I’m still struggling to get my models noticed on MakerWorld. A while back, I posted a question in the forum and received a lot of great advice, like improving my photography, avoiding uploads of models partially created with AI, and other helpful tips.
Since then, almost all of my designs on the site are created by me in Fusion 360. I now take most of my photos with a good camera and lighting setup, edit them carefully, and even add text to make them more appealing.
Another tip was to use proper tags, and I’ve been putting a lot of effort into that as well. Yet, most of my models still sit at a flat 0.0—no views, no likes, and definitely no downloads. Occasionally, I’ll have one model that performs well, but the next uploads immediately go back to getting no attention at all.
I understand that not every model I make will be super popular or get lots of downloads, but for them to stay stuck at zero—that’s something I can’t quite wrap my head around.
Does anyone have constructive tips on how I can better showcase my models here? The strange thing is that the same models do really well on other websites. It’s just MakerWorld where I can’t seem to figure it out.
I’d really appreciate your advice! I learned so much from the feedback last time, so I thought I’d give it another shot.
I wouldn’t expect brackets and mini cases to get much traction.
Your earrings seem to do well-ish. But I’m going to state my subjective opinion: You should NOT use the textured plate to showcase these and you should make sure they come out with crispy colors (can i see infill on those bell earrings?), I think that might propel them into the next level. Also, I bet they got a bit of extra attention due to being holiday related and likely in the contest.
Moncat looks really cool, it’s my favorite.
I think the issue is best evidenced by uploading a design then going to all models arranged by time and you see your model at the top. Then check back in hour and just try to find it the same way. Hundreds of designs per day are being put up here and if they don’t gain traction quickly to stay at the top of the standard ‘Models’ page arrangements then your design is going to drift off into obscurity. Unless of course it’s something people will search, find and print often, then you just have to stand back and wait.
Look, I’m no expert, I see we are about the same level, these are just my thoughts. I only have a few designs but my airbrush spray booth is getting decent traction for being such a large print that requires external components to work. And I figure that is because there aren’t many other options and its a thing people likely search before they are about to buy one off amazon, like I did.
Indeed, the earrings are from the date before I asked help for the first time. Though, the tip to not print them on a textured plate is new for me, and I will take that in account, Thanks.
I think the textured plate makes them look better, that’s just a matter of taste? But other than that I’m not sure why you have little views. I can only say, persevere! I hit decent numbers on some models and close to zero on others.
I do sometimes take a random snapshot of the new models page and paste my thumbnail in there to see if it jumps out enough. I also have an ok-ish number of followers but I’m not sure that makes a difference and whether they get notified, but that just takes time.
Some models are also quite niche and will therefore never get popular, but those are the designs I most appreciate if creators upload them! Not for everyone but just right for the person that needs it.
If it is all about popularity it is either by chance or very high effort models that still speak to a broader audience and entering contests at the right time doesn’t hurt either
Serious answer:
All your items since the earrings are quite niche. The intersection of people who have 3d printer, are on maker world, have the item you’ve made the thing for could be “just you”
That being said - couple generic suggestions:
People on Handy app seem to browse using gallery more than reading the description. Make sure to pt more images in gallery (LM2596 thingies have only single image, but description has plenty of images)
make sure cover & gallery images show the item correctly, eg. Cable Strain Relief thingie - I had to see the description to understand “what am I looking at”
Too many tags - Make sure to use as many tags as necessary and as little as possible. It seems that with “seo” on MW there’s hard trade-off between searchability and relevance rating.
Another thing is to get recognition via contests - those put eyes on your in-contest models and from there your profile and from there your other models. Make sure to have on-topic models in the contest though because using contests as a “look at my model that has no relevance to the contest” is big nono.
I just did a test on the other side of my plate (smooth PEI), and indeed for photography, I think that’s better. For models that people print however, I think the textured plate prints look better.
Thats a good idea!!! I already did some things to make my posts stand out, like selecting a background color of F8F8F8, so that the background of the website and my picture, are the same.
I thought my electronics brackets would be so niche, they wouldn’t get any attraction, however, that are my best models. Some earrings are doing a bit okay-ish while things like for example the Catan game, that also functions as a key hanger… I would really have thought that this would take off here. Well, I was wrong
Luckily it’s not about popularity. The things I have made, were things I wanted to have myself. I just think it’s weird that on other platforms, they perform much better.
I guess that’s true. All things I make, are things I would like to have. I am not the kind of guy who makes things from other users point of view if I don’t want to have it myself.
That’s really a good one. I never use the Handy app, and I would have never thought about this, but I am sure you are right. Thanks !!!
