Monetization on Youtube

YouTube is an American online video sharing service. The headquarters of this online video sharing platform is located in San Bruno, California.

YouTube was created by three former employees of PayPal. This platform was founded in February 2005 by Steve Chen, Jawed Karim, and Chad Hurley.

However, the software was introduced by Google in November 2006. Google paid $1.65 billion for this platform. Hence, YouTube functions as a subsidiary of Google.

This video-sharing platform can help you create and upload videos. You can even like, comment, and view videos of other content creators. Different research shows that more than two billion users log into YouTube per month.

Moreover, the local version of YouTube is functional in more than hundred countries. The users of these countries operate YouTube in 80 languages.

Reports also show that more than 500 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Such numerical figures are enough to exhibit the popularity and usability of YouTube as an online video sharing platform.

Millions of people open their YouTube app daily to see videos and get information from them. But the videos that are posted on YouTube are always checked by the platform. The software has an approach that uses the four “R’s”.

The first ‘R’ stands for “removes” to remove the content that violates the policies of YouTube.

The second ‘R’ stands for “reduce.” This means that YouTube helps to reduce the spread of incorrect or ambiguous information.

The third ‘R’ stands for “raising up.” This means the software brings up different sources that can help share information and news with YouTube’s target audience.

Lastly, YouTube “rewards” the content creators according to their hard work.

Hence, with this strategy, YouTube makes sure to provide a good digital experience to its users. It helps to protect the data of the users and safeguard their copyrights.

YouTube has several tools and options that make navigation easy for users. With all such features, you can create videos to earn money from YouTube channel. This is known as “monetization” on YouTube.

To monetize your YouTube Channel, you need to join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

So what is the YouTube partner program?

YouTube Partner Program

By joining the YouTube Partner Program, you get access to the different features of the software. Such features may include getting help from the YouTube creator support team or accessing the different resources of the software.

The YouTube Partner Program also allows for revenue sharing from various content advertisements.

Different features of the YouTube partner program include:

• This program will allow you to use the YouTube Copyright Match tool.
• When you join the YouTube partner program, you gain access to the software’s creator support teams.
• The YouTube Partner Program also enables you to operate various monetization features for users.

But you can get access to all such features only if you adhere to the minimum eligibility requirements. These eligibility requirements are some guidelines issued by YouTube that content creators need to follow.

You can register for the YouTube partner program only if you can meet all the minimum eligibility requirements.

This program depends on the willingness of the advertisers to connect their brands with youtube content. 

Minimum Eligibility Requirements

1. The primary requirement that you need to meet is to follow the monetization policies of YouTube. As the name suggests, the monetization policies include a set of different rules and guidelines related to the monetary benefits associated with YouTube. Once you follow all these guidelines, you can monetize your content on YouTube and earn money. When you join the YouTube partner program, the agreement requires you to follow the software’s various monetisation policies.
2. The next minimum eligibility requirement to help you earn money on YouTube is to have more than 4000 valid public watch hours. This means you should have more than 4000 hours of video on YouTube that users have watched. This time is calculated for the last year, or 12 months.
3. To become partners of this software, YouTubers must also have an Adsense account on YouTube.
4. One of the most important requirements is that the users should be living in a country where the YouTube partner program is applicable and available. Different countries where this program is applicable include Uruguay, India, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Venezuela, etc.
5. Lastly, YouTubers should have more than 1,000 subscribers. After gaining this number of subscribers, the YouTubers can easily monetize YouTube Channel.

YouTube Partner Program Checklist

As mentioned above, you can sign up for the YouTube partner program. You will become a partner only after you meet the threshold of the different YouTube guidelines. YouTube has a checklist to guide you through the application process.

Application Checklist

The application checklist for YouTube will help you sign up for the YouTube partner program.

You can follow the following directions or guidelines to meet the threshold of the different guidelines on the YouTube partner program.

One of the most important guidelines that users must follow is to adhere to the software’s policies. This is because once you apply, there is a standard review process. This review process determines whether your channel complies with the software’s various policies and guidelines.

Only after your channel adheres to all such guidelines can you become a YouTube partner. But this standard review process does not stop.

The platform keeps constantly checking the content to verify that the users adhere to the policies and guidelines of the software.

