I've been building side projects for years, but this one taught me more about content strategy than any business book.
The Problem
My friends and I play a lot of word puzzle games — Wordle, Word Cookies, Connections. Every time we got stuck, we'd search for answers and land on sites drowning in ads, pop-ups, and cookie banners. Half the time, the "walkthrough" was just a paragraph telling you to "think harder."
So I figured: why not build something better?
What I Built
A straightforward game walkthrough site. No login walls. No intrusive ads. Just clean, fast answers organized by game and level.
The stack is pretty minimal:
- Next.js for SSG (static site generation is perfect for walkthrough pages)
- Tailwind CSS v4 for styling
- Cloudflare Pages for hosting (free tier handles the traffic fine)
- JSON files for content data (no database needed for static walkthroughs)
Each game gets its own section, and each level has a dedicated page with the answer, hints, and sometimes a brief explanation of why that answer works.
The Content Challenge
Here's what surprised me: the hardest part isn't the code. It's the content.
Word puzzle games can have hundreds of levels. Word Cookies alone has 3,000+ levels across multiple "packs." Creating walkthrough pages for all of them means you need a systematic approach.
I ended up building a small pipeline:
- Play through levels manually (yes, really)
- Record answers in structured JSON format
- Generate pages from templates using Next.js dynamic routes
- Batch-publish with git push
Currently sitting at about 160+ individual level pages across a few games, with more in progress.
What Actually Gets Traffic
This was the interesting learning. Not all content is equal:
- Specific level answers (e.g., "Word Cookies Butter Level 3") get steady search traffic. People search for exactly what they're stuck on.
- Game overview pages get less traffic but higher engagement. People browse around once they find you.
- Blog posts about game strategy get the least search traffic but build the most trust. "How to improve at word puzzles" doesn't get searched much, but readers who find it stay longer.
Technical Decisions That Mattered
Static generation was the right call. Each walkthrough page is maybe 5KB of HTML. Cloudflare serves them from the edge in under 50ms. No server costs, no scaling worries.
Structured data helps. I added BreadcrumbList and Article schema to every page. Google started showing them in search within about 2 weeks of indexing.
Mobile-first isn't optional. Over 80% of my traffic is mobile. People search for game answers on their phone while playing. If your layout doesn't work on a 375px screen, you've lost them.
What I'd Do Differently
- Start with one game, not three. I spread myself thin early on. Better to have complete coverage of one game than partial coverage of several.
- Add a search function earlier. Users want to type their level and jump straight to the answer.
- Invest in image/screenshot walkthroughs. Text answers are fine for word games, but visual guides would be better for puzzle games.
Current Numbers
After about 2 months:
- 21 blog posts + 6 interactive games + 160 level pages
- Roughly 50 active users per week (small but growing)
- Zero marketing spend — all organic search
- Hosting cost: $0 (Cloudflare Pages free tier)
Nothing life-changing, but it's a fun project that actually helps people. And every time I see a search query come in for an exact level someone was stuck on, it feels worth it.
For Fellow Builders
If you're thinking about a content-heavy side project, here's my advice:
- Pick a niche where people actively search for specific answers. Games, recipes, how-tos — anything where the query is concrete.
- Optimize for speed, not features. A fast, clean page with the right answer beats a slow, flashy page every time.
- Be patient with SEO. It took about 3-4 weeks before I saw any organic traffic. Now it compounds.
Would love to hear from others building content-focused side projects. What's your stack? What's working for you?
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