Want to start earning money from your YouTube channel? We've got the ultimate guide on how to make money on YouTube - it's about more than just the YouTube Partner Program! Learn how to get more YouTube viewers, boost your YouTube channels, start earning advertising revenue, and more.

How To Make Money On YouTube: Top Methods

If you want to earn revenue on YouTube, the best approach is to leverage several monetization features. Thankfully, YouTube creators are given a few tried and true ways to earn money within the platform itself.

The YouTube Partner Program (YPP)

Qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program should be your first goal when it comes to making money on YouTube. To qualify for the YPP, you'll need to meet the following requirements:

• Live in a country that is eligible for the YPP

• Earn 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months

      OR

• Earn 1,000 subscribers with 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

YouTube Ads

Once you're accepted into the YPP, you can earn money by enabling video ads. This is an option you can toggle on when uploading videos, or you can enable ads retroactively. Here's how:

Open YouTube Studio.

Click Content in the left side menu.

Click Edit (Details) under the video you want to enable ads for.

• Select Monetization (this will only appear if you are eligible for video monetization).
• Toggle ON.
• Choose whether or not you want to enable mid roll ads (if your video is over 8 minutes long)
• Click Save.

YouTube Premium Revenue Sharing

You can also earn money on YouTube depending on how many YouTube premium subscribers watching your content engage with it.

There's nothing you need to do to start earning from this method, other than be part of the YPP, and no need to switch to long form videos to earn more as YouTube has encouraged creators to stick to content that keeps viewers engaged.

Alternative Revenue Streams

There are a few additional ways to make money on YouTube, some that are potentially even more lucrative than the YPP or ad revenue options. These include:

• Become An Affiliate Marketer:

  • Promote products/services with affiliate links in descriptions.

  • Review gadgets, tools, or software that suit your audience.

• Sponsored Videos:

  • Collaborate with other brands for sponsored content.

  • Integrate product placements within branded content campaigns.

• Merchandise Sales:

  • Sell products and branded merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers) in an online store or using platforms like Teespring.

• Channel Memberships:

  • Offer exclusive perks to subscribers for a monthly fee.

• Super Chat & Super Stickers:

  • Make money during live streams through paid fan messages.

• Patreon or Crowdfunding:

  • Encourage viewers to support your content creation on fan funding platforms like Patreon or Ko-fi with exclusive content, communities, and merch.

• Courses & Tutorials:

  • Monetize expertise by selling online courses or premium educational content.

Get To Know Your Audience

Knowing who your viewers are, when they're most active, and what types of content they enjoy is key to maximizing your YouTube engagement and earnings.

Check out our complete guide to YouTube analytics to learn about the most important metrics on your dashboard.

How To Attract Your Target Audience

Now that you know more about your target audience, it's time to attract viewers to your channel and videos!

Select A Niche

Choosing your niche and sticking to content within that niche is more likely to attract viewers interested in those types of videos. When users know what to expect from your channel they're more likely to stick around.

Create Evergreen Content

This includes tutorials, how to guides, and product reviews with long-term search value. While creating engaging trend based videos is great, content that stands the test of time is more likely to give you long-term value.

Start A Content Series

Vlogs, Q&As, weekly guests - consistent novelty on your channel is a great way to boost audience engagement and consistent viewership.

How To Maximize Audience Engagement

If you want more engagement, you're going to need to focus on a few key elements of your channel's content, including:

YouTube SEO

This includes creating eye-catching thumbnails, enticing titles, detailed video descriptions, video tags, and more to improve your ranking within the YouTube algorithm and appear in front of a wider audience.

YouTube SEO includes:

• Channel optimization
• Channel keywords
• YouTube video titles
• YouTube video descriptions
• YouTube video tags
• Video cards
• Video chapters
• Thumbnails

Check out our detailed guide on YouTube SEO to learn how to craft the perfect video description, design the ideal video thumbnail, and more.

Post Consistently

How many subscribers you have is one thing - how often they view your content is another. If you're posting at random times, the odds of your subscribers viewing your content is much lower than if you were to post consistently.

Create an upload schedule and stick to it, adjusting as needed based on your YouTube analytics data.

Create Interactive Content

Use the Community tab! Create polls to gather audience feedback, chat while you live stream, and encourage viewers to comment on your video and share it with friends and family.

Making The Most Of YouTube Features

Gone are the days when creators could rely on the promise of a viral video. The best approach to making money on YouTube is to diversify your content types.

That means creating long form video, posting regular Shorts, hosting live streams, and organizing videos into playlists to increase watch time and exposure.

Cross-Promotion and Marketing: How To Get Started

Boost your YouTube views by making the most of your YouTube marketing approach.

Share On Social Media

Promote your channel, past videos, and upcoming releases on other social media outlets. Don't forget to reuse content! You can share YouTube Shorts on Instagram Reels or TikTok, go live on YouTube and Twitch simultaneously, and more.

Start Blogging

If you have a blog or personal website, consider embedding your YouTube videos into your blog posts for additional views and engagement.

Start An Email List

Whether you have your own website, or just want to inform subscribers of new videos without relying on YouTube's notification system, starting a newsletter is a great way to share your YouTube content while providing additional value to your viewer base.