From Passive Viewers to Earnings: YouTube’s Monetization Mastery

Monetize YouTube Videos | The Ultimate Guide to Ad Revenue

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

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:

Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program
How to Apply for Monetization on YouTube
What is Ad Friendly Content?
How to Get Paid Through AdSense
Which YouTube Videos Get the Highest Paying Ads?
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:

1000 Subscribers
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:

Nudity or sexual content
Harmful, dangerous, threatening, or hateful content
Violent or graphic content
Harassment or cyberbullying
Spam, scams, and misleading metadata
Copyright infringement or impersonation
Privacy violations
Fake subscribers
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.

In the Creator Studio, select Channel > Status and features.
Under ‘Monetization’, click Enable and follow the steps that appear to accept YouTube’s terms.
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:

Under Channel > Status and features in your Creator Studio, look for Paid content. Click where it says ‘active AdSense account’.
On the following ‘Monetization’ screen, click Next to go to AdSense.
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.
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):

Videos that cover controversial or sensitive subjects.
Videos depicting the use of drugs or dangerous products.
Videos may encourage harmful or dangerous behavior.
Videos with swearing (but not ALL videos with swearing – quantity and context are factors).
Videos which contain hate speech.
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:

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

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:

Log in to AdSense.
Click Settings in the menu on the left, and then select Payments.
On the Payments page, click Manage payment options.
Click the Add payment method.
You’ll be prompted to add your bank account details.
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:

The size of your channel
Your niche on YouTube
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:

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.

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

Fresh Pioneers 8: YouTube’s Fastest Climbers

Create High-Quality Video - Wondershare Filmora

An easy and powerful YouTube video editor

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YouTube is among the most frequently visited streaming channels. It has risen to fame in the last two years when the pandemic hit the whole world. Business owners, students, and the world have turned to social media for business, entertainment, and educational purposes. And YouTube was the first thought channel to bring everyone on board. With an advanced algorithm, you can find content that perfectly matches your interests easily. This also saw an increase in YouTube subscribers as well as content creators. But wait! You must be wondering about the channels that made it to the top. That’s what this article is yet to disclose to you. Keep reading.

How do popular YouTubers affect our lives?

Being a website open to the public, YouTube affects our lives dynamically. It depends on how you use the site. It can affect your life either positively or negatively.

- Learning

Through tutorial videos, YouTube has improved learning. Students who choose to work with visual components can refer to YT for in-depth illustrations of various studies. They can freely acquire course videos and other information.

- Remote access

Users are not limited to accessing any site regardless of their locality. With just a click of a button, you can get any information, such as how to use a product or service. You can also contact a content creator via community comments on their pages.

- Entertainment

This is an excellent platform for people to interact and keep busy with trending videos and music. You can also search for other Do It Yourself videos to try out home remedies.

- Earnings

You can earn money through YouTube once you hit the 1,000-subscription mark. You can also link your Google Adsense account for additional earning opportunities.

The Top 8 YouTubers Who Will Be the Fastest Growing in 2021

Check out the fastest-growing YouTubers who gained high popularity in 2021. They dwell in a variety of sections ranging from film production, children’s stories, gardening, startups, and many other categories.

• Jeferee Star

He started in 2006 and has risen to be a YouTube star today. Before building his YT base, Jeferee started making it big on Myspace. He is still recognized for his make-up talent. But it is his melodious singing that brought him to fame. He currently has about 17 million subscribers, having gained over 5 million followers last year.

• Goldmines Telefilms

With movies, songs, and comedy combined, Goldmines Telefilms has also seen many subscribers resolve to its content. It currently has a subscriber base of about 30 million, having gained over 10 million subscribers in 2020. Their secret lies in driving the audience’s attention.

• Inventor 101

Many people have resolved to do business online lately. More startups are being launched each day. Inventor 101 dwells on giving tips on everyday life hacks and how to survive business shortfalls. This channel has grown immensely since April 2019, going from 50,000 to about 1.3 million subscribers.

• Urban Gardening

Many people become innovative after spending more time at home. Gardening is one activity that topped the list of starter adventures. This saw the Urban Gardening channel rise to fame, getting up to 800 thousand subscribers in a short period. Look through for how-to guides and other tips on home gardening.

