From Content Creator to Earnings Expert on YouTube

Monetize YouTube Videos | The Ultimate Guide to Ad Revenue

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

Want to make money on YouTube? There are qualifications you have to meet before you can monetize your videos with ads, but you don’t have to have a huge channel.

Here’s everything you need to know to join the YouTube Partner Program and start earning ad revenue:

1. Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program
2. How to Apply for Monetization on YouTube
3. What is Ad Friendly Content?
4. How to Get Paid Through AdSense
5. Which YouTube Videos Get the Highest Paying Ads?
6. Useful Terminology (CPM, CPV, CPC)

What is the YouTube Partner Program

YouTube’s Partner Program, or YPP, allows creators to monetize their YouTube videos through ads. If you are a YouTube Partner, that means you are earning revenue from the ads being shown before and during your videos.

Before you dive into the below guide, you may need a video editor to start your monetizing on Youtube. Filmora video editor will be the best choice.

Becoming a skilled video editor takes years of practice, but with Wondershare Filmora video editor, you can produce YouTube videos that have a professional look and feel, even if you are new to the world of video editing. This YouTube Video Creator has big icons and an intuitive interface, so those YouTubers who edit videos for the first time can quickly make a video.

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Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program

In order to qualify for YPP, you need to prove that you’re creating consistent, original, content and that people are watching your content. YouTube believes that has been proven when you reach these qualifications:

1. 1000 Subscribers
2. 4000 Hours of Watch Time (over the past 12 months)

Not quite there yet? Here’s a list of actionable tips that can help you grow your channel.

If you meet these requirements and are approved for monetization, but then drop below them, your channel will not be automatically demonetized. YouTube may review your content and demonetize you if you seem to have stopped posting videos, but this will not be automatic.

Remember: meeting these milestones does not grant you automatic monetization.

You can apply for YPP when you reach the milestones above, but your channel will still need to be reviewed by a human working for YouTube. Reviewers will be watching for:

1. Nudity or sexual content
2. Harmful, dangerous, threatening, or hateful content
3. Violent or graphic content
4. Harassment or cyberbullying
5. Spam, scams, and misleading metadata
6. Copyright infringement or impersonation
7. Privacy violations
8. Fake subscribers
9. Other guidelines violations

If your content violates any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines you may be denied monetization. Learn more about YouTube’s Community Guidelines here.

How to Apply for Monetization on YouTube

Once you qualify for YPP, applying for monetization is easy.

1. In the Creator Studio, select Channel > Status and features.
2. Under ‘Monetization’, click Enable and follow the steps that appear to accept YouTube’s terms.
3. Wait to be approved.

If you’re approved, you can start earning money as soon as your AdSense account is set up!

If you’re not approved, you can apply again in 30 days.

To make sure you’re approved the next time you apply, review all of YouTube’s related policies (Partner Program policies , Terms of Service , spam policies , and Community Guidelines ) and remove the content that might be holding you back.

In order to start monetizing, you’ll need to link your channel with an AdSense account. You must be over 18 to create an AdSense account. YouTube creators under 18 can link to the AdSense accounts of their parents or guardians.

Here’s how to sign up for AdSense through YouTube:

1. Under Channel > Status and features in your Creator Studio, look for Paid content. Click where it says ‘active AdSense account’.
2. On the following ‘Monetization’ screen, click Next to go to AdSense.
3. You will be asked whether you want to use the Google account you’re already signed in to for AdSense, or if you want to use a different account.
4. The next step is ‘Your Website’. This will automatically be filled in with your channel. Click Accept association if it’s right.

Note: you can only have one AdSense account. Do not make a second one if you already have one. Duplicate accounts may be banned, which will stop you from monetizing your videos.

What is Ad Friendly content?

Not all content that meets YouTube’s Community Guidelines will be considered ‘advertiser-friendly’. Companies don’t want to run ads alongside content that doesn’t match the values of their brands.

YouTube may disable ads on any video it doesn’t think is ad-friendly. Videos which may be flagged as inappropriate for ads include (but are not limited to):

1. Videos that cover controversial or sensitive subjects.
2. Videos depicting the use of drugs or dangerous products.
3. Videos may encourage harmful or dangerous behavior.
4. Videos with swearing (but not ALL videos with swearing – quantity and context are factors).
5. Videos which contain hate speech.
6. Videos that depict family entertainment characters (i.e. Disney princesses) engaged in inappropriate behavior (even if you’re being satirical).

