Over 5 billion YouTube videos are watched around the world every day.
YouTube is as popular as ever with users spending an average of 40 minutes on each of his YouTube sessions. Additionally 2 out of 3 of her potential customers watch YouTube videos before purchasing a product or service.
The next thing you need to know is how to make money with online YouTube in this digital shift. All you need to watch this program is your computer and get started with YouTube.
For example Ryan Toy Review made a surprising $22 million for young Ryan playing and opening games. Playing with media is not illegal. Making money on YouTube isnt just for a select few platinum his musicians. There are many opportunities for the average person to make money from YouTube. But we need to approach it more strategically.
In this article we will discuss different ways to make money on YouTube this year. Let the writers begin.
Disclaimer: I receive free affiliate commissions for some of the links below. However it is the best tool I have used and tested and I believe it is the best way to make money on YouTube.For full affiliate disclosure please see our Privacy Policy.
How to Make Money on YouTube
While it is possible to make significant income from your YouTube account as a content creator, it is not the easiest either.
500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every single minute across the world.
Numbers don’t lie.
Therefore the competition is pretty intense, and making a lot of money online becomes more challenging.
Here are some powerful strategies you can employ to jumpstart your earning potential from YouTube.
1. YouTube Monetization: Use affiliate links on YouTube.
Promoting affiliate links can be a massive earning opportunity for channels that offer in-depth tutorials as well as insightful product reviews.
For example, if you recommend a product and a user visits your link to buy, you’ll start earning commissions.
You can place these links in the first few lines of your description and speak about your link in your video content.
Posting affiliate links on YouTube shares a typical resemblance to promoting affiliate links on your blog.
Thus, you shouldn’t pour affiliate links all over your YouTube content just for the monetary benefit (after all you want your videos to be seen as exclusive content that your audience can’t just get anywhere else).
Don’t forget that viewers will only follow these links when they believe you are a trusted resource.
To build trust with your viewership and get more subscribers, help them solve concrete problems and provide tutorials.
As a bonus, you can create videos that offer solutions you have previously accomplished yourself.
There are plenty of affiliate programs for you to join.
You can join many different programs in one place on a popular affiliate network like Shareasale or Awin.
The best YouTube premium revenue can be earned by starting a blog in unison with your YouTube channel and add affiliate links there too.
That way, you’re monetizing YouTube (while keeping in mind monetization policies and eligibility requirements) and also have a website on a platform that you own yourself.
The first step for beginners starting a blog is to get started with Bluehost web hosting.
Bluehost is the “official” WordPress.org recommended web hosting platform and you can read my full Bluehost review here.
Here’s how to get started:
- Go to Bluehost.com and click Get Started
- Choose your hosting plan ($2.95/month is cheapest with my link)
- Enter a new website domain name or select one you already own
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information
- You can uncheck the add-ons Sitelock Security and Codeguard Basic
- Click Submit and you’re ready to go!
2. Become a YouTube Partner and earn from video ads.
Ads are the primary revenue stream on YouTube for many YouTubers.
As a YouTube Partner you earn money in different ways.
You can earn money from ads before joining your video channel or banner ads on Google AdSense.
However, there are some ground rules to observe before becoming a certified YouTube Partner as well as some prerequisites needed to start.
In addition to following YouTube advertising rules you must have at least 4000 video watch hours and 1000 subscribers to your channel in the last 12 months.
There is no set timeline or format for achieving the base 4000 hours. You can get 40 YouTube videos or 100 hours of any collection for a total of 4000.
For example, the famous international hit Gangnam Style took an enduring five months to achieve 1 billion views.
However, Despacito ended up being a viral video much faster, rushing to 1 billion views in barely 97 days.
After successfully achieving the 4,000 hour-threshold and winning your place as a YouTube Partner, you can start to earn money from ads.
However, you may not always be able to base your revenue generation on YouTube from advertising alone.
There are other avenues by which you can consolidate your earning potential on YouTube.
Doing a live stream here and there is also a great way to earn money. People love the live element and the real-time factor.
If you have a loyal fan base who religiously watch your stream, then they will definitely want to buy from you.
In addition, the ability to have super chat and super stickers is something that YouTube has introduced.
With these features, your YouTube premium subscribers can buy chat messages that are different than regular ones that can be put at the top of your chat feedback.
This means that there is another revenue stream that you can profit from. This can be a great way to earn money from your fans other than the ads you have on your videos.
3. Make Money on YouTube with Funding from Your Fans.
If you’ve built a following of loyal fans, encouraging them to crowdfund your channel can help you fund your new videos and profit.