Another feature that the software checks for is the number of subscribers and public watch hours of the users. You should have at least 1000 subscribers that support your channel and more than 4000 valid public watch hours.

This limit is crucial to fulfill because it tells the YouTube team that you have a good amount of content on your channel.

YouTube also suggests to its users that they enable two-step verification for their Google accounts. This speeds up the application process for users.

Enabling two-step verification for Google accounts means that the data and accounts of the users will be protected. The users can protect the data with a password. They can even access this data on an additional device.

To be notified about the threshold limits, you can sign up for the YouTube Partnership Program terms. After you sign up, you will get a notification once you reach the subscriber and public watch hour limits.

After you receive the notification for meeting the threshold, you can monetize your content on YouTube. But before that, you need to enable the monetization feature by following these steps:

1. Sign in on YouTube.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner of the screen.
3. Click on the left menu and select “monetization.”
4. In case you have not met the threshold limit for subscribers and public watch hours, click on the option “Notify me when I am eligible.”
5. But if you have already reached 1,000 subscribers and have had more than 4,000 public watch hours in the past year, then you can take a look at the terms of the YouTube partner program. For this, click on the “review partner program terms” and start the review.
6. After you have signed to review the partner program terms, YouTube marks this option with a “Done” sign. This done sign is green in color.

Another suggestion is to link a single AdSense account on YouTube. A single Adsense account can help you earn revenue on YouTube. You can follow these steps to link your Adsense account on YouTube.

1. Click on the “sign up for Google Adsense” card. But if you have already linked an Adsense account, then you can click on the approved card of this account. YouTube helps you to link the different number of channels through a single Adsense account. But if you do not have any absence account linked on YouTube, then you can create one. Do this by following the instructions mentioned on the screen that can help you create an Adsense account.
2. After you have successfully linked your Adsense account on YouTube, the platform marks this card with a “Done” button. This done button is also green in colour.

Once you have followed all the terms of the YouTube partner program and connected an Adsense account, your channel will be reviewed. It will be placed in a review queue. The review process on YouTube is a combination of automated and human reviewers.

Both of these systems help to verify whether your channel’s content is up to par with the guidelines of the software or not. Users can also use YouTube to check the status of their application or review process.

There can be two circumstances after your reviewing process is over:

1. In the first situation, you may be accepted into the YouTube partner program. Now you can enable monetization for your content and set up your advertisement preferences.
2. In the second case, you may be rejected from entering the YouTube partnership program. This may be because the reviewers of YouTube found that your content did not adhere to the guidelines of the platform. If you are rejected, then you can again apply for the YouTube partnership program after 30 days.

Review Process

The reviewers verify the content against the policies of YouTube. But it is difficult to check each video very carefully. Hence, these reviewers may focus on certain aspects of your channel.

Different features that the reviewers may verify about your channel include:

• The metadata of the videos. This metadata includes thumbnails, titles, descriptions, etc.
• The main theme of your videos
• Your recent videos
• Your most-viewed videos
• The biggest watch time

Besides these features, the viewers may also assess several other characteristics of your channel. The approximate time required to review a channel is one month. This period begins when users reach the YouTube’s minimum threshold.

But sometimes the review time may be extended. This could be due to a variety of factors. There may be system issues, or the YouTube team may shift their resources.

The primary reason behind the delays is the limited number of specialists on YouTube. Moreover, sometimes there are higher application volumes that also cause delays in the review process.

But now the question arises, can you hasten the process of reviewing? YouTube can’t speed up the application review process. This is because the applications are arranged in a queue. They are reviewed based on their number in the queue.

Moreover, there are cases when a channel may require multiple reviews. This is because different viewers may disagree with the compliance of the channel with the policies of the YouTube partner program. In such cases, the decision time is further extended.

Once your application is reviewed, you can stay active to generate money from YouTube. Staying active is very important. If you do not post content consistently, then YouTube can disable the monetization feature on your channel.

This occurs when content creators do not post a video for six months or more.

Different Ways to Make Money on You Tube Partnership Program (YPP)

There are different ways in which you can monetize your channel. You can follow any method and enjoy the perks, according to your requirements and preferences.