If you want to make sure all of your content is advertiser-friendly, here are some best practices suggested by YouTube:

1. Be respectful of your viewers and any people or groups you may include or mention in your video.
2. Extend this respectful tone to your thumbnails and video titles, and make sure your thumbnails and metadata accurately depict your video’s content.
3. Don’t try to monetize videos that already contain ads (i.e. paid product placement ).

How to Get Paid Through AdSense

In order to receive a payment from AdSense, you need to earn at least $100.

For example, if you only earn $10 in a month, you will not receive a payment that month. You will not lose that $10 – you will receive it when your total earnings reach or exceed $100.

You will also need to provide AdSense with tax information and verify your identity and address in order to start being paid.

The most popular way to get paid through AdSense is via an EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer). To receive your payments this way, you’ll need to link your bank account to your AdSense account.

Here’s how:

1. Log in to AdSense.
2. Click Settings in the menu on the left, and then select Payments.
3. On the Payments page, click Manage payment options.
4. Click the Add payment method.
5. You’ll be prompted to add your bank account details.
6. Make sure the name on your AdSense account matches the name on your bank account (if you’re under 18 and cannot make your own AdSense account, this may mean you’re using your parent or guardian’s bank account).

Which YouTube Videos Get the Highest Paying Ads?

Not all ads pay the same, and not all videos will be able to attract the ads that pay the most.

How much money your video has the potential to earn depends on:

1. The size of your channel
2. Your niche on YouTube
3. The specific topic of the video

That the size of your channel matters probably isn’t a surprise. The biggest brands want to run their ads beside videos that are getting more views.

Whether or not your YouTube niche has a high potential for profit will depend on a couple things:

1. How many other channels are in your niche?

The more people there are making similar videos to you, the thinner the available ads are spread.

1. How many cheap or expensive products are being advertised in your niche?

If the products are free or inexpensive (i.e. free online games) then that limits your earning ability. In large niches like gaming, the few higher paying ads will go to the most popular channels and the low-paying ads will be spread amongst everyone else.

If you have a very specific niche, i.e. luxury cars, then you will have less competition and the ads available will likely be for more expensive products (and thus the ads themselves will be higher paying).

Even if you are in a large niche, you can still make videos on specific topics designed to attract higher-paying ads and more revenue. Pay attention to the analytics in your Creator Studio to learn which of your videos earn the most. Then, make more videos on similar topics to boost your earnings.

Another factor that can affect what ads appear alongside your videos is the viewing habits of individual viewers. People are shown ads that YouTube believes are more relevant to their interests.

Useful Terminology (CPM, CPC, CPV)

A lot of people think your ad revenue is determined by your view count. This isn’t true – it’s determined by ad impressions.

How much revenue you earn from the ads running around your videos depends on these three things:

CPC: ‘cost per click’. Most of the ads on YouTube are CPC, meaning that an ad impression is only recorded when an ad is clicked on.

CPV: ‘cost per view’. Skippable pre-roll ads are the only ads on YouTube which record ad impressions without clicks. These ads record ad impressions when viewers watch 30 seconds of the ad instead of skipping it.

CPM: ‘cost per mille’ or ‘cost per thousand’. This refers to how much money gets paid out for 1000 ad impressions.

Your CPM will be affected by a multitude of things including the ads themselves and the size of your channel. AdSense has made it a rule that you cannot disclose your CPM to anyone, which makes it difficult to determine what you should expect.

Note: never click on ads near your own videos or instruct your viewers/friends to do so. If your clicks are higher than what AdSense considers normal they may ban you.

Sites like Social Blade provide estimated earnings for any channel you want to look up. Looking up channels that are where you plan to be in the near future could help you set your own expectations.

Are you able to monetize your videos? How many more subscribers or hours of watch time do you need?

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Top 7 Video Recording Devices for Professional Streaming Artists

Best 7 DSLR Vlogging Cameras

Shanoon Cox

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

DSLR cameras are great for vloggers who are serious about filmmaking. But with so many DSLR cameras to choose from, it can be difficult to make a decision on one. We have come up with a list of seven of the best DSLR vlogging cameras to help you with your search.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A VLOGGING CAMERA

1. Fully articulated screen (flip screen)

2. Good continual autofocus while recording video

3. Good focus priority through face recognition

4. Touch to focus

5. Good low-light performance

6. external mic jack, hot/cold shoe bracket

7. optical image stabilization

8. good battery life

Check out my full list of 10 Things To Look For In A Vlogging Camera to understand the importance of these camera features.

