Lydia Sweatt is a writer who loves balancing her article/blog time indoors with a healthy dose of nature. She bikes, hikes, and identifies edible plants along the way.

Lydia Sweatt

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If you have less than 1,000 subscribers, this simple strategy will help you grow on YouTube.

Make These 4 YouTube Videos to Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers

Darryl covers YouTube growth and creator tools at vidIQ, helping creators understand how to grow their channels. 

When not writing, he’s tending to his farm surrounded by horses, chickens, dogs, and somehow cramming more plants into his garden than it could ever reasonably hold.

Darryl Rentz

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Gaming channels face monetization risks beyond standard YouTube rules: publisher content policies (Nintendo and Atlus restrict certain titles), in-game music copyright claims that strip your revenue without demonetizing the video, loot box and gacha content flagged as gambling-adjacent, and M-rated gameplay that triggers limited ads when violence is editorially emphasized. Made for Kids misclassification kills personalized ad revenue on family-friendly-looking games like Minecraft and Roblox. Appeal yellow dollar sign flags within 24 hours via YouTube Studio. Stream VODs inherit all the same copyright risks as uploaded videos.

How to Get Full YouTube Monetization for Gaming Videos

Smartwatch displaying a 4:30 YouTube timer with a blurred man in the background.

There's no perfect length for a YouTube video. You have to find what works for you, so here are three tips to jumpstart the process.

3 Ways to Find the Best YouTube Video Length

Man surprised by YouTube video analytics showing 11.3K views and 420% growth on day 1

Twenty-four hours after publishing, this YouTube tool reveals which videos are optimized for success.

How to Get More Views on YouTube in 24 Hours

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Following a year of anti-racism protests, YouTube is making good on its promise to both fund and celebrate Black creators.

YouTube Rolls Out Grant Program for Black Creators

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YouTube AdSense is Google's ad-revenue program that pays creators a share of ad income earned on their videos. Creators keep 55% of long-form ad revenue and 45% of Shorts revenue. To qualify, channels need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours (or 10M Shorts views in 90 days) to join the YouTube Partner Program. RPM ranges from $0.10 (Shorts) to $20+ (finance/tech long-form), driven by niche, audience geography, and seasonality. Once approved, link AdSense in YouTube Studio, complete tax info, and Google pays out monthly once you cross the $100 threshold.

What Is YouTube AdSense? How It Works & How to Earn

YouTube logo with green arrow and bold text "Custom URL" on colorful background

Are you ready to give your YouTube channel a custom URL? Here are the requirements to do so, plus a quick tutorial to help you get it done.

How To Get a Custom URL For Your YouTube Channel [2021 Update]

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If you're serious about growing your channel on YouTube, here are 25 ways vidIQ can help right now!

25 vidIQ Tools You Need to Grow Your YouTube Channel NOW!

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Getting billions of views on YouTube usually takes longer than 80 days. But for Jake Fellman, anything is possible with irresistible 3D animation.

How This YouTube Creator Got 1.5 Billion Views In Just 80 Days

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Did you catch YouTube's Culture & Trends Report for 2020? The global year-in-review highlights the rise of virtual events, emerging creators, and collective resilience during a challenging year.

YouTube in 2020: Powerful Stats You Need to Know

Stop doing this to avoid losing subscribers on YouTube, with vidIQ logo visible.

Episode 1... episode 2... episode 3... Does this titling method help you get more views as a gaming channel? In our experience, the answer is no. Here's a better way to present your content on YouTube.

Please Stop Using Episode Numbers on Your Gaming Content

Man gestures with hands next to text about gaining 750K YouTube views in under one minute

Since YouTube Shorts were announced, we've wondered whether creators could get nearly 1 million views from a 60-second video. Now that we've seen it happen, here's what you should do to reach that milestone.
