LBD #016: A Simple Text Manipulation Site Makes ~$40,000 Annually

TextFixer is a bare-bones website making $39,200 per year with almost no bells and whistles.

Created by Scott Huot in 2007, this site offers free online tools for text manipulation, like removing line breaks or converting text to HTML.

Business Model

Unlike flashy startups burning through cash, TextFixer keeps things ridiculously simple.

Scott monetizes through Google AdSense alone, proving you don't need complicated business models to make decent money online.

What's fascinating is how this 18-year-old site continues growing despite minimal changes to its core offering.

Mind you, the keywords this site ranks for are searched for several thousand times every month, and there are several such keywords.

TexFixer and similar sites will continue to dominate search results and make money while fancy startups struggle to get first 100 customers.

The site runs on client-side JavaScript, which means:

• Near-zero server costs (everything runs in your browser)

• Lightning-fast loading times (no database queries)

• Zero need for fancy backend infrastructure

Competition? TextFixer is crushing the list.

SEO Lessons To Learn From TextFixer

#1 On-Page SEO:

TextFixer's on-page approach focuses on owning specific problems rather than competing for broad terms. The keyword strategy centers on exact-match targeting, where each tool gets its own dedicated page.

The top-performing keywords reveal a pattern of precision targeting.

TextFixer holds the #1 position for sentence counter (14.8K monthly searches), backwards text generator (8.1K searches), and remove line breaks (2.9K searches).

The only #4 ranking comes from abc order with 22.2K monthly searches, their highest volume keyword.

This tool-specific page strategy creates natural keyword alignment.

Instead of cramming multiple tools onto generic pages, each utility lives at its own URL like /tools/sentence-counter.php.

The approach generates strong user engagement signals that Google rewards with consistent top rankings.

The ~13-minute session duration indicates that users actually accomplish their tasks, not just bounce after failing to find solutions.

Combined with 2.52 pages per visit, this suggests effective internal linking between related tools. Internal links are the easiest way one can boost the SEO of their site without doing much.

If you’re working on a product or are responsible for the growth of a product, take internal links very seriously.

#2 Off-Page SEO:

TextFixer's link-building happens without a link-building strategy. The site attracts 29.71K backlinks from 4.11K referring domains purely through utility.

This represents a 1.33% monthly growth in referring domains with zero outreach campaigns. That’s how powerful creating link-worthy pages is.

The authority foundation rests on 18 years of consistent operation. An Authority Score of 46 from SEMrush reflects solid domain strength in the text tools niche.

53.21% of visitors come directly to the site pages, indicating strong brand recognition and repeat usage.

Direct traffic at this level suggests people bookmark TextFixer tools and return regularly. This behavior pattern creates natural sharing opportunities when users recommend tools to friends and family.

The result?

Organic link acquisition from genuine utility rather than manufactured content marketing.

Unlike sites that chase blogger outreach and guest posting, TextFixer earns links by solving real workflow problems.

When someone needs to remove line breaks from copied text, they find TextFixer, use it successfully, and often share it with others facing similar issues.

#3 Technical SEO:

Here's where TextFixer gets interesting.

Its technical SEO success seems almost perfect for the use cases it has to offer.

The site's technical advantages include:

• Clean URLs with descriptive naming patterns (/tools/remove-line-breaks.php)

• Fast loading from pure HTML and client-side JavaScript rendering

• Logical navigation that Google can easily crawl, index & rank

Data shows, 82.04% of visitors come from desktops and the remaining come from mobile.

Pagespeed insights shows there’s a scope of improvement for mobile users.

Considering how small a group of users use the tools on mobile, TextFixer may not need to optimize for mobile users. But there’s a lot you can learn and avoid for your product when it comes to optimizing for mobile users.

1. Improving tap target sizes - ensuring buttons and links are large enough for mobile users

2. Optimizing loading performance - reducing JavaScript execution time or image optimization

3. Enhancing mobile usability - improving text readability and overall mobile user experience

Competitor Analysis

Larger players like convertcase.net get 4.89M monthly visits, but serve different use cases. Browserling attracts 986K visits monthly by targeting developers specifically.

TextFixer succeeds by serving the broader audience needing basic text manipulation.

The first-mover advantage from launching in 2007 created authority that newer competitors struggle to match. While others focus on feature complexity, TextFixer maintains simplicity that users prefer.

Geographic diversity strengthens TextFixer's position across multiple markets. The US provides 29.94% of traffic, but India (12.01%) & the Philippines (7.25%) represent significant international reach.

This distribution reduces dependency on any single market while creating expansion opportunities.

Considering the mass appeal of this tool, there’s a huge scope for traffic to TextFixer, making it almost a passive source of income for Scott.

Based on the demand and user behavior, there’s a lot that can be included & improved in the suite of tools.

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