AdSense Profits on YouTube: Earnings per Thousand Video Watchers

YouTubers are fantastic people who create content and make a living out of it. But have you ever thought about how much YouTube pays or what YouTube AdSense earnings are?

If you aren’t sure about the YouTube payment situation or how much AdSense pay for views, you will learn this below. Whether you’re planning to create a channel or already have one, learning how much you can expect YouTube to pay will help you in the longer run.

Be it AdSense pay on 1,000 views or AdSense pay per click; this blog features information you may appreciate.

1. Type of Content
2. Keywords
3. User Location
4. Time Requires to Get Views
5. Video Duration
6. Your Niche or Industry

• Pros and Cons of Earning Money from Google AdSense

Part 1: How Much Does AdSense Pay Per 1,000 Views

As a content creator, you might be tempted to know how much you can expect to earn through AdSense. Since it’s a free and simple way to make extra bucks, showing ads with the content you produce for online platforms, it’s essential to know how much it pays for views.

Pay Per 1,000 Views by AdSense

For 1,000 views, expect AdSense to pay around $8-$20. However, your total earnings will depend on factors such as your content type, users’ location, and setting of ads in Google AdSense, so it can pay on thousand views.

More so, AdSense opts for Revenue Per 1,000 impressions or (RPM) to showcase the amount you would get for 1,000 impressions. Remember, this RPM doesn’t include the actual amount you’ve earned. But it focuses on dividing your earnings by page views and impressions, then multiplying those by 1,000.

You can also refer to the formula for better understanding.

Formula:

RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000

From this formula provided by Google official, we can easily know that

Estimated earnings = (RPM * Number of page views) / 1000

To understand it further, see the example below.

Suppose you’ve earned around $0.10 from 20 page views; your page RPM would be $6.00 in simpler terms.

($0.10 / 25) * 1000 = $6.00

Also, if RPM is $4.00 from 45,000 ad impressions, your estimated earnings would be equal $180.00

($4.00 * 45,000) / 1000 = $180.00

AdSense Pay Per View

Lastly, if you’re looking for an exact answer regarding how much it pays per view, know that it varies and is based on different factors, such as niche or audience demographic.

But you can expect something between $8 to $12 on 1,000 views after monetizing your YouTube channel with your Google AdSense account.

Part 2: How Much Does AdSense Pay Per Click?

After understanding AdSense’s way to pay for 1,000 views, formula, or pay per view, here’s what you need to know about AdSense’s payment on per click policy.

On Average, you can expect AdSense to pay something around $0.20 to $15 on a click. Talking about estimated earnings or one click, it depends on the cost-per-click in the niche, including the publisher’s earnings and competition among rival advertisers.

And if you’re wondering, cost-per-click is when a user clicks on your ad, and you earn money for it. However, advertisers always decide the cost-per-click for ads. In this case, some advertisers don’t hesitate to pay extra, depending on what they intend to advertise.

Part 3: AdSense Earnings Per Thousand Pageviews Examples

From pay per 1,000 views to pay per click, understanding the AdSense payment policy is essential if you’re up to monetize your YouTube channel.

Since there’re YouTube AdSense requirements, such as audience demographic, niche, or content, learning about which niche is the lucrative one will also help you decide your next move.

Let’s take a look at the following examples for better understanding:

• For example, if arts and entertainment is your niche, you can expect to earn $5.62 after accumulating 1,000 pageviews.
• Creators who create content on vehicles can earn around $9.20 on every 1,000 pageviews.
• If you’re into beauty and fitness, expect to earn up to $13.01 on 1,000 pageviews.
• For real estate, health, home, and garden niches, you can earn $14.50, $17.40, and $23.35 on every 1,000 pageviews.

Remember, people from North America can make the most of these earnings. But worry not if you are based outside North America. Because Google AdSense revenue calculator can help you find the average pageviews on monthly basis.

Part 4: Earnings from AdSense: Factors to Consider

After learning how much you can earn in different niches, it’s equally important to focus on the following factors, so you can qualify and start earning from AdSense with ease.

1) Type of Content

To monetize your videos for AdSense, ensure that you own the rights to use visuals and audio elements of your video. And focus on creating all elements of your video yourself.

For YouTube, you can try creating tutorials, do-it-yourself videos, original short films, original music videos, home videos, travel vlogs, or even daily-life vlogs.

While creating content for YouTube, remember advertisers consider placing ads on more advertiser-friendly content.

As a blogger, you must provide unique but quality content to exceed AdSense’s eligibility criteria. Having unique content helps Google understand what your website is about. It’s even better if your website provides a one-of-its-kind experience and users visit it again.

Be it a vlog or blog, please ensure that it’s original and not a copy from other sources. This way, you can elevate your credibility on the respective platforms. For a great user experience, opt for intuitive navigation.

