Your personal example seems simple enough, the other 2 seem like massive undertakings for one person though. I'm sure they started simpler. Are you willing to share any profit or traffic stats about your site?
Posted on Reddit twice, (first initial spike once I finished it, second spike when I added more of the cases.) That's about the extent. Got me all the Google-juice I need to ride it out.
Total work probably around... 40 hours, at most. I stopped supporting it in 2014. HTML + Canvas. Used images hosted by VALVe instead of hosting my own. Never had the motivation to make it better. Hosting was provided for free by a friend.
Was at the top of Google for a while. Got knocked down by a much more active developer (which is monetized even better than mine.) I only display 1 banner ad instead of an aggressive 3. I didn't improve it at all since then. However, I feel I had a technical advantage over the Flash-based competitor, as mine ran great on mobile. I assume the competitor has since improved that aspect of theirs.
I get ~$100 payout every 4 months now (~$25 per month)
Spikes in January 2015 and Sept 2015 coincide with new CS:GO game updates. They added new cases to the game, which I never got around to implementing in the simulator. No doubt missed opportunities.
Things I could've done better:
- Actually keep working on it. (New cases, new features, better backend, trade-up simulator)
- Better monetization (Only 1 banner ad, when Google allows 3 on one page)
What went right:
- First person on the playing field. (Still was delayed, since cases were released in Aug 2013 and I released it on March 2014)
On the subject of the others: They're just aggregating data about the game. You can start with the smallest, easiest bit and slowly build up from it.
For Wowhead it was: Aggregate item data. Then quests. Then zones w/ maps. Resource spawn points. Raid information and guides. Etc. etc. They were one of the first information providers for World of Warcraft and then they got acquired by Curse.
In the case of the Ark calculator, it started as: "This algorithm in the game is mysterious to players, I'll recreate it in the browser." Then they added stuff like "this Dino destroys X stuff", "this Dino can do Y"
Posted on Reddit twice, (first initial spike once I finished it, second spike when I added more of the cases.) That's about the extent. Got me all the Google-juice I need to ride it out.
Total work probably around... 40 hours, at most. I stopped supporting it in 2014. HTML + Canvas. Used images hosted by VALVe instead of hosting my own. Never had the motivation to make it better. Hosting was provided for free by a friend.
Was at the top of Google for a while. Got knocked down by a much more active developer (which is monetized even better than mine.) I only display 1 banner ad instead of an aggressive 3. I didn't improve it at all since then. However, I feel I had a technical advantage over the Flash-based competitor, as mine ran great on mobile. I assume the competitor has since improved that aspect of theirs.
I get ~$100 payout every 4 months now (~$25 per month)
Spikes in January 2015 and Sept 2015 coincide with new CS:GO game updates. They added new cases to the game, which I never got around to implementing in the simulator. No doubt missed opportunities.
Things I could've done better:
- Actually keep working on it. (New cases, new features, better backend, trade-up simulator)
- Better monetization (Only 1 banner ad, when Google allows 3 on one page)
What went right:
- First person on the playing field. (Still was delayed, since cases were released in Aug 2013 and I released it on March 2014)
On the subject of the others: They're just aggregating data about the game. You can start with the smallest, easiest bit and slowly build up from it.
For Wowhead it was: Aggregate item data. Then quests. Then zones w/ maps. Resource spawn points. Raid information and guides. Etc. etc. They were one of the first information providers for World of Warcraft and then they got acquired by Curse.
In the case of the Ark calculator, it started as: "This algorithm in the game is mysterious to players, I'll recreate it in the browser." Then they added stuff like "this Dino destroys X stuff", "this Dino can do Y"