YouTube creators have better resources, opportunities, and features thanks to the YouTube partner program. It just takes a channel, published videos, and the right audience.
The first thing you have to do if you want to make money on YouTube is to apply for the YouTube Partner Program. Content creators can monetize their videos through the YouTube Partner Program.
This is a blessing for creators who would like to monetize their YouTube channels quickly. This service is completely free and available to all creators who meet the requirements. That said, you need Partnership approval if you want to earn money from YouTube views.
In this article, you will learn how to apply for and get approved for YPP.
Table of Contents
- What is YouTube Partner Program?
- How Does YouTube Partner Program Work?
- YouTube Partner Program Requirements
- Create Your Google AdSense Account
- How To Apply For YouTube Partner Program
- How Much Can You Earn on Youtube?
- How To Increase YouTube Ad Revenue?
- Other Ways To Make Money From Your Channel
- People Also Ask FAQs
What is YouTube Partner Program?
YouTube Partner Program (YPP) provides creators with better access to YouTube resources and monetization features. The program also allows creators to share revenue from ads served on their content.
Joining the YouTube partner program has many benefits, but the most important one is that Google manages it for you. This includes both ad placement and revenue collection. Google handles both. The monetizing scope on YouTube is therefore safe and secure.
How Does YouTube Partner Program Work?
After the channel becomes a YouTube partner, three important things may happen to it.
- Within the window may appear a banner display ad, also known as an “overlay in-video ad”.
- An ad in the style of a TV commercial may be played before the original video begins.
- By default, YouTube channel pages show banner ads.
Revenue begins to flow when a viewer views, clicks, or watches a video ad on the channel page. The income varies from channel to channel, depending on factors such as the kind of advertisements the viewers engage with and how much time they spend watching them.
Getting more relevant content published on a channel’s page could increase earnings.
As part of the partnership between YouTube and channel admins, Google plays a vital role.
Videos are tracked from descriptions, ads are optimized, videos are matched with advertisers, ads are played based on data, traffic is tracked, and responses are analyzed. After this, YouTube will distribute payments for channels participating in the YouTube partner program based on these insights.
YouTube Partner Program Requirements
A YouTube Partner Program membership lets you take advantage of multiple revenue streams, including ad revenue, live streaming monetization features, and product merchandising. You must meet the following criteria in order to qualify:
- Have a linked AdSense account
- Follow the rules and policies of YouTube monetization
- Have 4000+ hours of watch time in the last 12 months
- Have 1000+ subscribers on your channel
- Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel
- Live in a country or region where YouTube Partner Program is offered
To monetize anything, you need to own the rights to both the audio and visual components of the content. You also have to be careful about some of the visual elements, such as logos and other graphics, which may also be protected by the rights holders.
YouTube keeps tabs on copyrighted content with a feature it calls Content ID, a database of files that YouTube uses to compare copyrighted content against new content being uploaded to the site.
Content ID can be used to make claims against your content, which may affect your ability to monetize. Note that with Content ID, the rights holder may choose to monetize your content.
Create Your Google AdSense Account
YouTube partners must have an AdSense account linked to their YouTube account. It can be an existing AdSense account or a new one. After you agree to the YouTube Partner Program terms, you can begin the AdSense process. Sign in to your YouTube account and navigate to your channel monetization page – you can find it under “Channel” and then “Status and features.”
- On the Google AdSense home page, click the Get Started button in the top right.
- On the new page that appears, enter your YouTube channel URL in the Your Website text field.
- Enter the email address associated with your YouTube channel in the Your Email Address field.
- Choose the country you live in. (AdSense isn’t available in all countries.)
- Accept the Terms and Conditions (if you choose to accept after reading; that’s your choice).
- In the new page that appears, choose an individual or business account. Choose Individual if you don’t have a business bank account from the list of options.
- Enter your address and phone number and click Submit. You need to verify your phone number, either by responding to a text or answering a phone call.
- After verification, start working on the Payments section. After you earn your first $100, you have to manage your payment methods by adding a bank account and then verifying your bank account and your billing address. This can take, in total, up to a couple of weeks for the setup. All AdSense payments are delivered 21 days after the month being paid out has ended.
- (Optional) You can add multiple YouTube channels to a single AdSense account. Once logged into your AdSense account, select My Ads in the left-hand menu and choose URL Channels from the menu that appears. You can add your new channel URL in the new window that opens.
- To finish the process, you need to continue on YouTube. At this point, if you aren’t in YPP, you can’t go any further until you’re officially accepted into the program.
How To Apply For YouTube Partner Program
- Sign in to YouTube using the Google account information used to create the channel.
- On the upper right corner of the page, click on the user name or profile picture
- Select the “Monetization” option under the “Channel Settings” menu on the left side of the “Accounts Settings” screen.
- To enable your account, find and click the blue and white button.
- YouTube will display a pop-up window with the “Monetization Agreement”
- To accept the agreement, click the three checkboxes at the bottom left of the screen. Click the “I Accept” button to proceed.
- You will see a pop-up window with “Monetize my Videos.” It will offer three options with checkboxes.
- There are three options: overlay in-video ads, in-stream ads, and videos that contain a product placement.
- In the lower right corner of the “Monetize my Videos” menu, click the “Monetize” button.
The channel will begin to run banner ads after the monetization option has been selected. Most of the time, these advertisements relate to the content of the original YouTube videos.
Through tags and descriptions in the videos, these ads pop-up directly in response to their matches. Administrators cannot interfere with the process as a YouTube partner, and everything is at Google’s discretion.
YouTube partner program registration is a one-time process that does not require repetition. YouTube channels need to enable ad features on all of their future uploads in order to run ads.