And to up your content game, you can even use the calculator to determine the value of your content and estimated revenue from AdSense.

2) Keywords

Keywords are phrases and words that describe your service or product. The ones you choose will help show your ads to users.

Therefore, go for the relevant yet high-quality keywords and add them to your ad campaigns. This strategy will put your ad in front of potential buyers.

3) User Location

Remember, AdSense follows geo-targeting strategy, so it can place ads on different pages. These ads are based on a user’s language, region, and IP address.

Put simply, ads serving to a user from Algeria may differ from the ads for a user from Georgia.

4) Time Requires to Get Views

There’s no fixed time frame; however, you can focus on search volume, audience, and competition to start getting the desired number of views.

The first 60 minutes are crucial after you post a video. Then, the next 24 hours and the first 48 hours are equally important because YouTube gives an unnatural boost to it. It helps YouTube observe responses, such as how viewers interacted with the video and what kinds of viewers were interested in it.

Remember, if a video fails to get any views in a couple of days, it won’t likely perform and will consider “dead” on the platform.

More so, if a video performs better slightly, it’ll start to reach its full potential in the next 3 to 6 months, according to the views it receives per day. Oftentimes, videos took up to a year to perform well.

And if your video starts to perform better and faster in those 3-6 months, it’ll likely do better in the longer run.

5) Video Duration

Focus on the length of your video, as it determines how many ads can be shown in it. This part also influences your earning potential. When your video is longer in length, it’ll increase its worth.

However, you must find the right balance between video duration, quality, and the number of videos on your channel, so you can continue to earn without hindrance.

6) Your Niche or Industry

Niche is another essential factor to opt for AdSense earnings. Some of the profitable topics are:

• Business
• Investment
• Health
• Insurance
• Online Marketing

You can choose the area that interest you the most and start people educating about it.

For example, people tend to think about investing their money to multiply it. You can create videos on investment-related topics, tips and tricks to get maximum views.

Part 5: Pros and Cons of Earning Money from Google AdSense

At this point, you’re familiar with almost all aspects of generating money using Google AdSense. And considering the factors, it seems like a task you can perform.

Before you try earning money via AdSense, consider the following pros and cons.

Pros

• Google AdSense doesn’t charge an extra fee. It’s a totally free service that can help you earn dollars.
• Don’t know how to make ads? Don’t worry; Google will do it for you.
• It enables you to use one account to monetize multiple websites.
• As a passive income, it doesn’t require additional effort.

Cons

• Making the first $100 is a must to get paid further.
• With AdSense, you won’t be allowed to use another ad network.
• A policy breach could make you lose your account.
• You need a lot of traffic to make some serious money.
• Adding several ads can annoy your viewers.

Final Words

Monetizing your YouTube channel for AdSense is great for having a steady passive income. But, it’s a time-consuming process and has a set of advantages and disadvantages.

If you already have a YouTube channel and a certain number of views, you can take it further using the provided information. However, focus on factors such as user demographic, content type, and quality to achieve long-term success.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Part 1: How Much Does AdSense Pay Per 1,000 Views

As a content creator, you might be tempted to know how much you can expect to earn through AdSense. Since it’s a free and simple way to make extra bucks, showing ads with the content you produce for online platforms, it’s essential to know how much it pays for views.

Pay Per 1,000 Views by AdSense

For 1,000 views, expect AdSense to pay around $8-$20. However, your total earnings will depend on factors such as your content type, users’ location, and setting of ads in Google AdSense, so it can pay on thousand views.

More so, AdSense opts for Revenue Per 1,000 impressions or (RPM) to showcase the amount you would get for 1,000 impressions. Remember, this RPM doesn’t include the actual amount you’ve earned. But it focuses on dividing your earnings by page views and impressions, then multiplying those by 1,000.

You can also refer to the formula for better understanding.

Formula:

RPM = (Estimated earnings / Number of page views) * 1000

From this formula provided by Google official, we can easily know that

Estimated earnings = (RPM * Number of page views) / 1000

To understand it further, see the example below.

Suppose you’ve earned around $0.10 from 20 page views; your page RPM would be $6.00 in simpler terms.

($0.10 / 25) * 1000 = $6.00

Also, if RPM is $4.00 from 45,000 ad impressions, your estimated earnings would be equal $180.00

($4.00 * 45,000) / 1000 = $180.00

AdSense Pay Per View

Lastly, if you’re looking for an exact answer regarding how much it pays per view, know that it varies and is based on different factors, such as niche or audience demographic.

But you can expect something between $8 to $12 on 1,000 views after monetizing your YouTube channel with your Google AdSense account.

Part 2: How Much Does AdSense Pay Per Click?

After understanding AdSense’s way to pay for 1,000 views, formula, or pay per view, here’s what you need to know about AdSense’s payment on per click policy.