• Cocomelon

Kids love singing along to lovely tunes. Cocomelon brings to your screen cute nursery rhymes and knows how to keep kids locked in through 3D videos and fun-filled songs. The YouTube channel saw a drastic rise from 2005 with 36 million subscribers to 85 million subscribers today.

• T-Series

T-Series is among the increasing number of YouTubes in the film industry. It has been keeping viewers entertained with its ever-increasing Indian movies. Led by Sh. Gulshan Kumar, the channel had a rise of about 40 million this year, rising to 166 million subscribers currently.

• Felix Arvid

Known as PewDiePie, Felix has seen a drastic increase in the past year. His channel is about jokes that appeal to both young and old viewers. He has so far managed to reach about 101 million subscribers this year. His channel has gained 6.63 million subscribers.

• Just Eat

This is an online takeaway company that has steered home food deliveries. Before the spike in subscribers, Just Eat had been running for over 10 years and currently has a total of 60 million subscribers in 2021, up from the initial 2.4 million in 2011.

How to increase your YouTube subscribers faster

Long videos should be published.
Research shows that the possibility of longer videos ranking high in search engines is greater than shorter ones. Aim for your video to rank high in YouTube’s search engine. The best way is to have longer videos that show detailed information to viewers.
Optimize watch time.
YouTube also factors in the watch time, both for SEO results and promotional purposes. Videos with a high watch time are likely to be promoted on the YouTube homepage. You can use lots of patterns interrupts to keep people watching or include graphics to help them focus more.
Embed your videos into blog posts.
Blogs are a great way to tell your viewers what your product brings to the table. If you can get someone to read your post, then it shows they like your stuff. So, embed your video and let them learn via detailed steps, and they’ll probably subscribe to your channel.
Add a brand watermark.
A branding watermark helps viewers subscribe to your channel right inside the video. You can use a link that looks like a “YT subscribe” button. Also, make it large enough to be visible at a glance.
Promote videos on the end screen.
Remember that the more someone watches your videos, the higher the chances of them subscribing to your channel. So, do the trick and promote your next video on the end screen of the current video. This will make a viewer watch more and more of your videos, and probably subscribe to your channel.
Respond to every comment.
Show that you care. And note that every comment or review matters a lot to your brand. So, strive to respond to every comment that a viewer leaves on your page.
Give thought to the channel description.
Here is where some YouTube channels miss it all. The description should be engaging and inviting. That’s the only way to lure viewers to hit that subscribe button. Let the description tell viewers what the channel is about and give other important information.
Video quality
Your video is your voice when it comes to promoting your channel. Ensure you give people quality videos with a piece of detailed advice that works for them. Also, remember to upload quality videos regularly to boost the growth of your channel. A good video should have high resolution, among other good qualities.

Filmora - a useful tool to help make creative videos

Being creative and composing powerful videos is a plus if you want your YouTube channel to grow. That’s the tactic that highly ranked subscribers employ during video creation. We use Filmora, a video editing program with advanced features, to transform your video into a work of art. Use it to edit and export your videos at a high resolution of up to 4K. It also lets you layer several video clips with its Picture in Picture track feature.

Other important characteristics

The video should be edited with as little effect as possible. You can edit your video by splitting, merging, rotating, etc., from its interface. Filmora has simple steps for these.

Noise removal
Polish your video by removing unwanted background noise to help improve the overall outcome.

GIF support
You can add GIF images and then import or export your video to YouTube and other platforms

Detach audio
Filmora lets you do audio separation from your video and edit it separately. You can change the background music to your favorite.

Preview
Preview your video frame by frame and make any precise adjustments necessary before you release it to the public.

Advanced formatting
Stylish effects like overlays and transitions can give you a compelling piece of video that will woe subscribers to your channel.

Conclusion

● YouTube is a trustworthy platform that provides a diverse range of activities such as gaming, tutorials, the film industry, and cooking, among many others. Content creators use it to promote their brands and build a database of subscribers. It takes a considerable amount of effort to match the fastest-growing YouTube channels. A major contributing factor to the highly increasing number of subscribers is a clear video that is easily understood. The best video editor, Filmora, can help you achieve a milestone as far as composing a selling video is concerned.

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How do popular YouTubers affect our lives?

Being a website open to the public, YouTube affects our lives dynamically. It depends on how you use the site. It can affect your life either positively or negatively.