A crowdfunding platform like Patreon introduces more seamlessness to the process of getting paid for your content.
For as little as a dollar, your fans can make subscriptions to their favorite channels, even going home with some exclusive rewards from their favorite content YouTube creators.
Tipee is another service that allows you to enjoy a combo of recurring and one-time donations.
For-profit and nonprofit channels alike are leveraging this fan-funding with their audience to keep their video operations running smoothly.
As long as the type of content you create is interesting, entertaining, or providing value, you would be amazed at how your viewers open the floodgates of generosity.
Understanding the demographics of your audience is also crucial when deciding how to ask for donations.
4. Master Your YouTube SEO.
For video creators who have not built a significant following yet, you have to step up your game and maximize YouTube SEO this year.
To do that, perform keyword research like you usually would – however, think a little differently based on what people are searching for on YouTube.
Next, make sure you are using high-value keywords in your video title, description, and video tags.
Once launched, you can check your YouTube “Traffic Source: YouTube search” report to get an idea of what people are searching for when they find your hosted videos.
In general, Google provides video results for keywords on how to, reviews, tutorials, and funny video terms.
There are also five key YouTube SEO ranking factors to consider:
- Number of comments
- Subscribes after watching a video
- Thumbs up/thumbs down ratio
- Video length
- Click-through-rate on the YouTube search results
The basics of SEO, like having great content and getting linked to from high-quality channels, are still relevant in YouTube search results.
Keep in mind that it will only get harder to rank on the first pages of Google for competitive keywords.
More videos get uploaded every minute to YouTube than all the other video databases combined!
So SEO is not an overnight process (but can be accelerated with these strategies).
A perk of YouTube that can be used to your advantage is that it’s easy to form partnerships and collaborate with the right people.
By letting another popular YouTube partner feature you in their videos or vice versa, it can bring a ton of new viewers to your own channel.
But for this option, be sure to choose a relevant and high-traffic influencer who has a following that is similar (or ideally bigger) to yours.
To find potential collaborators, search for other YouTubers on YouTube and find those who have a channel that is similar to yours.
You can also search for potential collaborators on Google by typing: “your keyword” + “collaborate”
You can also consider doing shout-outs for other popular channels in exchange for them mentioning your channel as well.
By working with other creators, you might be able to attract new fans who didn’t know about your channel before.
5. Make the most of your YouTube marketing funnel.
Optimize your YouTube channel for sales. Choose your niche, become a YouTube partner, and start planning your marketing funnel.
YouTube is one way to spread your message, but you can make more money by using YouTube in unison with a blog.
That way you’re collecting more email addresses and eventually selling products to your fan base.
For example, if you write a blog post about an affiliate product you’re recommending, repurpose that content, and create a YouTube video embedded in the post.
Then send users from YouTube back to your blog and to the affiliate links to both earn commissions and build blog readers.
Another great option is to connect your YouTube channel with an ecommerce platform like Shopify and sell merch. Here are some great YouTube merch stores to take inspiration from.
6. Become an Amazon Influencer.
The Amazon influencer program is becoming more popular.
This influencer program allows you to maximize your YouTube (social media in general) presence to make money via Amazon recommendations.
After joining the program, you can review and recommend products and direct your viewers to Amazon to purchase via affiliate links.
When your viewers click through and make Amazon purchase, you get your cut of the commissions – typically 8-10%.
In addition to product reviews, Amazon also provides the ability for content creators to promote their own merch. This means that if someone buys your merch, you will get the full profit of the sale.
You can also monetize your audience by leveraging Amazon’s affiliate program without even having to fulfill an order yourself.
However, keep in mind that this program isn’t open to everyone.
Social media follower count and other metrics dictate approval odds when it comes to Amazon’s influencer marketing programs.
7. Explore extra gains from YouTube Red Subscribers.
YouTube Red allows users to pay $9.99 for ad-free YouTube viewing.
Even without YouTube ads, content creators can still generate money and make 55% of revenue, based on view time.
There are mixed reviews on whether YouTube Red increases or decreases CPM rates.
With YouTube Red, your watch time matters, so check your YouTube Analytics to view your statistics like watch time and video engagement.
How Much Money Can You Make on YouTube?
The short answer: it depends.
By using ad monetization, affiliate links, and selling sponsored placements in your videos, you can maximize your revenue potential.
On YouTube, there are many ways to make money. This can happen from ads on a CPM, CPV, and CPC basis. With cost per impression (CPM), a typical YouTuber makes $7.60 per 1,000 views.
Nonetheless, by Google policy, creators get 55% of earnings accrued from advertisements while Google keeps 45%.
