My approach was to find a nice of apps that where already popular and then see if I could make it better.
I have a question. So how do you deal with sites which deliver the same content as you? Like, say you come across another site which also delivers playing card games like yours, would you go after it legally or something? Or have you faced issues where you have been told you are plagiarizing the game from another place?
Pardon my ignorance. I am unfamiliar when it comes to this kind of knowledge.
After 5 games or so, ads will start to appear. Just normal sidebar ads. I've made it so people won't be blasted with ads the very first time they enter the site, so they'll get the "optimal" experience to start with.
I think I spend about $60 a month hosting it. My biggest expense right now is Moz which is $100/month.
On the other hand I can make things like https://online-solitaire.com/ and https://habitualapp.io/ as a one-man operation.
I spend a lot of time on https://dribbble.com/ when I initially started designing and that's often where I go to find inspiration these days as well.
Besides that, I'd suggest to doing as many design-related projects as possible. They don't have to be big. They just need to force you to go through the process of going from thought to an actual design. A lot of people practice design by re-designing already existing apps.
The tool of the trade nowadays, when it comes to websites and apps at least, is https://www.sketch.com/, which I can highly recommend.
Hope that helped a bit more.
So your tips are quite helpful since I've never tried to start from a blank canvas. Also, dribble.com is a really cool tip.
Thanks! :D