I don’t upload very often, but when I do, I don’t get many likes, prints, downloads, etc. However, what I do get is a lot of “views” this is great and all, but when I have 300+ views and only 5 prints and 6 downloads, it is pretty annoying, and even enraging at times. Does anyone have any tips and tricks for getting more publicity (more prints, likes, and downloads) and not just more views? I also am still trying to figure out how to get my models to pop up on the homepage on MakerWorld, any tips and tricks to solving either of these problems would be greatly appreciated.
Contests were huge for me, especially if you can get in on them early. It’s an extra touchpoint for people to see your model and get exposure.
Regarding gettings views but no prints/downloads - it means people are interested enough to look at your model but not enough to actually make it or interact further. I recommend including attractive images and writing proper descriptions with more detail about the model’s purpose, printing instructions, measurements if necessary, etc. High quality print profiles with photos are also important as most people will print using these rather than customizing themselves.
I also recommend using as many relevant ‘tags’ as possible. They impact your model’s appearance in user’s search and can improve discoverability.
I see 2 models on your profile: one looks interesting (the pencil butterfly) but is imho hindered by the cover gif. The mousepad hanger - I’d pass over it since it’s just a screenshot from slicer.
So: cover image is important, because that’s what brings in views.
Next: In the pencil butterfly you’ve got good photos, that’s OK but there’s a lot to improve. Delete the profile you don’t like and leave the one you say “works best” as to not confuse people.
The description: Please for the love of… I mean… For example in the butterfly pencil, I’d remove the text in the bold. In the mousepad holder that’s the only text so you know what to remove.
Also - what @Dotted_Lines said is correct. But please keep in mind to stick to contest theme when you do contests.
And finally: do not get discouraged and just post and improve every aspect listed.
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@Johnny_Bit beat me to it. Was going to say almost the same thing.
You’re animated gif is the first thing seen and when its not animated its on a frame that is all blurry. That just doesn’t work, you need to give the users a good view of the product as the first thing they see.
Same kinda thing for your other model, the primary photo should be the end product in action, not laid out on a build plate, you want users to know what it is at a glance.
Yes having a gif is great for models - but the first frame is most important as it’s what everyone sees initially. A well-shot static photo will always perform better than a blurry gif.
And agreed on contests - stay on theme. Alot of people try to bend them with a vague topic. While it can lead to an initial engagement boost, it will get removed and is not a great practice.
Really the best advice is to just spend some time browsing makerworld - see which models perform the best and think about why and how you can use it. If you really want to target things people are interested in makerworld has an inspiration word cloud here: Popular Searches
The mousepad hanger… What’s that? Why would I want one ? Show it assembled and “in action” so people can see what it’s actually about, and explain it in the description. It also has no print profiles, which is what makerworld treats as the main subject.
The butterfly pencil… as mentioned the main image shows as a blurry mess because there isn’t a static photo, and while… cool I guess? it’s probably less interesting to people then you’d think.
Browse models and figure out what makes them attracting to you or not, replicate that. And understand that regardless of how well something is presented just what it is may or may not be of much interest to random people, once presentation is fine if you get views but no prints then it’s just that people were initially interested then when they saw the details it wasn’t something interesting to them.
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I agree with the other respondents, contests are great and gives you ideas for what to create! I’ve found getting them in early isn’t even that essential. I put a model into the halloween one (with thousands of entries) when there was only 5 days to go and it still got featured and doing well.
Good photos (especially the cover photo) helps, but also just making models that people want is key. If it’s for a niche thing, it’s going to struggle no matter how cool it is. Big things that require a lot of assembly generally do worse than small fun things that require minimal assembly.
Checking out your profile, the GIF one looks blurry and took a while to work out what was going on. It’s really cool, but I probably would of missed it when scrolling as the cover photo isn’t clear enough.
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One thing I would advice against is using deceptive tactics.
So - make your stuff stand out, pretty pictures, nice description and so on but be honest about it. Your current work is honest. If you fix the problems everybody mentioned you’ll be on your way to get more attention and prints.
Oh! And stats… Do not look at the stats and get discouraged. 300+ views and 5 prints is GREAT conversion ratio.
You can approach it from different perspective, one that might be healthier, regarding designs: How about instead of designing “things people might like” design and publish stuff YOU need/want. Approach it from “maybe somebody will make use of it, or if I misplace the thing and the file, I’ll have a backup 
” that way instead of stressing “being popular” just be happy people are sharing interest in things you needed/wanted. That’s imho healthier Then when making photo and descriptions do not try to “sell” but try to show and tell.
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Conversion rates should be compared. What is the average conversion rate of users on Makerworld? In connection with other aspects, such as brand awareness in social media. I think you can compile statistics on this and then see what is good or bad.
I don’t want to question your motivation as a user. I’m right there with you!
Others may consider such conversion rates to be modest. Still others might see room for improvement. And a bank that was supposed to finance you might say that this is not something they would see as a success for you.
Contests are good if you get in early with something that fits the theme AND is special, don’t just make something vaguely contest related and expect it to work
I’ve seen people get someyhing viral and then upload a version 2 of it as a separate model (instead of a remix which would be ineligible) to double up on virality, but this is murky and you need to ensure the separate entries are distinct enough
Sometimes it’s just right place and right time as well, one of my popular files (Sheikah tower planter) drove a lot of people to my page just after Tears of the kingdom came out and Zelda hype was high
Yeah, the mousepad hanger didn’t really work out that well. As for the Butterfly Pencil, I left both print profiles up just because the one I like best has a bad rating, and I only put it into a contest because it was my first model, and because it is technically a “pencil holder” I thought that I may as well put it into the contest just for publicity. Also, thank you for the tips.
The mousepad hanger was just my best idea for the “Hangers Contest” but it didn’t really fit together, and I was low on filament at the time and I just didn’t get around to fixing it before the contest ended. Also, thank you for the tips.
That was a bait-and-switch sort of disappointment for me.
I searched for your account after reading your comment just to see what a mousepad hanger looks like.
I am still in the dark.
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Oh, yeah. I decided to delete it because it wasn’t a working model.
It’s a mouse pad with a twist. TIE Fighters can land there while you work with your mouse (hangar instead of hanger) 
Another question: How do people come up with their own, original ideas that end up becoming really popular?
Don’t know, if you find out please let me know… None of my ideas turned out popular at all, but some are fun 
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Same here, most of them are just to piss off my mom, or mess with my brother. But I usually don’t upload those.
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Maybe you should. Who knows if one of those models get enough downloads to be popular… People print some weird stuff, that happens since 3d printing came to the market. One time, one of those stupid models will get plenty downloads.
Just try
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