Now if you are using affiliate marketing as a channel owner, advertisers disburse payment with different models – typically cost per sale or cost per lead.
Here, your earnings directly correlate with the number of conversions and sale commissions you get from advertisers.
You can also sell sponsored product placements in your videos.
YouTube is quite advertiser-friendly in this regard because the platform makes money by selling either short mentions or more extended product recommendations on brands looking for exposure.
However, if you have been able to build a measurable following on your channel, brands will pay you.
The amount of money may range from $20 to $50 for every few thousand YouTube views they get on your channel.
So if for example, their video on your channel hits millions of views, you can be dancing to the bank anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000.
This strategy is a better way to monetize when you aren’t generating millions of views.
How Much Money Do YouTubers Make?
Nothing or nothing to answer for thousands of YouTubers.
For popular YouTubers it can be a million or more years old.
Making money is more difficult than it can earn from $035 to $5 per view.
A safe estimate is $1 per 1000 views.
The profitability of your channel is tied to both your views and your niche.
YouTubers in highly-viewed niches like listicles, news, celebrity gossip, makeup and beauty, and popular fails quickly pull in revenue with millions of views.
There is also a YouTube earnings calculator that helps you see how much you can earn based on video views and engagement.
How many views should I get on YouTube? YouTube will pay you when you reach your $100 balance.
Can you make money per YouTube subscriber? YouTubers has launched a subscription service for YouTubers with more followers.
The Components Of A Successful YouTube Channel
Effective video marketing can help boost conversions and sales. Improve your performance with these 13 elements of successful YouTube videos.
YouTube is great for marketing, a fact that is supported by a ton of mind-blowing usage statistics.
These are some that really stand out:
- 500 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute.
- YouTube is the second most popular social networking site, with more than 2 billion monthly users. That’s one-third of the internet!
- Viewers are 4x more likely to use YouTube vs. another platform to discover information about a brand, product, or service – meaning that there is a ready audience for your content.
- Millennials also spend a lot of their time on YouTube. Among millennials, YouTube reaches more of the 18-34 demographic than any TV network.
How can you make the most of the YouTube opportunity?
It starts with a great video. Check out these 13 key components of a successful YouTube video.
1. Branded Intro Footage
The importance of branding in marketing can never be overemphasized. Branding helps build loyalty.
Including branded intro footage helps your loyal viewers to immediately recognize your work so they’ll stick with you and keep watching.
Additionally, such branding is important for ensuring that your viewers remember the video, which is especially handy when they need to refer someone to it.
Even though they might forget the actual content and the name of the video, remembering your branded footage will help direct viewers to your channel.
2. An Attention-Grabbing Intro
Did you know that about 20% of people will leave after the first 10 seconds of your YouTube video?
What’s even worse is that they might give you a thumbs down.
So, what do you do?
It is all about the intro.
After including your branded intro footage, convince the viewer to keep watching. Clearly explain what they are about to see, and how that is of benefit to them.
If you’re showing them how to solve a problem, personalize it so that they feel that you have also been affected. This builds trust, and the feeling that the solution is valuable.
3. Keep Titles And Opening Credits Short
As mentioned above our attention spans are short. Theres nothing worse than an open-ended video that turns people off. To make matters worse long preambles prevent overeating.
Who wants to watch the same long opener over and over again? More than half of YouTube viewers watch the entire video in less than a minute.
Instead, strive for a ~5-second opener that is punchy and straight to the point.
4. Build Trending Topics Into Your Video Content
Using trending topics is a tried and true method for successful link building and can also be applied to your video content.
Think seasonal, newsworthy, local, unique, movies, gaming, music, or even surprising topics, etc. These are all great fodder for trending topics to bake into your videos.
Not sure where to start? Give YouTube Trending (country-specific) or Popular on YouTube (global) a try.
Google Trends and even Twitter Trends are also great resources to discover trending topics to tie into your video content.
5. Background Music
Should you include background music? After all, people are only interested in what you’re saying.
However, thanks to technology, we get bored. Fast.
There’s nothing more boring than a dull YouTube video.
Including background music not only grabs attention instantly but sets the mood for the viewing session, establishing an emotional connection.
In addition, music drives the pace of the video, while a great soundtrack only gives viewers one more reason to share the video.
However, be careful of two things:
- That the music evokes the desired emotions and aura.
- That you are legally allowed to use the music in your video.
6. Being Clearly Audible
Unfortunately a good intro and good background music wont help you if you cant hear well. Remember that the ultimate goal is to inform your audience of what you are publishing. Loud background music is fine if your video is just a visual illustration.
On the other hand, if your video has a spoken presentation make sure you can hear it over the background music.