On Average, you can expect AdSense to pay something around $0.20 to $15 on a click. Talking about estimated earnings or one click, it depends on the cost-per-click in the niche, including the publisher’s earnings and competition among rival advertisers.

And if you’re wondering, cost-per-click is when a user clicks on your ad, and you earn money for it. However, advertisers always decide the cost-per-click for ads. In this case, some advertisers don’t hesitate to pay extra, depending on what they intend to advertise.

Part 3: AdSense Earnings Per Thousand Pageviews Examples

From pay per 1,000 views to pay per click, understanding the AdSense payment policy is essential if you’re up to monetize your YouTube channel.

Since there’re YouTube AdSense requirements, such as audience demographic, niche, or content, learning about which niche is the lucrative one will also help you decide your next move.

Let’s take a look at the following examples for better understanding:

• For example, if arts and entertainment is your niche, you can expect to earn $5.62 after accumulating 1,000 pageviews.
• Creators who create content on vehicles can earn around $9.20 on every 1,000 pageviews.
• If you’re into beauty and fitness, expect to earn up to $13.01 on 1,000 pageviews.
• For real estate, health, home, and garden niches, you can earn $14.50, $17.40, and $23.35 on every 1,000 pageviews.

Remember, people from North America can make the most of these earnings. But worry not if you are based outside North America. Because Google AdSense revenue calculator can help you find the average pageviews on monthly basis.

Part 4: Earnings from AdSense: Factors to Consider

After learning how much you can earn in different niches, it’s equally important to focus on the following factors, so you can qualify and start earning from AdSense with ease.

1) Type of Content

To monetize your videos for AdSense, ensure that you own the rights to use visuals and audio elements of your video. And focus on creating all elements of your video yourself.

For YouTube, you can try creating tutorials, do-it-yourself videos, original short films, original music videos, home videos, travel vlogs, or even daily-life vlogs.

While creating content for YouTube, remember advertisers consider placing ads on more advertiser-friendly content.

As a blogger, you must provide unique but quality content to exceed AdSense’s eligibility criteria. Having unique content helps Google understand what your website is about. It’s even better if your website provides a one-of-its-kind experience and users visit it again.

Be it a vlog or blog, please ensure that it’s original and not a copy from other sources. This way, you can elevate your credibility on the respective platforms. For a great user experience, opt for intuitive navigation.

And to up your content game, you can even use the calculator to determine the value of your content and estimated revenue from AdSense.

2) Keywords

Keywords are phrases and words that describe your service or product. The ones you choose will help show your ads to users.

Therefore, go for the relevant yet high-quality keywords and add them to your ad campaigns. This strategy will put your ad in front of potential buyers.

3) User Location

Remember, AdSense follows geo-targeting strategy, so it can place ads on different pages. These ads are based on a user’s language, region, and IP address.

Put simply, ads serving to a user from Algeria may differ from the ads for a user from Georgia.

4) Time Requires to Get Views

There’s no fixed time frame; however, you can focus on search volume, audience, and competition to start getting the desired number of views.

The first 60 minutes are crucial after you post a video. Then, the next 24 hours and the first 48 hours are equally important because YouTube gives an unnatural boost to it. It helps YouTube observe responses, such as how viewers interacted with the video and what kinds of viewers were interested in it.

Remember, if a video fails to get any views in a couple of days, it won’t likely perform and will consider “dead” on the platform.

More so, if a video performs better slightly, it’ll start to reach its full potential in the next 3 to 6 months, according to the views it receives per day. Oftentimes, videos took up to a year to perform well.

And if your video starts to perform better and faster in those 3-6 months, it’ll likely do better in the longer run.

5) Video Duration

Focus on the length of your video, as it determines how many ads can be shown in it. This part also influences your earning potential. When your video is longer in length, it’ll increase its worth.

However, you must find the right balance between video duration, quality, and the number of videos on your channel, so you can continue to earn without hindrance.

6) Your Niche or Industry

Niche is another essential factor to opt for AdSense earnings. Some of the profitable topics are:

• Business
• Investment
• Health
• Insurance
• Online Marketing

You can choose the area that interest you the most and start people educating about it.

For example, people tend to think about investing their money to multiply it. You can create videos on investment-related topics, tips and tricks to get maximum views.

Part 5: Pros and Cons of Earning Money from Google AdSense

At this point, you’re familiar with almost all aspects of generating money using Google AdSense. And considering the factors, it seems like a task you can perform.

Before you try earning money via AdSense, consider the following pros and cons.

Pros

• Google AdSense doesn’t charge an extra fee. It’s a totally free service that can help you earn dollars.
• Don’t know how to make ads? Don’t worry; Google will do it for you.
• It enables you to use one account to monetize multiple websites.
• As a passive income, it doesn’t require additional effort.