The major ways to earn money after signing up for the YouTube partnership program are as follows:

• Ad revenue
• YouTube premium revenue
• Channel membership
• Merch
• Super Chat and Super Stickers
• YouTube Shorts
• YouTube Shorts Fund
• YouTube Live Stream 

Let us understand these ways in detail.

1. Advertisements 

Before turning on youtube ads on YouTube, you should make sure that your content or video complies with the advertiser-friendly guidelines of YouTube.

You can only turn on the advertisements if your video complies with the respective guidelines. But there can be situations when you are unsure whether your video meets the guidelines or not. In such cases, consult the YouTube Self-Certification Guide.

After you switch on the advertisement option, you will not receive advertisements automatically on your video. YouTube verifies your content first. This verification is done through a standard process.

This standard process requires the efforts of humans and automated systems to check whether the content meets the guidelines or not. Once your videos are reviewed and you turn on the ads, it is confirmed that you have the necessary audio and visual elements required for a YouTube video.

2. YouTube Premium Revenue

YouTube Premium revenue is one of the best ways to monetize on YouTube. This is because this method does not require you to perform any extra activities or put in any extra efforts.

You simply need to turn on YouTube premium revenue. This will help you gain a share of the YouTube premium that your subscriber pays for.

Say, for example, that one of your viewers has opted for YouTube Premium. This viewer watches your videos. So he or she can help you gain a portion of the fee paid for the YouTube premium.

But you will receive a portion only if this viewer sees your videos. These videos should be eligible for YouTube Premium revenue. They are eligible only if they satisfy or comply with the policy guidelines of YouTube.

3. Channel Memberships

You can switch on the channel memberships for your channel by following these steps:

• Sign in to your Google account on your computer or mobile device.
• Click on the “Membership” page option.
• Choose the “Get started” option.
• Once you click on the “Get started” option, you will receive different on-screen instructions.
• Follow these instructions to turn on channel memberships.

4. Merchandise Shelf

By turning on the merchandise shelf, the content creators can share their branded merchandise. After turning on the merchandise shelf, you can see the merchandise shelf on your video pages.

But it appears on the pages of some eligible channels only. You can turn on the merchandise shelf by following these steps:

• Open YouTube Studio and sign in to it.
• Click on the “monetization” option in the left menu.
• If your channel is eligible, then you can find the merchandise tab. Click on this tab.
• Now you will receive certain instructions on your screen. By following these instructions, you can receive your ID.
• The last step is to link this ID to your YouTube channel.

5. Super Stickers and Super Chat

Super Stickers and Super Chat are two of the most interesting features for content creators. These content creators can easily interact with their target audience using the stickers.

Super chat helps the YouTubers highlight their messages when chatting on live chat. The Super Stickers help to share digital images that pop up during the live chat.

You can turn on the Super Stickers or Super Chat by following these steps:

• Open the YouTube studio.
• After signing in to YouTube Studio, select the monetization option. This option is available on the left menu of the screen.
• Now select the Live Chat option in the next menu.
• After that, you will receive certain on-screen instructions. Follow these instructions to get started.
• When you have followed all the on-screen instructions, your super chat and super stickers will be turned on.
•  Once your super chat and stickers are turned on, you can find the “super chat status is on” option. This option is located beside the blue toggle.

6. Earning Through YouTube Shorts

Earning through YouTube Shorts is becoming increasingly popular as a way to make money. This relatively new platform allows users to create and upload short videos, similar to TikTok, and monetize them by running ads against their content.

It can be a great way for aspiring entrepreneurs or influencers to start building an audience and generating income. The key to success on YouTube shorts creators is creating quality content that resonates with viewers and encourages them to share the videos with their friends.

With the right strategy, you can quickly increase your viewership and start making money from your shorts. Additionally, YouTube Shorts has an integrated analytics tool which allows you to track your progress and refine your strategies over time.

Overall, it’s a great way for anyone looking to make some extra income online without having to invest a lot of time or resources upfront.

7. YouTube Shorts Fund

The YouTube Shorts Fund is your opportunity to join a creative community of creators who strive to captivate and thrill audiences around the world.

All you have to do is create unique, engaging content that brings joy to the YouTube community and you’re eligible for rewards each month!