7. Brevity
With YouTube allowing users to search for videos based on duration, among other filters, we clearly can’t ignore the importance of video length in YouTube.
8. Customized Experiences
Touch the small moments. These are the times when people need to know where to go to buy something and turn to the nearest machine for help.
Use data to give people what they want when they want it. It can take many forms.
Consider the connection between enthusiasm for TV shows or big moments in pop culture political games etc.
Another option is to use data to deliver personalized video content.
To get started with this process:
- Visit Google Trends to help validate the increasing demand or topic.
- Learn what people are searching for and tailor your videos to fit into existing conversations. A keyword research tool can help you narrow in on the right keyword targets.
- Next, this free Chrome plugin from vidIQ will provide you with valuable competitive data for current ads that are going viral, including tags, social shares, average watch time, velocity, and more.
- Lastly, once the video is created, leverage YouTube Analytics to answer “who is actually watching” and “what they are truly interested in.”
9. A Call To Action
As mentioned earlier YouTube viewership has timed out. After all, there is a lot of content to watch in one day.
They have jobs and lives (probably). So you need to be creative in how you include your call to action because your audience will disappear as the video progresses.
Engagement drops significantly between 2-3 minutes. This means you should not put the CTA at the bottom especially for longer videos.
Instead, consider clickable annotat
10: Add End Screens To Promote Your Videos, Channel, Or Website
End screens can only be added to the last 20 seconds of a video.
These handy graphics can be used to link everything from a website URL to a YouTube channel video playlist (like a video series).
Viewers subscribe within the first few seconds of the video.
When creating a video make sure you leave room to add an end screen after the video ends.
11. Design Video Thumbnails YouTube Users Want To Click
Of all the items on this list thumbnails have the most potential to determine your success on YouTube. The reason is simple.
Recommended videos tend to be the main source of organic traffic on YouTube. In a way YouTube acts as an advocate for your content by suggesting it as content that your audience will enjoy.
The images that lead to clicks serve more algorithms cause more clicks etc.
Here are three simple best practices to keep in mind:
Don’t trick the user.
Make sure the thumbnail is relevant and matches the title of the video. Otherwise you risk reducing your viewing time which will have a negative impact on the algorithm – the opposite of what we want.
Design thumbnails for smaller screens.
YouTube recommends 1280 x 720; however, most video consumption happens on a smaller screen.
Make sure your image will still stand out by playing with color saturation, cropping to a smaller area, or playing with the edges of the image.
Bonus Tip: Can’t decide on a thumbnail? Consider testing a handful of thumbnail options with a simple Adwords test. A small investment of $10-20/day will provide some insight into which thumbnail is generating the strongest VTR (view-through-rate).
Keep a consistent style, look, and feel.
I realize this is open-ended but some considerations for consistency include logo, common colors, shapes, consistent face, font, etc.
Over time, this consistency will increase video recognition during skimming; and, if they enjoy your content, they’ll be more likely to click. The folks over at Keywordtool.io do this well.
12: Build A “Guest Slot” For Other YouTubers
Perhaps the most common example of a guest slot is the interview.
But no matter how you build it collaborating with creators who already have an audience is a great way to get them. Because it exposes you to an audience that you might not have heard otherwise.
13. Give The Audience A Chance To Participate
It may seem strange that you’re not streaming but engaging your audience has its benefits.
For example, by asking your viewers questions directly they can create and reply to comments further improving our engagement algorithm.
Audience feedback can also provide us with ideas for future content and the opportunity to create content about reactions through her clips and creative calls to fans.
How to Make Money on YouTube FAQ.
How can I make money on YouTube without ads?
If you aren’t making a lot of money with ad views, there are plenty of other ways to generate an income from your channel. Here are some of the best options:
1. Add affiliate links to your video descriptions to recommend products and earn commissions on every sale.
2. Sell merchandise, t-shirts, and physical products linked to your ecommerce platform.
3. Sell digital products, online courses, and eBooks.
4. Build your audience and get a YouTube sponsorship from a brand.
5. If you’re an expert in your niche, sell coaching and consulting services and charge an hourly rate.
Is it hard to make money on YouTube?
Making money on YouTube is very difficult.
Yes, there is some excitement. According to the YouTube Community Guidelines, you must have 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours in the past 12 months to join the YouTube Partner Program. Then you need to generate a lot of views and monitor your cost-per-view (CPV) to see how much money you’re making for your ads.
If you don’t have millions of views one of the best ways to monetize your channel is through affiliate marketing.
You can view products create product tutorials and place affiliate links in video descriptions. This way you can earn a commission on every sale and more from your advertising CPV.
