Part 2 of 2So the search we are most interested in is "Most Popular." This search choice is possibly the most simple in the entire industry. As far as I can tell, "Most Popular" is simply determined by the # of Downloads, divided by time online. No community ratings added, nothing else. If you want to verify this for yourself, do a "Most Popular - descending" sort on your own portfolio. Then compare each ranked image to the number of downloads it has had per day online. I have done this several times, and it seems to sort perfectly. A few times I noticed two files were reversed in the order I expected them to be in, but this could be the result of a rounding error. Regardless, I think it can safely be stated that Downloads per days online is at least 95% of the sort. My belief is it is 100%.
I wanted to test if new uploads actually brought older files "back to life," as so many claim they do. For my portfolio, I compared how images performed after being online for 3 months or more when I was uploading, or dormant. I crunched the numbers in Excel and even ran a regression analysis, and I could find no statistical link whatsoever. One obvious caveat - if you are uploading new images, they have a great chance of being seen. If a designer loves your image, he/she may decide to view your portfolio and buy something old. But does this account for more than 10% of an "average contributor's" sales of older files? Probably not.
So why do New Images destroy Old Images in terms of overall performance, provided they are of similar quality? First of all, the "Newest First" search option will keep your new uploads selling for several days on its own. However New Images get a double whammy from the "Most Popular" search feature. Let's say your new image gets downloaded 4 times on its first day online. Your image now averages 4 downloads per day, which translates to 120 per month, etc. You may have a proven older image with 200 sales in 200 days, but your new image is considered 4 times more popular by the search function. So it is at the top of the two main searches - "Newest First," and "Most Popular." Eventually your image will not be downloaded so frequently, and it will quickly begin to fall down the "Most Popular" search. But that first month can be pure magic!
Once again, if you question whether this is true, test it on your own portfolio. After an image has been online for a day or two, and has been downloaded 5-10 times, do a "Most Popular" sort on your portfolio. I bet that new image is near the top, even though the rest of your portfolio probably has many times more sales.
I can't prove any of this, but it certainly appears to me to be valid. It also means it takes a very strong image to stand the test of time at Shutterstock. You want an image to be downloaded at the same pace next year as it was in its first week online? Not going to happen. But images can and do keep up a good download pace if they are of strong enough quality to keep the DLs/time ratio high.
Next time someone tells you to "feed the beast" to keep your old images selling, just smile knowingly and nod in agreement.
