 50% faster page speed and improved SEO, their platform became more user friendly, increasing student engagement and solidifying their position as a top online driving school in Belgium.

Migrating to Kinsta has been one of our best investments. We saw immediate improvements just by switching. Our website speed increased by over 50%.

“Everything is faster and smoother. The increase in Google PageSpeed metrics also had a direct positive impact on our SEO. This has helped solidify our position as the leader in online driver training in Belgium.”

Up to 98 Google PageSpeed scores boost

Hosting with Kinsta significantly boosted Permis Online’s site performance. Their interactive theoretical courses page saw impressive Google PageSpeed Insights results.

“Despite the presence of sophisticated features such as interactive animations, dynamic quizzes, and a real-time ranking system, we achieved an impressive score of 77/100 for the mobile version and an exceptional 98/100 for the desktop version.”

Permis Online sur bureau
Analysis of Permis Online site performance on desktop

“These scores show that our students can access educational content quickly and easily on any device. This helps them stay engaged without waiting too long for content to load.”

Permis Online sur mobile
Performance analysis of Permis Online on mobile

Going above and beyond with expert support

Kinsta’s expert support has consistently gone above and beyond to help Permis Online solve even the most unexpected problems. When his team encountered a technical problem during a major site update, Kinsta’s support team stepped in, even though the problem wasn’t hosting-related.

The efficiency of Kinsta’s customer service has struck me on many occasions, but one event in particular stands out in my memory.”

“During a major site update, we encountered technical issues that weren’t related to hosting but seriously affected our operations. I reached out to Kinsta with little hope that they could help, given the issue was external to their service.”

Permis Online's AI-based features for learning the Highway Code.
Permis Online’s AI-based features for learning the Highway Code

“To my surprise, they responded quickly, and their technical team took the initiative to thoroughly investigate the errors. They identified the problem and provided a solution that not only resolved the issue but also optimized the site’s overall performance.”

This experience reinforced my confidence in Kinsta and showed their commitment to going above and beyond for customer satisfaction.

“Their proactive support directly impacted our ability to serve customers seamlessly—they made it easy to meet and exceed our goals.

Empowering growth with Kinsta’s reliable infrastructure

Kinsta has given us the ability to focus on what matters most which is to develop our services even further and scale our business.

Looking ahead, they’re preparing to integrate advanced AI-powered features, further personalizing students’ learning experiences. These innovations will enhance feedback, track progress, and create tailored learning paths, paving the way for more inclusive and accessible driving education.

“It’s a step forward towards more inclusive and accessible driving education, where each student can progress at their own pace and on their own terms.”

Confident in Kinsta’s ability to scale with its business, Permis Online is poised to continue to lead the online driving education industry, investing in both the quality of its service and its future growth.

Go for Kinsta. Their hosting platform is reliable and efficient, and their support team goes above and beyond what you can expect. They don't just solve problems; they anticipate and optimize to ensure impeccable performance of the site.