I have a website that gets over 2k users a month. It’s a tool for creating custom character cards, similar to Yu-Gi-Oh Card Maker or Pokemon Card Maker. My monthly costs are around 5 dollars. I’ve added features for cloud saving and a forum to share characters, mostly because I want to improve my C# skills. The site has been running for free for about six months now. I would like to find ways to make money from the site, aside from ads because they would spoil the user experience. I appreciate any advice.
If your goal is to cover some of those 5 dollars a month, consider adding a ‘buy me a coffee’ button when users create a card. If just 1 in 1000 users gives you 3 dollars each month, you would actually make a profit!
@Olin
I love this idea. Your target audience may be willing to pay for such a service since they are already engaging with your site.
First, I recommend tracking user behavior (anonymously) to see if they are seriously using your site or just trying it briefly. If your site is strong and users spend time creating something unique, turning it into a physical product sounds fantastic.
Honestly, I would buy my own trading card for a few bucks.
@Olin
I was just about to suggest starting a print-to-sale feature. Why not expand it to include merchandise like mugs, hoodies, coasters, and pens? You could partner with a company to handle that side of things.
Ads? Not worth it for 2k visitors. You’d only make pennies. Charging users would hurt your conversion rate. The best option? Use the site as a portfolio piece; it will pay off in the long run. If you really seek value, maybe think about creating an email list or exploring niche affiliate links, but keeping things simple is often the best choice.
Are you aiming to build a full business here? If so, find a printing/logistics partner to sell physical cards.
If you just want to cover costs and make some of your dev time worthwhile, consider Patreon. I think some users would be happy to donate a couple of bucks to help keep it going.
Shai said:
Your next step is figuring out how to reduce your costs to zero every month.
How do you plan to do that? Serious question.
I’ve recently been using Cloudflare and found their free tier extremely effective. I believe with 2k users your site should be fine, especially since not everyone will be making database requests.
You might also want to implement some front-end caching to help lessen API calls and minimize the load on your current setup.
Shai said:
Your next step is figuring out how to reduce your costs to zero every month.
How do you plan to do that? Serious question.
Many cloud providers offer free tiers or allowances. For instance, Azure provides an Azure Functions free plan and using table storage is much cheaper than SQL.
You can host static files for free with services like GitHub Pages or Cloudflare as well.
Is there any way you can speed up user acquisition or build more social value? As some mentioned, monetization might not be worthwhile right now, but it could become viable down the line if you hit a certain threshold.
Some questions to ask yourself:
How are you acquiring new users? Is it all word of mouth?
What’s your growth rate?
Can you do anything to speed it up? (not via paid ads, but maybe through product enhancements, unpaid promotions, etc.)
What user numbers can you expect next year?
Will the social elements on your site add significant value for new users if you reach a larger scale?
If not, can you add other social value elements?
You may not monetize just yet, but if it gains enough traction and significant social value, it could lead to monetization later.
Ads are terrible, yes, but one person clicking a targeted ad could easily make more than 5 dollars. Many sites abuse ads by placing them where users accidentally click, ruining the site layout.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with having just one ad on a page without pop-ups, perhaps in the sidebar or footer to help keep the site running. If I were you, I’d consider Google AdSense and have one well-placed ad per page, and you might be surprised at how much you could earn. With over 2k genuine users, you likely would earn well over 5 dollars.