To ensure the smooth functioning of the channel, YouTube partner program channels must be linked to Google AdSense accounts. It is also a one-time process after which everything gets automated, resulting in income.
How Much Can You Earn on Youtube?
You can earn anywhere between $0.40 to $2.50 per 100 views.
A video with 1 million views will earn you $2,500, for example. It is possible to earn $10,000 per month by publishing four such videos in a week. This amount can even be multiplied if you have several YouTube channels.
In order to increase your ad revenue, you have to get more views and grow your subscriber base.
How To Increase YouTube Ad Revenue?
The Revenue reports on YouTube can help you increase your revenue stream only if you’re agile in your video strategy. The Revenue section of YouTube Analytics is an essential tool for channel managers responsible for monetization. In the Revenue section, you’ll find a number of important metrics worth looking at.
Advertisers are more likely to want to advertise on your videos if the content is in line with their branding and company image.
You should make authentic content and not worry about advertisers for the most part, but if you’re making content about obscure or radical topics, you may be alienating your potential advertisers. YouTube has rolled out helpful guides to demystify the placements advertisers are looking for in running their ads. You can see all the advertiser-friendly guidelines here.
If you have hundreds of videos but only a handful of them are making any revenue, if might be time to make some changes to your video content strategy. To find out why the few videos are working, ask yourself these questions:
- When monetizing the content, did you allow all ad types? Perhaps you need to update your monetization preferences across your channel.
- Are the videos vastly different from the others? Are they funny, but the rest of your content isn’t?
- Did you have a guest speaker onscreen with you who might have a deal with sponsors or be vastly more popular?
- Do the underperforming videos meet the advertiser-friendly guidelines that help you stay in good standing?
- Are the title, tags, and descriptions for these successful videos more accurate?
- Do successful videos have the best practice thumbnails, a face in the thumbnail, and/or larger text?
- Are the best-performing videos directed at children or adults?
Other Ways To Make Money From Your Channel
If you’re just starting your YouTube channel and you’re hoping to make some money so that you can create more content or do something fabulous, it might be hard to earn the revenue you need from your channel if you don’t meet the YPP minimums yet, or even if you do and you’re just getting off the ground.
Consider trying out crowdfunding using sites like Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Patreon. You can also try for brand sponsorships. If you’re good at a sport, think about brands, like Red Bull, that sponsor athletes and sometimes even feature their video content.
Name-dropping your favorite products in your videos can also help land you sponsorship deals. Some companies will even help match your content, with brands like Grapevine Logic and FameBit. You might even consider joining a multi-channel network (MCN).
MCNs such as Kin Community are quite popular and offer even more ways to help you generate a following and additional revenue sources.
Learn more about the best ways to monetize your YouTube channel.
People Also Ask FAQs
What if I don’t meet the YouTube Partner Program threshold?
If you haven’t met the threshold yet, keep creating original content and building an audience. Below are some resources to help you grow your channel:
- In the YouTube Help Forum, you can find solutions from other YouTube users.
- On the Creator Site, you can learn, grow, and be connected to events, programs, and resources.
- For tutorials, troubleshooting, and tips from the YouTube Help team, visit the YouTube Help channel and YouTube Creators channel.
You can apply after your strikes on your channel expire if you have active Community Guidelines strikes. If you’ve successfully appealed, you can apply to have your Community Guidelines strikes removed. When a member receives a Community Guidelines strike, they will not be removed from the program.
When I meet the threshold, am I automatically accepted to YPP?
Not at all. Channels that meet the threshold will undergo a standard review process. You will be reviewed by the YouTube team to see if your channel meets our YouTube monetization policies. In order to be considered for this program, your channel must not be under any Community Guidelines strike. Any channel following our policies can monetize.
If my counts drop below the threshold after I apply, what happens?
Upon reaching the public watch hours and subscriber thresholds, YouTube will review your channel. Thus, your subscriber count or watch hour count does not matter while you await review. YouTube will still review your channel if you’ve met the threshold and applied for YPP.
YouTube reserves the right to remove monetization if a channel is inactive for six or more months and fails to upload or post Community posts.
If channels violate any of the YouTube channel monetization policies, they will lose monetization. This loss of monetization will occur no matter how many watch hours they have or how many subscribers they have.
How to avoid community strikes?
There are community guideline strikes and copyright strikes. Both are handled differently by YouTube. A partner in good standing has no strikes or very few strikes. If you receive a community guideline strike, you’re notified by email specifying the reason for the strike and the next steps you can take. As in baseball, draw three strikes and you’re out. To avoid this situation, follow the community guidelines.
If you get a copyright strike, it means that the legal owner of the content you posted has requested that YouTube take it down. Sometimes, this can be a mistake and YouTube corrects it, but if you did, in fact, illegally upload someone else’s content, you will get a strike. The first strike requires you to complete YouTube’s copyright school. Subsequent strikes will start to strip away your ability to monetize, livestream, and more.
Avoid using copyrighted material or breaking the rules in the community guidelines in order to continue to monetize your content. If you do break the rules, you may have your channel disabled, and the ability to create new channels will be disallowed.
If you’re a YouTube partner in good standing, try to stay that way. Follow the rules, and don’t do what Paul Logan did. (You can Google him to find out how he lost millions of dollars in ad revenue from one bad video that he probably regrets posting.) Or learn what not to say from Pew Die Pie, whose insensitive language lost him many sponsorships and tons of money.
Following the YouTube Partner Program advertiser-friendly content guidelines can help you do just that. Here are some of the contents types you should stay clear of:
- Inappropriate language
- Violence
- Adult content
- Harmful or dangerous acts
- Hateful content
- Incendiary or demeaning content
- Recreational drugs or drug-related content
- Tobacco-related content
- Controversial issues and sensitive events
- Adult themes in family content