Which type of YouTuber are you: the one who embraces every content type or the one who prefers a single video format? If you silently answered, 

, we're guessing your channel is pretty diverse! You probably make all of the following:

. You boldly go where most creators haven't gone (shameless

 plug) and are always up for a challenge. It's a great quality to have because the more you experiment on YouTube, the more likely you are to find what works for you.

But with all that content-making, you now have 

 and track performance for. After all, it's normal to wonder how everything competes with each other!

For example, how many people watch your livestreams versus your regular videos (sometimes we call these "longs" since they're compared side-by-side to Shorts)? Or, curiously, what percentage of viewers watch your Shorts compared with your lives?

YouTube's Viewership Panel for Shorts, Longs, and Lives

To help you out, YouTube has released a new panel called 

. It compares your viewership across all video types, including YouTube Shorts, long-form videos, and livestreams. Notably, this panel only tracks data for returning viewers, not those who never came back to your channel.

Viewers across formats panel in the youtube studio

If you click through the uppermost tabs, you're able to compare viewership on:

The breakdown is in percentages, so you get a bird's-eye view of what's happening on your channel. And for each comparison, you can see the percentage of people who watch 

Finding the 'Viewers Across Formats' Panel

Analytics menu option in the YouTube Studio

Content menu option in the youtube studio

 on the right side of the screen. You'll notice that it only shows data from the last 28 days.

viewers across formats panel in the youtube studio

Knowing the percentage of people who watch your Shorts, longs, and lives reveals what you do best on YouTube. It also shines a light on the following:

For example, here's what our viewership looks like on the vidIQ channel:

viewership on long-form videos versus Shorts

viewership on long-form videos versus livestreams

 is regular videos first, then Shorts, and finally, livestreams.

 of viewers watch both content types. Since many people are interested in both, we have an opportunity to cross-promote each type and boost their collective views.

Promote Your YouTube Channel - 17 Tips for Small Creators

So, how does it work? If you want to cross-promote on your own channel, build a bridge between your short and long-form content. 

One strategy is to recommend a long-form video in the description or comment section of every YouTube Short. If you're using the comment section to do this, 

 to the top so everyone sees your recommended video link. If you want to use the description area, use a call to action 

Recommended video link in description section

Want another strategy that works? Make Shorts and longs that complement each other!

For example, imagine that you've just filmed a video about traveling on a budget. In either the comment section or description area, you could recommend a Short that offers a "checklist" for budget travelers. Remember, you'll get more views if both videos are related yet contain new information!

Content That's Not Relevant (Or Needs Work)

If one content type is struggling on your channel, it doesn't 

 mean you should stop creating it. In our case, people don't watch our livestreams nearly as much as the Shorts and longs on our channel. But our livestreams are valuable in their own way! We give free channel audits to small creators, so 

the overall impact is greater than the views we receive

On your channel, you might decide that your low-performing content just isn't worth the effort. In that case, dropping those videos could help you focus on the ones that 

What would your viewership look like if you had 

No such thing exists, but if it did, it would look something like this:

the perfect viewership scenario on youtube

For any content comparison, 100% of viewers would happily watch both video types. Sounds amazing, right?

One way to come close to this scenario is by speaking to the same target audience in your videos. Whether you create longs, Shorts, or lives, have a core message that appeals to one group of people!

With this new panel, YouTube reveals what your viewers gravitate toward the most: your Shorts, your longs, or your lives. With that information, you can narrow your focus quite a bit. After all, maybe you don't need to go after every type of content on YouTube; perhaps one or two will do the trick.

No matter what you decide, we'll help you get views on 

. Check out the links below for more guidance!

How to Get More YouTube Shorts Views on Your Channel

A Simple Trick to Make Viewers Watch Multiple YouTube Videos

6 Things to Do Before Your First YouTube Livestream

Man wearing headphones celebrating success while working on laptop at home desk

Are you a multi-format creator? Now you can compare views across all content types, including YouTube Shorts, livestreams, and regular videos. Here's how!