We recommend that you create a blog and integrate it with your YouTube channel.
This way you can promote your affiliate links on your YouTube channel and blog embed videos in your blog posts to increase views and help with SEO.
How much is 1,000 views worth on YouTube?
There is no definitive answer to what 1000 views are worth.
Factors to consider include the industry you operate in the number of people who click on your ad and the country you’re in.
All these factors make up the average CPM. Additionally, advertisers create Google AdWords accounts and choose their advertising strategy based on pay-per-view (CPV) or cost-per-click (CPC).
For example, you might earn $0 for one view and $5 for another if that viewer clicks on a high-value ad. A good rule of thumb is to assume that you will earn $075-$100 per 1000 views if you use banner ads or $6-7 per 1000 views if you use pre-roll ads.
How many subscribers do you need to make money?
Based on the YouTube Partner Program, you need 1,000 or more subscribers to be able to monetize your channel.
You also need at least 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months and have an active Google AdSense account. Once you apply and are accepted into YPP, you are allowed to set ad preferences and enable monetization for the videos you upload.
Who is the highest paid YouTuber?
The top YouTube stars bring in millions of dollars a year by monetizing their YouTube channels. Here is a list of the highest-paid YouTubers based on yearly revenue in 2019:
1. Ryan Kaji: $26 million.
2. Dude Perfect: $20 million.
3. Anastasia Radzinskaya: $18 million.
4. Rhett and Link: $17.5 million.
5. Jeffree Star: $17 million.
6. Preston: $14 million.
7. PewDiePie: $13 million.
8. Markiplier: $13 million.
8. DanTDM: $12 million.
What is the best way to make money on YouTube?
The best way to make money on YouTube is to give your videos a consistent theme whether it’s an educational review or a vlog.
YouTube places ads at the beginning or end of some videos and pays you when someone watches those ads.
The more subscribers who watch and comment on your video the more money you get when someone promotes their products on your video!
Why aren’t my videos making any money?
This question has many possible answers.
First, your viewers may not see all the ads that YouTube places on you.
Second, your videos may not be engaging enough to get people to watch the ad.
Finally, your video content itself can have more ads to choose from depending on the topic.
What kind of equipment do you need for YouTube?
Basically a computer and a good quality webcam.
You can also buy a microphone if you want clear audio.
It is recommended to have a good quality camera to shoot your videos.
Make sure the light is bright enough to see. !
Where can I get video editing software to make YouTube videos?
This list of the best video editing software is a great place to start.
In addition, YouTube Studio is an application developed by Google that allows you to edit videos, add intros and outros, speed up or slow down the pace of your video, change the music in your video, etc.
If you want to be able to make changes later on (for example edit an old video again), it is recommended to make a copy of your original file.
Can I use copyrighted music in my videos?
No! If you violate copyright, YouTube will not only take down your video but they also have the right to restrict monetization from your future videos.
There are a lot of legal alternatives for music on YouTube anyway so it is recommended to find noncopyrighted music for your videos.
What should I title my videos on YouTube?
This depends on what you would like to portray with your video. If you want to add keywords for SEO purposes, use the relevant ones in the title of your video.
This way, people who are searching specific things will find your channel easier and in turn, you will get more traffic to your channel.
How much does it cost to start a channel on YouTube?
Nothing! You can have an account completely free of charge so why not try it out?
How do you become popular on YouTube?
This is a question with a multitude of answers.
The general consensus from YouTubers is that you should be consistent in your content, have good quality videos, and engage with your subscribers/viewers.
In addition, taking the time to research topics that interest you will add to the quality of your videos and add more detail and accuracy to your videos.
Ask people that watch your videos to leave comments and subscribe in order to increase your chances of becoming popular.
That’s a Wrap.
Making money on YouTube is possible, but it’s hard to make money with just YouTube alone.
It’s vital to have a platform that you own like a blog and use YouTube as a secondary traffic stream.
One benefit is that YouTube SEO is not yet as competitive as organic SEO.
If you can get in now and start generating traffic, you’ll be a better place by 2020 when the competition is more fierce.
My advice: start a blog with a high-end marketing funnel, then join YouTube as a secondary way to build your email list and generate affiliate income.
The best way to do this is by starting a blog with Bluehost in unison with your YouTube channel.
Reminder: here’s how to get started:
- Go to Bluehost.com and click Get Started
- Choose your hosting plan ($2.95/month is cheapest with my link)
- Enter a new website domain name or select one you already own
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information
- You can uncheck the add-ons Sitelock Security and Codeguard Basic
- Click Submit and you’re ready to go!
Try Bluehost