Whether you’re a YouTube Partner Program creator or not, as long as you follow the Community Guidelines and stay original, you can take part in this fantastic fund. 

8. YouTube Live Stream 

YouTube Live Stream is a great way to earn money. You can create your own live stream or work with brands and advertisers to promote their products on your channel.

With YouTube Live Stream, you can reach a large audience of potential viewers and make money from the ads that are placed on your videos. You can also set up donations from viewers, have them subscribe to your channel, or even charge for exclusive content.

Additionally, with YouTube Live Stream you can interact with viewers in real-time and build relationships with them, which can help increase engagement and loyalty to your channel.

By engaging with viewers through live streaming, you can further develop an audience that is loyal to you and will continue to support you for years to come.

Eligibility Requirements for Different Payment Methods on You Tube

The above-mentioned monetization methods on YouTube have eligibility requirements. You have to meet these requirements to be able to earn money through these methods.

Moreover, each method has different requirements.

1. Advertisement Revenue

The minimum requirement to earn money through advertising revenue on YouTube is that the YouTubers should be at least 18 years old. If he or she cannot fulfil this requirement, then the YouTuber’s guardian should be at least 18 years old or more.

Moreover, this Guardian should be able to handle the payments from YouTube through the Adsense account.

Besides the age limit, the YouTubers also need to adhere to the advertiser-friendly content guidelines of YouTube. All such requirements will only help him or her earn money through advertisement revenue.

2. Channel memberships

The first requirement to earn money through channel memberships is that the YouTubers should be at least 18 years old.

Secondly, he or she should have more than 30,000 subscribers.

The Youtubers need to fulfill only these two requirements to earn money through channel memberships.

3. Merch Shelf

To be able to earn money through the merchandise shelf,

• the YouTuber needs to be at least 18 years old.
• Secondly, he or she should have more than 10,000 subscribers.

4. Super Chat and Super Stickers

In this method, too, the first requirement remains the same. This means:

• the YouTubers should be at least 18 years old.
• Secondly, he or she should reside in a country or area where the Super Chat feature is available.

YouTube Premium

To earn money through YouTube Premium, the YouTubers are required to create content that is being watched by different subscribers.

But the requirement is that these subscribers should have access to YouTube Premium. From this fee, the YouTubers get a certain percentage or part.

So, these are some of the methods by which you can earn money on YouTube. But you should know the monetization policies which you need to follow before trying out any of these monetization features.

Let’s know about the monetization policy of YouTube.

YouTube Monetization Rules and Policies

Once you become a partner in the YouTube partner program, you can follow all of youtube’s monetization policies. The monetization policies assist you in monetizing your content and gaining access to various features.

Such features help you connect with your audience and protect your content. You can get chat support and even use the software’s Copyright Match tool.

One of the key requirements to join the YouTube partner program is to follow the YouTube monetization policies. YouTube monetization policies require users to meet the community guidelines, copyright policies, Google AdSense policies, and terms of service.

Hence, the content creators need to adhere to these guidelines in all their videos.

Moreover, content creators may also like to monetize their videos through advertisements. In such cases, they need to adhere to the advertiser-friendly content guidelines as well.

However, in recent years, YouTube has taken a number of steps to improve its monetization policies. All this is done to protect the software from spammers and fraudsters.

This helps to maintain a good ecosystem in software where people can post high-quality content without any unfair means.

Violation of Youtube Monetization Policies

One who makes money on YouTube adheres to the YouTube Channel monetization policies. But if you violate any of the policies of YouTube, then YouTube can take action against you.

The actions taken for violation of monetization policies by YouTube include the following:

• YouTube may disable advertisements from your youtube content if you violate any of its monetization policies.
• The software may even terminate your partnership in the YouTube partner program.
•  In certain cases, YouTube also suspends the channels of its users.

YouTube Creator Support Team

There can be situations when you need to clear your queries related to the YouTube partner program. In any of these cases, you can contact the YouTube Creator Support team.

The creator support team assists users in clarifying their doubts and providing advice.

This advice or suggestion may be related to different questions like:

• How can I maximize my YouTube experience?
• What are the technical and other aspects of YouTube?
• How do you fix glitches, bugs, or issues with your YouTube account?
• What are the copyright guidelines for this software?
• How do I know or navigate the different policies of YouTube?
• What are the details related to channel management and accounts?
• How can you fix management issues and resolve queries related to your content ID?

