WoodMarvels.com hits 2 000 000 Video Views!

On October 27th, 2007 – I started WoodMarvels.com and decided to blog about every new thing that happened on the site from the very start and upload videos for each and every product.

On May 18th, 2011 – WoodMarvels.com hit it’s first milestone – a total of one million video views across a network of platforms.

Today on lucky Friday the 13 of April, WoodMarvels.com hit a new milestone, now two million video views!!!

The Hard Numbers

Although these numbers look impressive, my focus is on getting more customers and designers joining the site but this is a fun metric to watch – video views are extremely easy to manipulate so take these numbers with a grain of salt. *Note that OneLoad is a rebranding of TubeMogul and submits to another half dozen sites.

A few things of interest:

• these are metrics only for sites I track, there are many more that I don’t bother so this number is already higher from the start
• YouTube.com had an almost 3x growth over the past 11 months BUT last month, my video views on that platform dropped by 75%. Website traffic is about the same before/after the YouTube search update so I’m guessing they drastically improved on targeting. This means that the views I am getting are people actually looking for laser/CNC/3D printing projects, not guys looking for bikini girls and finding a kid’s toy instead.
• Chinese video sites (Youku.com and Todou.com) are exploding in video views – I upload there because none of the videos from the other sites will play in China (I know, I was there for a year and a half)

How many videos have been made?.

At the one million mark, I was at 389 and now I’m at 428. I’d be at well over 500 if it wasn’t for my rendering bottleneck so I expect this number to explode once I get the new computer AND get 3DMarvels.com building-up once more!

What does this tell me (other than what I learned in 2011)?

• video sites are getting smarter so as time goes by, so the views might drop (as they have for me for YouTube) BUT those playing your videos are your target demographic
• viral video production will be harder to achieve (even more random) regardless of production quality so don’t waste your time trying to out-think the system on this one
• YouTube is now cutting me a check every month (something they didn’t do in 2011) and pay for bandwidth BUT considering the cost of software and hardware… having a McJob is a more profitable enterprise than trying to make money off your online video content

What’s my favorite video?

I still have to say, my “starting to look outdated” Medieval Castle Walls B animation… I never get tired of watching it!

As for the best since hitting my last million views? I have to say it’s Jonathan’s (no relation) Dump Truck.

Visually, it’s just a very interesting model to look at and the music is relaxing!