• Letters Bydavey
  • Posts
  • LBD #020: ILoveIMG is visited 31M times to make basic changes to images

LBD #020: ILoveIMG is visited 31M times to make basic changes to images

What does it feel like to have 31M visitors without spending a dime on ads?

Author

Shubham Davey
July 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

IloveIMG began as a natural extension of Marco Grossi's successful PDF empire. After launching iLovePDF in 2010 in Barcelona to solve a simple file merging problem, Grossi saw another opportunity. By 2016, with his PDF tool already helping millions globally, he asked a crucial question: why not save people time with their images too?

The spin-off launched with the same Barcelona-based team and philosophy. Deliver simple, fast, and free tools that actually work. Starting with basic image editing functions, IloveIMG has grown into a comprehensive image toolkit serving over 31 million monthly visitors.

Business Model

ILoveIMG operates on a freemium model, offering basic image tools for free with usage limits, while advanced features, higher limits, and ad-free access require a paid subscription (around $3-6/month). Revenue is primarily generated from premium users and optional upgrades, rather than from advertising.

SEO Lessons To Learn From ILoveIMG:

Based on Semrush data, IloveIMG represents a masterclass in building massive organic traffic through smart SEO execution. With over 31 million monthly visits and 49.53% coming from Google search alone, this simple image optimization tool demonstrates practical principles that apply directly to any business.

#1 On-Page SEO:

IloveIMG gets 30.99 million monthly visits with a 29.35% bounce rate. Compare this to typical SaaS website benchmarks, where bounce rates range from 40-60%.

Their low bounce rate, combined with 4.54 pages per visit and a 7:37-minute average session duration, shows visitors actually use their tools rather than just browsing.

The geographic distribution tells another story, India leads at 11.04%%, followed by Brazil at 10.14% and Indonesia at 9.35%.

This global reach happened without complicated international SEO campaigns. Instead, they focused on universal search queries that work across languages and cultures.

Here’s what has worked for ILoveIMG as part of on-page SEO:

They rank in the top 3 for some of the most searched high-intent keywords.

  • "webp to jpg" - 301k monthly searches

  • "resize image" - 1.2M monthly searches

  • "reduce image size" - 823k monthly searches

  • "photo compressor" - 823k monthly searches

  • “Image compressor” - 823k monthly searches

Pro tip: Always include an x-default hreflang tag as a fallback for unmatched users, this not only prevents duplicate indexing but also ensures search engines always have a clear, language-agnostic page to serve when no targeted language or region match is found. Most sites overlook this and risk cannibalizing their own rankings across countries.

Notice the pattern? They target problem-solving keywords, not vanity terms. When someone searches for "resize image," they have a specific need at the moment.

Additionally, all these keywords are indicative of commercial intent. Almost everyone who lands on the page will use the tool and explore more tools.

This intent-based targeting converts better than broad keywords like "image editing" or "photo tools."

Content Structure

Each tool gets its own dedicated page with clear, descriptive URLs. They avoid complex category structures - instead using simple paths like /compress-image or /resize-image. This makes it easy for both users and search engines to understand exactly what each page does.

Their homepage clearly lists all available tools. No hidden navigation or complex menus. Everything is upfront, reducing cognitive load for visitors trying to find what they need.

#2 Off-Page SEO:

IloveIMG has 13.9k referring domains with 1.42 million backlinks. This can’t happen through outreach campaigns or link exchanges. They earned these links by solving real problems for their target audience.

Developers include IloveIMG in their resource lists. Bloggers mention it in tutorials. SaaS tools link to it from their internal documentation. When you build something genuinely useful, the links follow naturally.

WordPress Plugin Strategy

ILoveIMG has a WordPress plugin for image compression. This plugin has over 2,500 credits per month in the free version and integrates directly with websites. Each installation creates a connection between IloveIMG and active websites.

The plugin approach works because it puts their tool directly into workflows. Instead of users leaving their site to compress images, they can do it from within WordPress. This reduces friction and increases usage.

#3 Technical SEO:

ILoveIMG maintains a 29.35% bounce rate while handling massive traffic. This performance comes from:

  • Efficient image processing

  • Clean, minimal interface design

  • Fast loading times across all tools

  • No unnecessary JavaScript or complex features

Core Web Vitals Focus

Image optimization tools must practice what they preach. IloveIMG's own performance demonstrates their expertise. Fast Largest Contentful Paint scores show their hero images load quickly. A low Cumulative Layout Shift indicates that the interface remains stable during tool usage.

This performance directly supports their SEO rankings. Google rewards sites that load quickly and provide a good user experience.

Mobile Experience

With mobile traffic making up significant portions of their audience, IloveIMG works seamlessly across devices. Their tools function identically on phones and desktops. No separate mobile apps needed, the web interface handles everything.

In fact, in times when there’s a mobile app for everything, they get most of their traffic from desktop users. Let that sink in 🔥

Business Lessons for Solopreneurs & Founders

If you look at the tool pages, you’d notice that there’s very little content; it’s called thin pages. This got me thinking, why would thin pages rank in the top 3 for some of the most competitive keywords on search engines?

It boils down to the following factors:

  • Search intent matching - Users searching "webp to jpg" want working tools, not 3,000-word articles about image formats.

  • Technical execution - Lightning-fast loading, zero errors, clean URLs, perfect mobile experience.

  • User behavior signals - a 25.28% bounce rate, 4.18 pages per session, and sessions lasting 4 minutes or more indicate that people find what they need, and hence Google ranks it accordingly.

  • Domain authority - 13.9k referring domains and 1.42 million backlinks compensate for thin content.

  • Tool page advantages - Users bookmark, share, and revisit functional tools more than informational content.

  • Algorithm recognition - Google understands functional searches need utility over information.

  • Natural engagement - When someone needs image compression, they want results immediately, not educational content about compression algorithms.

What can you do now?