Payment Thresholds

Payment thresholds, as the name implies, are the payment limits that users must adhere to. Once you meet the payment thresholds, you are eligible to receive your earnings through your Adsense account.

The amount of thresholds differ according to the currency of your country.

Let’s have a look at the different types of payment thresholds which the content creators need to adhere to:

1. Tax Information

The tax information threshold requires the content creators to provide their information for tax purposes. This information may differ based on the location of the user. You need to submit the tax information after you first sign in to your YouTube account.

Hence, adhering to the tax information threshold is very crucial for the content creators.

2. Address Verification

YouTube mails the personal identification number of the content creators to their payment address. This is done only after the minimum earnings are met by the content creators.

Mailing the PIN also helps to check the authenticity of the account information of the content creators. Once the users receive their pin, they need to enter this information in their YouTube account.

3. Payment Method Selection

The terms and conditions of YouTube require users to reach the minimum payment threshold. Fulfilling the minimum payment threshold helps the users receive their earnings.

But once the users meet the minimum payment threshold, they have to select a payment method.

Hence the payment method selection threshold requires the content creators to first comply with the minimum payment threshold.

4. Cancellation

There can be circumstances when the YouTuber wants to cancel his or her AdSense program account. In such cases, the account balance of the user may be greater than the cancellation threshold.

So you’ll get the payment approximately 90 days after the end of the month. But the payment is made to the users only if they have completed all the legal formalities.

Once you’ve met all of YouTube’s requirements, you can easily monetize your content. But before youtube’s monetization, you need to follow certain strategies and tips that can help you make the most of your content on YouTube.

So now the question arises: how to start a YouTube channel and make the most of it?

Ways To Monetize on YouTube Channel

One of the best ways if you want to monetize on YouTube is to make high-quality content. High-quality exclusive videos always attracts a greater target audience to your YouTube channel.

This can help you earn great revenues from YouTube. But certain tips and tricks can help you achieve this goal. You can also earn money by collaborating with brands. 

Let us have a look at these tips and strategies:

1. Begin now

You may have been thinking about creating your YouTube channel for months. But due to some or other reasons, you may not be able to create your channel. So what are you thinking about? This is the right time to create your YouTube channel.

Think of this in the way that certain people around the globe want to create their own YouTube channel. But unlike you, they are not procrastinating.

Instead, they are creating their channels and attracting the target audience towards them. But if you would have created your channel and posted content, this target audience would have been yours.

So by postponing your idea of creating a YouTube channel, you are indirectly allowing your prospective target audience to move on to your future competitors.

Hence, it is very crucial for the content creators to at least create a YouTube channel. Initially, they may post a few videos that may not be very good and may have low quality. But with experience, the content creators can improve their videos to satisfy their target audience.

2. Develop a Strategy

Besides having some practical experience, the users should also have a pathway on which they walk. Hence, a strategy works as a plan or a guideline for the content creators.

So you should always try to create a strategy before posting content on YouTube. This strategy can include answers to certain questions.

Let us have a look at them.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

Before deciding the content of your videos or the main goal of your YouTube channel, you should define your target audience. This is due to the fact that you are creating content and videos for your target audience.

Your video should always be aimed at satisfying your target audience and meeting their standards and requirements. In an alternative case, your target audience will move towards your competitors, and you will be at a loss.

What Is the Main Objective of Your You Tube Channel?

You should always consider the answer to this question from the perspective of your audience. This means that the objective or goal of your YouTube channel should not be to attain a certain number of subscribers.

But it should rather be related to your viewers. You should always aim to post informational content and help your target audience with your videos.

Why Do You Think Your Target Audience Should Watch Your Content?

This is another important question to consider. This is because, in this era of digitalization, there is a lot of competition on YouTube. There may be videos on the software related to your topic.

In such a case, the target audience always has the choice to switch on to your competitors. So, what is the specialty of your content that can entice your target audience?

You should always try to stand apart from the rest. This means that you, as content creators, should produce content that is quirky and distinct from your competitors.

