It’s been two years since I launched eWillys. The growth during the first year was modest, though not unexpected, since I didn’t have much content and I never advertised the site. Below is what the site looked like originally. Clearly it’s matured.
Growth in 2009
In 2009, traffic grew dramatically, increasing monthly from March through December. The number of visits per month increased 437% over a 12 month period, reaching almost 70,000 visitors in December. The number of Monthly Page Views jumped even more, growing 610% for a maximum of 338,000 page views in December.
I suspect the growth reflects increasing referrals from readers, better google results, and successful purchases and sales. This has lead to more readers contributing their stories. And, unlike the one complaint I had the first year, I had no complaints this year, which amazes me. I must have pissed off at least one person? Maybe I’m not doing something right? LOL.
Finally, the installation of some advertising has created just enough income to cover the hosting costs of the site for the past two years and the cost for the upcoming year. And, especially in regard to the ebay content, the advertising is perfectly relevant to the site, so it’s a win-win for ebay, me and you.
International Participation
This year readership expanded beyond the US & Canada with readers contacting me from Germany, Columbia, Italy, Phillipines, Switzerland, India, Costa Rica, Israel, the UK and more. We even got some pics from Afghanistan by US troops, demonstrating that the United States armed forces (probably unknowingly) are backing the eWillys effort.
Readers can now choose from over 5000 posts & pages to view and probably close to 10,000 images (I don’t have a good way to measure this). I’ve done my best to categorize the posts and pages in ways that provide unique ways to view, learn and enjoy the content. The eWillys main folder on my computer (which houses the entirety of the photos, movies, etc) has grown to 4.5 GB — reminder to self, back up computer!!
The Platform
During 2009, the folks at WordPress did a fabulous job of updating a stable, dependable platform capable of serving the large amount of content you see daily. They continue to provide significant updates to the platform (in fact, I have to make a major update soon), which has allowed me to easily organize data and provide new types of services at zero cost to me or you — that’s a price I can handle.
Despite all the improvements, there are still somethings I’d like to ad, especially in the content department. So, there’s plenty of work left to do over the coming year.
The Future
Today, January 1, is on target to be the busiest traffic day ever. That’s a great way to start the year. I expect to continue meeting the same level of service, tracking the sales/purchases of jeeps, and providing the types of stories I hope you find interesting.
In addition, this year I hope to move more offline with eWillys. For example, I’m investigating the possibility, with Randy’s prodding, of launching a magazine that covers old Willys. However, instead of being about Willys directly, it would be about the people who own, like, dream or have caught the Willys sickness and their similar interests. I’m still investigating, so my final decision has not been made. But, my next step is to mockup an issue, which I have the software to build, and see if I can create what I want.
My second project for the year is to raise the seed capital I need to begin work on my Willys Exploratorium project. This would include creating a 501c3 foundation and an LLC.
So, thanks to everyone for their interest in this Quixotic Project. I know I’m learning lots from everyone else and I hope you are learning something new now and then as well. Have a Happy New Year!
– Dave