Cons

• Making the first $100 is a must to get paid further.
• With AdSense, you won’t be allowed to use another ad network.
• A policy breach could make you lose your account.
• You need a lot of traffic to make some serious money.
• Adding several ads can annoy your viewers.

Final Words

Monetizing your YouTube channel for AdSense is great for having a steady passive income. But, it’s a time-consuming process and has a set of advantages and disadvantages.

If you already have a YouTube channel and a certain number of views, you can take it further using the provided information. However, focus on factors such as user demographic, content type, and quality to achieve long-term success.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Effective YouTube Card Usage Guide

How to Use YouTube Cards and Annotations?

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock _ Wondershare Filmstock _ and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock _ Wondershare Filmstock _ and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock _ Wondershare Filmstock _ and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

YouTube Annotations and Cards are both tools for linking viewers to your other videos or to off-YouTube webpages. Two of the major differences between them are:

Annotations are not clickable on mobile devices.

You cannot choose the size or positioning of Cards.

This article will teach you about both Cards and Annotations and discuss the best uses for each of them.

Part 1: Annotations

Annotations are messages that float overtop of your videos in the YouTube player. Usually, annotations are clickable and take users to other content created by you.

Section 1: Types of Annotations

There are five types of YouTube annotations:

Notes are colored boxes placed over the top of your videos.

Speech Bubbles look like dialogue boxes in a comic strip. They have tails that you can adjust so it looks like one of the people in your video is saying what is written in the annotation.

Spotlights have a subtle border and are completely clear inside. Your text only appears when a viewer’s cursor hovers over top of these annotations.

Labels are like spotlights except that viewers do not have to hover over them for your text to be visible.

Any of these annotations can be used to link viewers to other videos, or as subscribe links. You can also add a simple Title to your video through the Annotations menu.

Section 2: How to Use Annotations

*Note: the above video mentions Pause annotations, which are no longer available.

Here are two of the best uses for annotations:

Clickable End Cards / Outros

One of the best ways you can use spotlight annotations is to create clickable end cards for your videos.

When your video finishes playing the YouTube player will display a selection of suggested videos that might direct viewers away from your channel. You can keep more of these viewers watching your content by creating your own ‘suggested videos’ card and putting it at the end of your videos.

Put thumbnails of two or three of your other videos on your end card, or use ‘picture-in-picture’ to actually imbed footage from them. Then, after you upload your video, go in and place clickable spotlight annotations over top of your video thumbnails.

This is one use for annotations that cannot be duplicated with cards.

Promoting Your Videos

You should not wait until the end of your video to start linking viewers to other content. Many viewers will click away before they see your end card because your video is not exactly what they were looking for. By placing note or speech bubble annotations occasionally throughout your videos you can catch some of these people before they click off of your channel.

This works especially well if you link to videos on similar subjects to the one you are annotating.

Instead of just linking to another video of yours, try to link to that video on a playlist. Once a viewer is on a playlist your videos will auto-play after each other, which is good for both your view count and watch time.

You can also use the newer YouTube Cards for this, but Annotations might still be a better choice because viewers only need to click once vs. twice for Cards.

Try both and see which performs best for your channel. It might be in your best interest to keep on using both as they target different audiences – Cards are clickable on mobile devices, for example, but Annotations are not.

Part 2: YouTube Cards

YouTube Cards are newer than annotations and a lot of people believe they will one day replace Annotations. While there are benefits to Cards – like embedding images to represent your links – you cannot choose the shape, size, or placement of them. This means they have limited uses.

When viewers click on a Card they are shown additional information and a thumbnail representing the page they will be taken to if they choose to click again. This extra step could be either help viewers decide to click your links or give them a second chance to decide they would rather not.

Section 1: When to Use Cards

A linked Annotation is simply a call to action viewers can click on. A Card is a call to action as well, but instead of taking the viewer directly to where its link leads when it is clicked a Card opens up into a larger version of itself with a thumbnail image.

Crowdfunding pages (Patreon is a great choice for video creators), charity fundraising pages, and merchandise stores are all examples of links that benefit from the format of YouTube Cards.

When you link a viewer to a non-YouTube page you break up their session time, which negatively impacts your watch time and SEO ranking. You want to make sure that the viewers you are directing away from YouTube are the ones most likely to convert after they leave. By ‘convert’ we mean to contribute to your Patreon campaign, donate to the charity you are promoting, or buy some of your merchandise.

Giving viewers more information and a thumbnail through a Card can help ensure the most interested viewers are the ones clicking your links.

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Filmora, which is equipped with its own footage stock _ Wondershare Filmstock _ and will definitely enhance your productivity and helps you to make money by making videos much easier.

Richard Bennett

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

Follow @Richard Bennett