The last and most important question to consider while developing your strategy is: How are you going to post your content?

This question includes answers to the number of times you are going to post your content or even the particular time of the day when you are going to post your content on YouTube.

All such answers depend on the nature of your target audience. You should always research the watching habits of your target audience and the number of hours they would like to spend on YouTube.

You can also decide whether you will post more videos or live streams on your account. It is preferable to post at least twice a week. Being consistent will help to attract the target audience to your account.

3. Decide Your Niche

After developing the strategy, the content creators need to decide their niche. A “niche” is a particular category or topic on which you will create videos for your YouTube channel.

The niche that you select for your YouTube channel is a reflection of your personality and your tastes. For example, you may start a YouTube channel on beauty, travel, dance, singing, etc. Such topics reflect your hobbies, passions, and skills.

You may even decide to create informational videos or “how-to” guides for YouTube. Or, if you are interested in politics, you may share news and other informational political content with your viewers.

So, you can decide your niche according to your preferences. Your niche also helps to determine your target audience.

But before choosing a niche, you should research it. This research will help you to know the prospective competitors in your field. You can also assess the demand-supply level of your niche. The demand-supply level of the niche will help you decide whether it is suitable for you or not.

There are two possibilities after assessing your category’s demand-supply level. In the first case, the demand for your niche may be greater than its supply. This means there is a demand for the content of the particular category.

But the content creators are unable to fulfill this demand by creating videos. So, you can reap the benefit of this opportunity and create videos on a particular category or topic.

Since the demand is greater than the supply, a larger target audience will be attracted to your channel. This will help you earn great revenues through YouTube.

In the second case, the supply may be greater than the demand. This means the content creators are creating videos on a particular topic. But the audience is not interested in such topics, and they are not viewing such videos. So you should always try to avoid making videos on such a niche.

Moreover, you should try to make your niche very specific. It should not be a mixture of two or three subcategories. Rather, it should focus on a particular subject or topic.

This is because impressing a wider target audience out there in the market is a difficult task. So by making your niche specific, you can easily attract a specific audience to your channel.

4. Decide Your Value Proposition

Deciding your value proposition is an important task to monetize on YouTube. A value proposition is similar to an elevator pitch. Hence, it is the first impression of the YouTuber for his or her audience.

An appealing and compelling value proposition can help you reach a larger target audience. A monotonous and phony value proposition, on the other hand, may result in losses.

So, you should be careful while deciding your value proposition. It should be able to explain the niche of your channel easily to the target audience. For example, you may be a fashion blogger.

So your value proposition can go like this: “Hey, I am a fashion blogger!” “I will be creating videos to help you with fashion tips and tricks.”

5. Right Audio Equipment

Bad audio is always worse than bad video. So, if you are thinking of investing a little to create your YouTube videos, then the investment should be made in a piece of audio equipment.

Good audio equipment will always improve your sound quality. This will help you to create high-quality videos. Investing in a camera microphone is thus a good option for YouTubers.

6. Create an Organised Structure for Your Videos

You should always create a formula for your different videos. A formula is a template that you can follow for all your videos on the channel. For example, you may decide to place your value proposition at the end of every video.

So, this is your formula, which you should follow for all the videos. Or, you may also decide to place your value proposition at the beginning of your videos.

So, how you organize the structure of your videos depends on you. But make sure that a particular template is followed for all the videos on your channel.

7. Pay heed to analytics

By paying heed to analytics, you can always assess your performance like number of views on your videos etc. This will help you know your areas of strengths and weaknesses.

You can always amplify your areas of strength and attract a larger target audience to your videos.

Also, you should try to improve on your weaknesses. So, after creating and posting content, another important tip to follow is to view the analytics related to your channel. You can go through the analytics (like watch time, click-through rate, etc.) of your channel regularly.

Conclusion

So these are some of the YouTube monetization tips and tricks you can use. But before following any step, you need to comply with the necessary thresholds, policies, and guidelines of the software.

Once you are done with all the legal formalities, you are ready to create content on YouTube. You can even follow search engine optimization strategies and techniques to rank your videos on YouTube.

There are even YouTube marketing agencies that can assist you with the necessary promotion and marketing of your channel. But in the end, it is your content and hard work that bring you success!