There are many people who are working full-time on their YouTube channels. They make money when their videos are watched by people. YouTube is a reasonable income stream if you are capable of producing unique and interesting content.
Do you want to earn money through your YouTube channel? Here is all you need to know about monetizing your YouTube channel!
Table of Contents
All About the YouTube Partner Program Requirements:
Before you start working on your YouTube channel, you must know about the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) so that YouTube accepts your channel. The four requirements you must follow to earn money on YouTube are listed below.
- Your YouTube channel must have 1,000 subscribers.
- Over the last 12 months, your videos must have generated more than 4000 Watch Time Hours.
- Your work must comply with all the policies and guidelines of YouTube.
- You must have your AdSense account.
The first one is very simple, and everyone can understand it. Regardless of the time your channel takes to get 1000 subscribers, as soon as you reach that milestone, you will become eligible.
The second one requires that your YouTube videos are watched by people, and the total watch time for the last 12 months must reach a minimum of 4000 hours. It will include your live streaming too. However, the following videos will not count in your watch time.
- Unlisted videos
- Deleted videos
- Videos set to Private
- YouTube Shorts
- Advertising Campaigns
How to Track Your Progress Toward Meeting the YPP Requirements
Here is how you can check your YouTube channel’s progress toward monetizing your channel.
- Log in to your YouTube.
- Go to the YouTube studio after clicking on your profile picture.
- Select Monetization from the left navigation menu.
This page will tell you how many subscribers and how much time you need to reach the milestones for monetization. If you have already reached 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of Watch Time, you can simply click “Apply Now.”
Another simpler and faster way of tracking your progress is downloading and installing an app such as vidIQ. The app will show your channel’s real-time stats on every YouTube screen. It also shows views per hour and subscriber count for your channel. But the best thing is that it turns green to show that you have reached the milestone of 4,000 hours.
Follow YouTube’s Rules for Monetization
The next requirement of monetizing your YouTube channel is to make sure that the content you are producing is in compliance with YouTube’s rules and policies.
YouTube itself explains;
“When you apply for the YouTube Partner Program, you’ll go through a standard review process to see whether your channel meets YouTube’s policy and guidelines. Only channels that meet them will be accepted into the program.”
YouTube makes sure that all the channels included in the program are compliant with YouTube’s guidelines and policies. For this purpose, YouTube keeps a constant check. You should be familiar with the policies and guidelines to ensure your channel gets monetized without any hassle.
It is obvious that the content should be equally interesting for viewers and advertisers. If you think a video contains something appropriate, the chances are that it will be rejected.
Avoid Copyright and Monetization Mistakes on YouTube
You need to be very creative when producing content on your YouTube channel. If you use the work already done by other people, it means you are using copyrighted material without their consent.
It is obvious that if you depend on copyrighted material for your YouTube channel, YouTube won’t monetize it. In this case, you will become ineligible for YouTube Partnership Program.
If most of your content is inspired and abstracted from other videos, and you cannot add a unique value to it, your channel will disqualify the YouTube Partner Program. This policy helps YouTube in maintaining uniqueness and originality in its videos. This is the right way to reward the hardworking creators who produce their original content.
To understand it better, we take an example. You create videos after spending few days working hard. And your video goes viral. Now you see that many other YouTube video creators steal your content to earn a lot of money from it. How will you feel? This is where this policy of YouTube favors creators who believe in hard work and uniqueness.
We see that many channels on YouTube violate this rule. They may have permission, or they may get demonetized or banned from YouTube in the future.
Link a Google Adsense Account With Your YouTube Channel
If you have planned to earn money through your YouTube channel, you must provide YouTube someplace to submit your payments. For this purpose, you need to set up a Google Adsense Account while
You are applying for the YouTube Partner Program. You can connect multiple YouTube channels on one Google Adsense account.
Apply to the YouTube Partner Program:
When you achieve all four milestones, you can apply for YPP. Apply for the YouTube Partner Program. You will have to wait for several weeks before getting accepted. The procedure is time-consuming because the YouTube officials actually review your channel before approving it.
However, if your channel is taking more than four weeks to get approved, there is a chance that it is placed for further review. In this situation, your wait time may extend up to few months or even a year.
This wait time may become very frustrating for the creators. You can contact TeamYouTube on Twitter.
Ways To Make Money in the YouTube Partner Program
Once you are accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, you can make money from your YouTube channel using the following features.
Advertising Revenue:
The easiest way is to earn ad revenue from the display, overlay, and video ads shown to your audience.
Channel Memberships:
You can ask your members for monthly payments in exchange for the benefits and perks they get from your channel.
Merch Shelf:
It allows your followers to buy official branded merchandise that you are showing in your videos.
Super Chat and Super Stickers:
Fans who want their messages to get highlighted can pay you for it.
YouTube Premium Revenue:
The creator is eligible to obtain a part of YouTube’s Premium Subscriber’s Subscription fee.
These income streams have their own eligibility criteria predefined by YouTube. If the YouTube reviewers do not find a video worthy or eligible, they will not provide these specific income features.
Final Verdict:
The revenue you generate through YouTube mostly depends on AdSense. The rates that YouTubers get from ad views depend on various factors such as geographies, demographics, and your niche. If your videos reach a considerable number of people, you will earn a handsome amount. However, people like to watch videos that have unique and valuable content available for them.