So yeah, also the other things you qoute, I think you are right. I am going to work on that. And for the contests… It might sound stupid, but I only make something for a contest if that thing is also something I want to have. That’s almost never… I know, stupid…
That’s IMHO correct attitude regarding contests. ALL the things I’ve ever made are the things either I want or I want because wife wants (and I want what she wants )
One note about:
I think it’s due to the fact that audience is different on different platforms. For comparison just imagine social media: on one site you can post and get loads of virtual points and gather following, while on other site you’d get nothing (or worse) for posting exact same stuff
Yeah, you shouldn’t design for contests and popularity only. I just have an immense backlog of models and a mind full of projects. So some contests will fit a design I already have (in mind) and the contest is the last push.
A couple years I was heavily into designing for Wintergatans marble machine and now there is a marble contest, so I’m going to dust off and finish a project I started back then.
So no, I don’t design for contests either and that would take the fun out of designing for me (while others might thrive on it, which is also awesome). But timing releases with suitable contests can help a lot!
Good luck and I think you are on the right path, it just takes time. Keep on designing and printing
Lots of good advice here.
Another thing to consider is the time and day you upload. I do seem to do improvements posting towards the end of the week. Check out the post where I asked when people thing the best time to post is.
However it’s also just a bit random. Some of what I think my best designs get no traction at all.
I feel you - working really hard on a project for it to get no traction is tough. There are so many factors to getting noticed on this platform, and I hate to say it but luck is one of the big ones. Most of my models get just a small handful of downloads, but every now and then some of them pop off.
Creating very niche models can really restrict your potential reach, so if you are looking to gain traction think about things a majority of people can potentially use or enjoy. I know people say to create what you love, and that still rings true, but try to find that intersection of what you love and what others may love as well. Also, the inspiration section of the Creators Center is very useful to see trending keyword searches. Granted, by the time you finish a model those may no longer be trending - but it really helps give direction for what you might find enjoyable to work on that others will find potentially interesting.
Definitely thinking about the time you release a model matters - I have found that earlier in the day, and later in the week seem to get more eyes. Wed/thur/fri from 8am - 1pm CST seems to work well for me.
Tags do matter for your model - I read that if you overload on tags it can diminish your ability to show up in relevant search results. I try to keep my tag count between 4 and 8, and i’m not sure if that is good or bad. Still experimenting there… I wish we could see what people searched for that landed them on your model page to know what tags mattered the most.
And of course the model pictures - these really do matter. As they say, people eat with their eyes first or something like that. They need to look sexy, eye catching… get a bit of depth-of-field (or bokeh) in there. You need very strong lighting or just a lot of natural light shining down to give a really crisp clean picture that gives the model details a chance to shine.
And luck, lots of luck… i’ve had a couple models I worked 1-2 weeks on get almost no downloads. and then some I worked on for 5 hours get hundreds of downloads. It’s all so mysterious.
Yeah, I can totally understand that. My idea for the Catan Game that also functions as a key hanger for next to the door was a bit late in my head, therefore I couldn’t send it in for the boardgame contest. Maybe if a was a few weeks earlier, that design would have seen some likes or points, now it’s zero…
Thanks, and yes, I will. As said, I make the things I like, and I do it for the fun, not for points or giftcards. That said, I won’t spit on a giftcard.
THis… This is something I have to learn. I really thought that my Electronics models would be extremely niche, but they get some traction. Then again, I thought my Settlers of Catan game and keyhanger would be something for a wider audience, yet it doesn’t get noticed at all. This is something I have to learn, as I don’t get it at all.
I did the same, but I live in the Netherlands, so I posted in the morning CET. I will try if there is a difference when I post in the morning CST. Thanks.
I asked a similar question earlier, when I was a complete novice noob here, and then I didn’t use any tags at all. I then got the advice to use many tags, so that’s what I do now, but I will now try to set a maximum on 8 tags, and see waht that does. Again, thanks.
Haha… I think pretty new here on this platform. At this moment I am very happy I have 1 model that has 25 downloads. Most of my models have 1 to 5 downloads (thats the reason for this question). Also, you guys don’t see everything. I had about 40 models more on this platform, but I deleted them as I was told that to many items that have only a few grams of filament can hurt your scores, and also that partially AI generated content, was no good. Therefore all my models with less than 10 grams of filament and 0 downloads were removed, just like the partially AI generated models (that still had many hours of redesigning and modeling in them).
Thanks for your advice as well. And I won’t give up.
I make things for my enjoyment and that won’t go away, but I would lie if I said that a little traction on my models doesn’t care.
Wait… I just now see that @Rossero is the designer of the Catan Globe, that was also featured by Zack Freedman on his YouTube channel. I think it pretty sad to see that this design also has almost no downloads.
Now I totally understand why my Catan game / key hanger board, has no traction at all. The two are totally not comparable, and Rossero has only 9 downloads and only one boost… I just don’t get it…
I can’t do anything about the downloads, as I already did that. Yet, your boosts will be increased just after I am done writing this.
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