Shorts, Longs, and Lives: How to Compare YouTube Views from All 3

Have you ever checked your analytics and realized that most of your views don't come from subscribers? If so, you probably saw what YouTube calls the 

The percentage of subscribers versus non-subscribers on a youtube channel

This image is from the vidIQ channel, so even large creators face this question. In our case, only 33% of viewers are subscribed. But why?

Subscribing Isn't a Viewer's Number One Priority

The short answer is that no one needs to hit "subscribe" to have fun on YouTube. The platform has a recommendation system, and it's 

at serving up videos to the right viewers. So even if you aren't subscribed to your favorite creator, YouTube will place their videos on your homepage like a personal assistant. 

If nothing else, this proves that subscribers aren't the most important metric on YouTube.

And yet, you still need subs to crack the biggest benefits of being a creator: 

 subscribers to access fan-funding tools and 

, turning silent viewers into subscribers is worthwhile. Here's how to do it!

On YouTube, a call to action (or CTA) is any request a creator makes to their viewers. Some people ask for more video likes, and others ask for various forms of engagement, such as leaving a comment.

But the trickiest of all? Getting people to subscribe! And viewers will only do it if they have a good reason to.

So the first step is understanding their journey on YouTube. You should know why they open the app, 

 they take that step. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel here; most viewers follow the same path on YouTube:

Problem > solution > satisfaction > subscription

Start by identifying the main problem your audience faces. After that, spend some time finding a valuable solution, then share that knowledge in a series of compelling, irresistible YouTube videos. If that goes well, viewers will subscribe as they become satisfied with your content.

If you're still figuring out what your audience wants, 

use this guide to build a persona representing their habits and desires

Imagine that you've just watched a video about monetizing a YouTube channel, and the creator wants you to hit subscribe. If they're careful, they won't ask you to do that without saying 

Instead, they'll say something like this:

"Want to monetize your channel in six months or less? Subscribe for more YouTube tips and tricks, and I'll show you how to shorten the journey!"

Promises more value, which builds upon the value they just received (monetization tips)

As you can see, it doesn't take much to drive the point home. Stay on topic, and everything will be fine. Promise more value, and everything will be more than fine!

While CTAs are simple to write, they can be challenging to execute. It's not just 

 you say in those moments but how you say it, when you say it, and why you say it!

So if you want people to subscribe to your channel (when you ask them), here are some best practices:

. Create a good video title and thumbnail to tease the video. Then get straight to the point in your video's introduction. Hook the viewer's attention!

Instead, keep giving viewers what they want. Make good points, bring the entertainment, and answer important questions about your topic.

Put your CTA near the end of the video. 

By now, viewers got what they came for. Remind them that they can get even more value by subscribing.

Be clear and specific. What unique value does your channel offer? Spell it out so viewers know what to expect!

 viewers to build an audience, anything beyond 1,000 subscribers is a vanity count. By then, you have everything you need to monetize your content, from advertising revenue to fan-funding tools.

So if you're wondering how your channel is 

The number of viewers returning to your channel

The average number of views each visitor gives you

These are better indicators of overall growth. They represent how well you can bring viewers back to your channel and make them watch multiple videos — not just one or two.

Want to learn more about these metrics? Click the links above to expand your knowledge and grow your views!

Young woman recording video holding a sign that says Like and Subscribe for channel growth

Getting viewers to hit subscribe doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, you just have to ask them nicely. Here are a few pointers!

How to Turn Silent Viewers into YouTube Subscribers

Getting monetized on YouTube is a joyous occasion — truly. You get to upload videos and monetize them in the YouTube Studio, making as much money as possible with video ads. What could be better than that?

As wonderful as it sounds, you might be thinking of how long it takes to reach that goal. After all, you have to join the 

 to collect advertising revenue, and that requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. 

Technically, you can make money a bit earlier using fan-funding tools like 

. In that case, you'd need 500 subscribers, three public videos, and 3,000 public watch hours. But you can't have it all — fan funding plus advertising revenue — without achieving 

In 2023, there’s more than one way to fund your YouTube channel. Keep reading to learn the best tips and strategies!

An affiliate marketer makes money by persuading others to buy products online. That includes physical items like furniture, clothing, books, video games, or even gardening tools. It could also be something digital, like a web browser extension or an online course.

The custom URLs where these products can be found are called 

. On YouTube, creators paste these links into the description of relevant videos.

When someone makes a purchase using those links, the creator earns a commission.

The commission on an affiliate sale could be 1%, 5%, or even 50% of the original purchase. It all depends on type of program you decide to join.

 affiliate programs, but here are some of the best worldwide:

When you find the right program for you, start adding affiliate links to your YouTube videos. Remind viewers that they can scroll to the description and purchase any featured or discussed products in the video.

Getting sponsored on YouTube means a brand or company pays you to advertise products within your videos.

Maybe it’s an in-video advertisement, where you spend a minute or two “selling” a product to viewers before returning to the video’s main topic. Or perhaps the entire video is an “ad,” but it’s creative and entertaining to watch.

Here’s an example of a sponsored video. In it, lifestyle creator 

 prepares a dish from HelloFresh, the delivery meal-kit service.

As you can see, a sponsored video introduces a product, explains its benefits, and offers an incentive for viewers to buy it.

Depending on your channel's size and engagement, you could earn 

 in the first place? Here are a few ideas:

. Explain what you do on YouTube, share your channel stats, and pitch valuable ideas for the brand and your audience.

 You never know when you’ll bump into a public relations manager who oversees brand campaigns.

. Do you have an unpaid product review that performed well on YouTube? Let brands know you’ve already done the hard part.

YouTube has a channel Memberships feature, but only creators in the YouTube Partner Program can access it. That means you’d need at least 500 subscribers to make money with exclusive video content.

Can’t wait that long? Try your hand at launching a membership site instead. 

 is a popular membership site that summarizes the benefits pretty well:

, have everything you need to get started, from video hosting to monetization tools to the very website viewers will visit. So luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch.

Here are more websites that are great for building online memberships:

Do you post tutorials and how-to videos on YouTube? If your audience loves them, why not build a video course around 

? Walk your viewers through the finer points of starting an online business, investing in stocks, fixing cars – anything at all.

But before you start building a course, make sure your audience wants one. They should care about the topic while also believing your lessons will solve a problem in their lives.

You can gauge viewers’ interest in two ways:

Start building your course by writing down the questions people always ask you, plus the answers. That will give you a rough content outline that you can turn into chapters, lessons, and quizzes.

By the way, you can host video courses on a membership site, too. But sometimes it's better to use a service built for education, like Udemy, Skillshare, Kajabi, or Thinkific.

In 2022, there are many benefits to selling digital products.

And guess what? Even with a small YouTube audience, you can sell assets that generate passive income. It only takes 10 subscribers-turned-customers to get the ball rolling. Then you can slowly increase that number to 20, 30, or 40 customers as you grow on YouTube.

It doesn’t cost much to make a digital asset, either. 

Here's an example: If you want to sell an ebook, you have to come up with an idea, create chapters, write the words, and edit your work. Then you might design the book’s cover for free using Canva. At that point, you've spent more time than financial resources.

As always, make products that solve a real problem for viewers. Imagine what their needs might be, then double-check your ideas by asking viewers directly.

When you’re ready to launch, sell your product on one of the best marketplaces on the internet: Shopify, Amazon, Etsy, etc.

So, now you know: There are many ways to monetize YouTube videos without becoming a partner. You don't 

 need the almighty YouTube ad, and that's a good thing!

Still want to join the YouTube Partner Program? Here’s how to monetize your channel the traditional way.

A phone laying on a pile of money and displaying the YouTube logo

Smartphone displaying YouTube logo on a pile of US dollar bills, symbolizing earnings.

Monetizing your channel outside of YouTube doesn’t have to be complicated. In this guide, we’ll share five methods that don’t require 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 watch hours.

How to Monetize on YouTube Without the Partner Program

Imagine that, right now, life is a bit chaotic. You've lost your job, your newborn needs medical attention, and you've just moved to a new place, so you're fresh out of money.

Of all the solutions you could try — looking for a new job, starting a business, creating a side hustle — you're pretty sure that going live on YouTube isn't the answer. No one makes real money doing that, right?

, a gaming creator, faced these same challenges and still monetized his way to a full-time income. Starting with just 10,000 subscribers, CGE used a combination of regular videos and livestreams to make money on YouTube (and livestreams currently pay his rent!). Now he has over 70,000 subs who enjoy his 

So, what's the secret to CGE's success, and how did he turn his circumstances around? We'll explore his story, plus highlight the best strategy for monetizing YouTube livestreams.

First, Build an Audience for Your Streams

Before you can even think about monetizing your content, you need to build a loyal audience. Interestingly, CGE says that live streamers should build a community 

"And that was always my focus, not millions and millions of views," CGE says. "It was always a dedicated, tightly-knit community. If you have a community backing you up, that helps with numerous things on YouTube."

Once you're part of a community, you have a built-in audience for your topic of choice. So before you start steaming, CGE recommends three things:

Build a niche community to grow your influence.

Finding your passion is the best way to kick off a YouTube channel because it helps you connect with the right viewers. So, what's your thing? Is it Zelda gaming? Peanut farming? Ballet dancing? No matter what you're doing, it helps if you're 

Once you've identified your passion, look for communities of people interested in the same thing. You can check spaces like Discord, Twitter, and even different Facebook groups to find your tribe. But once you're there, CGE says to engage with others genuinely and make real connections.

"Don't even think about your channel," he says. "Be involved in the community for the sake of being involved."

Once you're well-known in a community, it's time to build something of your own. Create an online group that aligns with your passion and YouTube channel, preferably somewhere outside of YouTube. That could be Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, or another platform. 

Nurture that audience, and soon enough, you'll begin to stand out for your niche. 

This creates one more place for people to discover your channel.

For example, CGE created "Spyro Community Day" on Twitter to meet new people and expand the topic beyond YouTube.

"We talked about the community and spent all day retweeting stuff, talking to people, and just speaking about the franchise," he says. "If that builds the community [you're streaming for], inevitably, your channel's going to grow."

If you've made it this far, you've found your passion, plus a community of people who share your interests. Now it's time for the fun part!

When you're ready to stream, CGE suggests you

and not daily. After all, you have to let people miss you. This builds anticipation for your content and keeps the spark alive on your channel.

"People then realize, 'Hey, I want to tune into that because it's not like he streams every day. He only streams on Thursdays and Fridays, and I want to catch him live,' " CGE explains.

In each livestream, CGE says you should advertise other communities you've built online. Tell people to follow your Twitch, TikTok, or Twitter, especially if that content aligns with your streams. 

It's a fantastic way to boost engagement.

For example, imagine what would happen if:

People from YouTube come to visit your Twitter.

Those same people engage with your tweets and 

Twitter blasts those tweets to more people, helping new viewers discover your channel.

Most likely, some of those people will find your livestreams, and another portion will decide to watch them. When this cycle repeats a few times, 

Phone showing the YouTube logo and sitting on paper money

If you have a healthy viewership, now's a good time to monetize your streams. Here's how to approach it from a genuine place, according to CGE.

6. Set a Donation Goal for Each Livestream

, you're more likely to achieve them? CGE does this by setting a monetary goal for each stream. He uses a donation progress bar

that everyone can see, which motivates more people to give! This typically happens through 

, which viewers purchase for $1-$500 and display a message of their choice at the top of the live chat.

"I have a donation bar on the bottom that tells everybody what it's for: monthly rent. It's set to $1,800. Nine times out of 10, the bar gets filled every month," CGE says.

 to earn Super Chats, so work on achieving that goal first!

7. Be Transparent About Where the Money Is Going

Once you've set a donation goal, tell viewers how you'll spend the money. Are you buying new camera equipment? Do you need help moving to a new city? Be as transparent as possible, and viewers will respect your request.

"For example, when my son was born, the donation bar said rent, and in brackets, it also said, 'And diapers,' " CGE says. "Because diapers are expensive, right?"

Let's say your viewers are highly engaged, and they reach your donation goal before the original deadline. What happens next? Should you stop accepting donations, or should you set a new goal?

"When the bar is filled, and let's say there's still two streams left, I just call it the Bonus Bar," CGE says. "I've been streaming for five years, and there were only three or four times the bar didn't get filled."

Your Blueprint Summarized: How to Monetize Live Streams

To quickly wrap up, here's the game plan if you want to make decent money as a YouTube live streamer:

Be transparent about where the money is going.

These are simple steps, but they require dedication, patience, and a strong focus on community building. Remember, it's about more than views or making money; you're building a community to support your journey.

If you want to see what that looks like, learn more about CGE's journey as a full-time creator below.

And if you're new to streaming, here's what to do before your first livestream.

Smiling gamer playing online video game with headphones and live chat on screen at night

Unlock the secret to making real money from YouTube livestreaming, just like gaming creator Canadian Guy Eh.

Going Live on YouTube: 8 Genius Hacks for Monetizing Your Streams

Getting YouTube views is always challenging, but it’s a lot easier when you speak to a viewer’s heart. What are their fears? Which memories transport them to a simpler time? How do other people affect their decisions?

, and YouTube viewers are no exception. Depending on the content you show them, emotions like anger, fear, and curiosity simmer in their minds.

But why is this important? Research shows that 

emotionally-charged videos are twice as likely to be shared

 than those with weak emotional cues. So, if you want more views on YouTube, start crafting 

How to Use Emotional Triggers for More YouTube Views

Using emotional triggers well takes planning and care. Start by listing the emotions that fit your niche. For example, gaming videos might spark curiosity and surprise, while self-improvement channels can focus on social proof and urgency. Check your stats to see which videos got the best reactions.

When you create your titles and thumbnails, use language that stokes the right feelings. For curiosity, try phrases like 

. Your thumbnail should boost this feeling by showing clear expressions. You might even use a simple list:

These six emotional triggers will give you a head start!

Most people get nostalgic a few times each month. As a YouTube creator, you can harness this phenomenon by making “throwback” content that speaks to your audience’s past. Nostalgic memories like riding a bike, eating McDonald’s for the first time, or playing on a hot summer day will connect viewers with their youth (and your YouTube channel!).

This strategy works well because, surprisingly, most people aren’t looking to the future. A study by YouGov and the7stars found that 

55% of people would rather return to the past

And we can see that on YouTube. Channels like 

What's the secret to gaining more YouTube views? According to science (and plain old observation), these emotional triggers provide a major boost.

Lydia Sweatt

Posts Written By Lydia Sweatt

Shorts, Longs, and Lives: How to Compare YouTube Views from All 3

How to Turn Silent Viewers into YouTube Subscribers

How to Monetize on YouTube Without the Partner Program

Going Live on YouTube: 8 Genius Hacks for Monetizing Your Streams

6 Emotional Triggers That Unlock Massive YouTube Views

ChatGPT for YouTubers Is Here: How to Use vidIQ’s AI Coach

YouTube Shorts Not Paying the Bills? 4 Solutions to Boost Your Revenue

Understanding Viewers: 6 Steps to Build an Audience Persona on YouTube

7 Types of YouTube Video Titles That Get Massive Clicks

YouTube Monetization: Which Videos Count Toward 4,000 Hours of Watch Time?

The Secret Formula for Gaining and Retaining YouTube Subscribers

Ask an AI Coach: 4 Ways to Spice Up Your YouTube Video Titles