How We Achieved 3,000+ GitHub Stars for Our Open-Source ER Diagram Tool: A Step-by-Step Guide

Want to boost your GitHub project's visibility? We grew our open-source project, Liam ERD, from zero to over 3,000 stars in just three months. This article details the actionable strategies we used to get there. Learn how to replicate our success!

What is Liam ERD? Visualize Your Database with Ease

Liam ERD automatically generates beautiful and easy-to-read ER diagrams (entity relationship diagrams) from your database schema. This open-source tool dramatically simplifies database visualization. It allows developers to quickly understand and document their database designs. We aim to grow Liam ERD alongside a vibrant community of users and contributors.

Why 3,000 GitHub Stars? Setting a Clear KPI

We set 3,000 GitHub stars as a key performance indicator (KPI) for three core reasons:

• Building a foundation for a future paid product in the database design space based on Liam ERD.
• Significantly expanding brand recognition for the Liam product family.
• Leveraging GitHub stars as a public indicator of user trust and project popularity.

Learning From Others: The Strategy Playbook

We needed a concrete action plan to achieve our goal. We found a valuable resource, "The (Detailed & Creative) Playbook for Getting More GitHub Stars" on Star History. The playbook offered detailed strategies, which we adapted for our project.

Our Actionable Strategies: Gaining 3,000+ GitHub Stars

Here are the strategies we implemented to boost our GitHub star count:

1. Repository Preparation: Setting the Stage for Success

A well-prepared repository is crucial. You will want to ensure a positive first impression for interested users. These were the key steps:

• Adhering to GitHub Best Practices: Implement all relevant GitHub recommendations and security measures to build a trustworthy repository.
• Crafting a Compelling README: Your README is the face of your project. Make it shine with these tips:
  • Use animated GIFs to showcase Liam ERD's capabilities.
  • Write a clear and concise tagline that immediately communicates the tool's value.
  • Incorporate colorful badges (using Shields.io) to display project status and build trust.
  • Include links to contribution guidelines and a roadmap to foster community engagement.
  • Showcase contributors using contrib.rocks to recognize their efforts.

2. Initial Traction: Getting the First 100 Stars

Gaining initial momentum is important for credibility. We used direct outreach to get our first 100 stars:

• Direct Outreach: Personally asked friends and acquaintances for stars through X (Twitter) DMs and Slack to build an initial base of support.
• Strategic First Post: Waited until surpassing 100 stars to create our first X post, focusing on:
  • A concise video demonstrating the tool's functionality.
  • Clear bullet points highlighting key features.
  • Mentioning relevant, well-known accounts to increase visibility. React Flow quoted the post which boosted its reach. We gained 41 reposts and approximately 30,000 views from it!

💡 Pro Tip: We deliberately posted in English to maximize reach to our target audience.

3. Sustained Growth: Indirect Strategies for Long-Term Impact

Once we had initial traction, we expanded our efforts with these indirect strategies:

• Blog Content Creation: Created blog posts on our company website. These included direct product introductions, list articles, and general knowledge-sharing pieces to attract a wider audience interested in database design and ER diagrams.
• Content Distribution: Cross-posted blog content to platforms like:
  • dev.to, Hashnode, and Medium (with canonical URLs). We also gained traction by posting a modified version on Reddit. Building Reddit karma early is key.
  • HackerNoon.
  • Zenn (translated for a Japanese audience).
• Promoting on Platforms and Newsletters: Research and submit Liam ERD to relevant promotional channels.
  • Hacker News was critical.
  • Reddit's r/coolgithubprojects, gave a solid response.
  • daily.dev generated a significant response, especially within Japan.
  • Gitroom, CodeTriage, Up For Grabs, freestuff.dev, Open Hub, G2, Dev Hunt, It's launched! all contributed to our reach.
  • React Flow: by building a relationship with them through mentions, we were featured in their showcase.

How to Discover Promotional Sites:

1. Competitor Analysis: Use Ahrefs to check backlinks of competitors and similar products to find placement opportunities.
2. AI & Search Engines: Search directly using ChatGPT and Google using keywords like "promote open source projects."
3. News Aggregators and Forums: Monitor Hacker News, Reddit, and other platforms for relevant discussions.

• Conference Presentations: Team members introduced Liam ERD at tech conferences. Findy Tools 1st Anniversary Celebration has been a good source of new users.
• GitHub Awesome-Lists: Submitted pull requests to relevant 'awesome list' repositories like awesome-db-tools and awesome-rails.
• Approaching Influencers: Reached out to influencers who share OSS projects, like @tom_doerr and @GithubProjects.

[include links to the content or profiles where they introduced Liam ERD like:]

• @tom_doerr X Post
• @GithubProjects X Post

4. Celebrating Milestones: Keeping the Momentum Going

Share your journey and success with your community:

• Milestone Posts: Created celebratory posts on X when reaching star milestones (200, 500, 1,000, 3,000 stars) to maintain visibility and excitement.

What Worked Best: Identifying Key Drivers

• Influencer Posts and community support daily.dev and X posts by influencers were particularly impactful.
• GitHub Trending: Being featured on GitHub Trending resulted in significant traffic to the Liam repository. Increased starring leads to increased visibility creates a virtuous cycle.

Conclusion: You Can Do It Too!

Our journey to 3,000+ GitHub stars demonstrates the power of proactive promotion. Don't assume a good product will spread on its own. By implementing these strategies, you can increase your project's visibility.