THE 7 BEST DSLR CAMERAS FOR VLOGGING

Camera	Release Date	Sensor Size	Flip Screen	Mic Port	Price
CanonEOS6D Mark II		June2017	Full frame(35.9 x 24 mm)	Fully Articulated	Yes	$$
CanonEOS RebelSL2		June2017	APS-C(22.3 x 14.9 mm)	Fully Articulated	Yes	$
CanonEOS RebelT7i		February2017	APS-C(22.3 x 14.9 mm)	Fully Articulated	Yes	$-

| CanonEOS77D | | February2017 | APS-C(22.3 x 14.9 mm) | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |

| NikonD5600 | | November2016 | APS-C(23.5 x 15.6 mm) | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |

| CanonEOS5D Mark IV | | August2017 | Full frame(36 x 24 mm) | No | Yes | $$$ |

| CanonEOS80D | | February2016 | APS-C(22.5 x 15 mm) | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |

	Best daily DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS T7i The camera you use to record your daily vlogs doesn’t have to be the best camera on the market. It just has to offer enough options to make the process of making a vlog as smooth as it can possibly be. The T7i is not the most powerful DSLR camera out there, but its 24.2 MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a DIGIC 7 image processor are more than enough to meet the needs of most daily vloggers. You can record full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps and use this camera to create HDR and time-lapse movies. You can set the T7i’s ISO up as high as 51200, which is pretty good. The T7i’s dual pixel CMOS AF system makes sure that the camera focuses quickly and it helps you avoid creating video clips that are out focus. There’s also a built-in Wi-FI with an NFC feature that enables you to share your videos with a smartphone device you connect to the camera. PROS - Long battery life - Remarkable image quality at high ISO values CONS - Can’t record 4K videos - Viewfinder is tiny
	Best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS SL2 The Canon EOS SL2 was released just a year ago and it wins our 2018 vote for the best entry-level DSLR camera for vlogging. The SL2 packs a lot of features in a compact camera body. The camera only weighs 1 lb, which is considered light among most DSLR cameras. Many vloggers may enjoy the fact that they can hold up this light camera in front of themselves with more ease. Like a lot of entry-level DSLR cameras, the SL2 comes with an APS-C crop sensor. With ISO capabilities that can reach up to 51200, you’ll be able to film up to full HD 1080p videos at 60 fps, even under low light conditions. All recent Canon cameras perform very well when it comes to autofocus and the SL2 is no exception. It does, however, have fewer points of focus. The SL2 comes with a 9-point AF system. The SL2 also has a fully-articulated screen and a microphone jack. PROS - Microphone jack - Wi-Fi connectivity CONS - No 4K video support - Optical image stabilizer could be better
	Best mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 80D The Canon EOS 80D is the successor of the 70D which was at one time considered by many YouTubers the ultimate DSLR camera for vlogging. The 80D is a larger camera than the SL2, weighing 1.61 lbs. In its larger build, this camera additionally (compared to the SL2) packs a 45-point AF system, longer battery life, a headphone port, and it is environmentally sealed so you can shoot in tough conditions. This camera’s great performance in autofocusing makes it a great mid-range DSLR camera for vlogging. PROS - Feature-rich - Continuous AF feature performs beautifully while recording high-res videos CONS - Just one SD card slot - PC sync connection features could be better
	Best professional DSLR camera for vlogging: Canon EOS 6D Mark II There’s a lot of DSLR cameras that come with a fully-articulated screen and a microphone jack, but the Canon EOS 6D Mark II is actually the only one in the market that comes equipped with both of those, plus a full-frame sensor. It is its full-frame sensor that really sets this camera apart from the other vlogging DLSR cameras. Because of its full-frame sensor, this camera performs much better in low light conditions. With this larger sensor, you’ll also be able to capture footage that looks more cinematic with high-quality bokeh (more blur to your out-of-focus areas). The 6D Mark II also has great battery life compared to all the reviewed cameras above. Unfortunately, this camera does not shoot in 4K. PROS - ISO sensitivity goes up to 102400 - Amazing touchscreen controls CONS - No 4K video recording option - No USB 3.0

Want to compare even more cameras? Check out…

12 Best Vlogging Cameras
Top 11 Cheap Vlogging Cameras
8 Best Mirrorless Cameras For Vlogging
12 Best Vlogging Cameras With A Flip Screen

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox