Do you want to make money on YouTube? Millions of creators are earning a very good living from the platform by uploading content that drives huge views and engagements. Whether that income is from advertising revenue, merch sales, or brand deals, we keep you updated with best practises and ideas.

How To Make Money on YouTube

Do you know how to do keyword research so you understand what videos people are actually searching for on YouTube? Do you know how to create a custom YouTube thumbnail? Do you know how to create a Playlist on YouTube?

vidIQ has a ton of tips that will help every creator maximise their video content. We publish content every week to keep you up to date with all the best practices.

YouTube Tips & Tricks

YouTube Shorts content is set to explode! 

All the latest tips, tricks, and rock-solid advice you need for this new feature.

YouTube Shorts

Ask any YouTuber and they will tell you that generating significant views and subscribers isn't easy. But with the right strategy and tools, any video creator can build an engaged subscriber base when they understand what those subscribers want to watch.

Appealing to an audience to watch content you are passionate about making is just the first step, you need to know how to reach them and get your videos discovered. Our guides to how to guide more views on YouTube will give you the best tips to succeed on the platform.

How To Get More Views on YouTube

This post is all about how you can monetize your content on YouTube to start generating revenie. The are four golden rules to making money on YouTube, and they are:

You need to have 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel

Your videos have generated 4,000 Watch Time hours over the last 12 months

You comply with all YouTube's policies and guidelines

#1 The YouTube Partner Program Requirements

Commonly known as the YouTube Partner Program, or YPP for short, you'll need to hit all four requirements before your channel will be accepted.

Let's start with the 1,000 subscribers. This one is pretty straightforward, it doesn't matter how long it takes you to get to 1,000 subscribers, once you hit that milestone, you've reached that requirement.

As well as 1,000 subscribers, you also need 4,000 hours of Watch Time on your videos over the last 12 months. There is some confusion with this one, so let me try and clarify that. First of all, this is not about how much video content you, the YouTube creator watch. This is all about how much video content is watched on your channel from people all across the world. It’s all those hours of video that people have watched on your channel in the last 12 months (from any given date). You could well have well 4,000 hours of Watch Time over the lifetime of your channel, but it's only the last 12 months that count for YouTube Partner Program requirements.

Another couple of things to tell you about Watch Time. Live streams do count towards that total. Unlisted videos also count towards that total. But if you delete any videos, that Watch Time will be removed from your channel Watch Time hours. And one more final thing, if you are already in the YouTube Partner Program, and if your channel falls below 4,000 hours of Watch Time, YouTube won't automatically remove you from the partner program, but they can do it at their discretion. If you want a much more detailed video on the topic of 4,000 hours specifically, check out this video:

If you want to check the progress of above requirements, you can do so by clicking on your logo in the top right-hand corner of most YouTube pages, and then clicking on YouTube Studio Beta. You can view all of your analytics here, but to quickly check progress on monetization, hover your mouse over "Other features", and then click on "Status and Features". On this screen, you should see a monetization box, and if you click "Learn more", it will tell you exactly where you currently stand with subscribers and Watch Time hours.

But if all of that sounds like too much hard work, then we've got a free tool that will do all of this much quicker and more efficiently. If you 

 on pretty much every YouTube screen, you will see a collection of real-time stats all about your channel. It will show you your channel's views per hour, views over the last 48 hours, and your subscriber count. But the really cool thing is that it will track your progress to 4,000 hours of Watch Time too! Once you hit 4,000 hours, that number will turn green to show you you've reached that monetization requirement.

#2 Following YouTube Rules for Monetization

Next on the list is the rule book. If you want to monetize your content, you need to make sure you stick to it, as YouTube state:

When you apply for the YouTube Partner Program, you'll go through a standard review process to see whether your channel meets YouTube's policy and guidelines. Only channels that meet them will be accepted into the program.

YouTube also constantly check channels in the program to see whether they continue to meet YouTube's policies and guidelines. These policies and guidelines that are very comprehensive, given all of the growing pains YouTube have had of finding the right balance between creators, viewers, and advertisers. I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with these 

 if you want to monetize your content in the future.

However, if you are in a TLDR mood, to summarize, apply common sense. If you think a video might be inappropriate, chances are it is, and you make such content at your own risk.

#3 Copyright and Monetization Policies on YouTube

Among YouTube's policies and guidelines is the huge topic of copyrighted material. Essentially, if you use other people's work, then you could be using copyrighted material without their permission, and YouTube does not want you to do that. It will almost certainly get you demonetized or prevent you from entering the YouTube Partner Program. Let's look at this in a little more detail.

For most of you, this is the most important monetization policy. You have to make sure that you're adding value to any third party content you monetize, and that your content has significant original commentary, educational value, or editorialized statement. And let's be clear, that still might not be enough. This does not give you a license to use other people's content in your videos all the time, because if you do, YouTube may use this as an argument not to monetize your content.

YouTube confirms that if all or most of your channel is dedicated to reused content, and you're not transforming the original work by adding your own unique value, 

then your channel is not eligible for the YouTube Partner Program.

 The spirit of this policy is to make sure that YouTube are incentivizing unique and original content into the YouTube Partner Program, and that YouTube are protecting and rewarding the creators who work hard on original content.

Now, some may see YouTube's spirit of a policy as an excuse to demonetize channels they don't want in the monetization program, but let's have a look at it from this point of view. You spent days, hours creating a magnificent piece of content, and it goes viral on YouTube. And then a dozen random video creators steal that content, upload it, generate hundreds of thousands of views, and end up profiting handsomely from it. How would you feel if that happened? That's what YouTube is trying to protect - original content from video creators.

Admittedly, reused, duplicate content, and copyright content is a broad gray area on YouTube, and they don't always get it right. And you may look at some channels on YouTube and see that they're clearly flaunting these rules. Well, you don't know what their individual circumstances are, they may have permission to use that content, or they may get caught in the future, and you don't want to follow the examples of channels that are doing this. It's not a road to success.

Ultimately YouTube is the gatekeeper. They hold all of the keys. You are on rented ground, and if you flaunt these rules, and break them, then don't be surprised when YouTube comes after you.

#4 Linking a Google Adsense Account with a YouTube Channel

If you are going to earn money from your videos, YouTube needs a way to pay you, and at least to begin with, this will be done through an AdSense account. A few things you need to know about this, if you already have an AdSense account, you can use that. You can connect multiple channels to one AdSense account, and if you haven't got an AdSense account, you can set one up during the YouTube Partner Program application process.

#5 Applying to the YouTube Partner Program

Let's remind ourselves of those requirements one more time: You need:

1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel

4,000 Watch Time hours on your videos over the last 12 months

To comply with all YouTube's policies and guidelines

When you've applied YouTube Partner Program, it may take up to a month for the platform to make a decision. That’s because actual humans will review your channel so it’s a manual process. Some channels have been approved in days, so it could be quicker. However, if it does take longer than a month, then your channel will usually be placed in further review. When this happens, unfortunately, the wait times can get very long. Three, six, possibly even 12 months. In some unfortunate cases, YouTube never seems to come to a decision, leaving the creator in monetization limbo.

We appreciate that this can be a very frustrating position to find yourself in as a video creator, as many of you have commented about this on our videos here at vidIQ. Unfortunately, we ourselves cannot help push the process forward for you, so what we recommend you do is to talk to TeamYouTube on Twitter, make sure that everybody knows that you have an issue with your monetization decision.

YouTube say that this will never speed up the process, but at least having some decision is something you should deserve as a video creator.

#6 Being Rejected from the YouTube Partner Program: Next Steps

Now let's say that you've applied for the YouTube Partner Program, but you've been rejected. What can you do?

When you are rejected from the YouTube Partner Program, YouTube will give you a general reason why. Unfortunately, they won't tell you specifically what video or content is causing the issue, so you may be left blindly adjusting your channel. However, the good news is you can reapply for the program in 30 days' time.

Again, this is where you will have to use your common sense. If you think there are videos that are walking the community guideline and policies tightrope, then they most likely are and you need to adjust them. If there are videos that have copyright content on them then those are probably causing a problem with YouTube as well, so you will need to delete them.

Creators have asked when they apply for the partner program, will having a community guideline strike or a copyright strike against my channel prevent me from getting into the program? The answer is probably no, it definitely won't prevent you, but it is going to have an impact.

There is a dedicated support page with advice on what you should do if you are rejected from the YouTube Partner Program, and 

Once you are in the Partner Program, and you want to take your monetization a step further by earning money from Super Chats, membership, and merchandise, take a look at this video on the subject:

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

Want to know how to monetize your channel and start making money on YouTube? Take a look at our beginner's guide!

How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel - A Beginner's Guide

It's no secret that YouTube has been dogged by controversy over these last two years, with questionable content that seemingly gets pushed by the algorithm. Now, it's been confirmed that the platform has been working on two new metrics and they are both designed around the concept of gaging and promoting quality content. So what are these metrics, and what do they potentially mean for video creators?

New YouTube Metrics: Engagement Watch Time?

The first one sounds like a jacked up super enhanced version of session watch time. It will track, not only time spent on the YouTube platform watching videos, but also time spent posting and reading comments. So while posting comments may seem like something that's pretty easy to gain (after all how many sub-comments do you have on your channel?), if YouTube is going to start tracking how long a viewer spends on a Watch page reading comments, that's an entirely different and interesting proposition.

This sounds like a metric that might be called Engagement Watch Time. But, on the other hand, earlier on in the year YouTube was forced into a sweeping blanket 

ban of comments on videos containing children

, and while YouTube are slowly resolving this problem, if you do have comments disabled on your videos, for any reason, how do you benefit from this particular metric?

The second metric is simply and mysteriously called ‘Quality Watch Time’ which as of now, nobody outside Google completely understands. However, 

 that the new metric aims to “spot content that achieves something more constructive than just keeping users glued to their phones or desktops.”

What this potentially means is that YouTube maybe starting to distance themselves from what is considered the most important metric on YouTube, raw Watch Time. With the consensus being that more outlandish, more risque content leads to more Watch Time which is something YouTube keeps being dogged by because of controversial content.

Bloomberg goes on to say “the changes are supposed to reward videos that are more palatable to advertisers and the broader public, and help YouTube ward off criticism that its service is addictive and socially corrosive.” Did you notice an important word there? Advertisers. Does that mean search and discovery of your content could be influenced by whether or not its monetized in the future?

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

Are you ready for a brand-new YouTube metric? One that could change the entire course of a platform and the fate of your channel. Here’s what we know about Quality Watch Time.

Quality Watch Time: YouTube's New Metric Could Change Everything

 Let's jump straight into this one with a question. What do the most impactful thumbnails have in common? The answer is, while they are all a very high-quality images, they are pretty simple with only two or three main elements. That means that when you shrink them down to 10% of their original design size, in other words: thumbnail preview size.

 The best thumbnails are custom - not just still frames from the videos. They are dedicated, professionally shot, professionally edited images, designed to tease you about what's inside the video.

 Unless you capture the perfect moment during your film, and the chances are you will need to create a prepared shot. If you're wondering how video creators get the YouTuber look, they often create poses in front of the camera, then create interesting foregrounds and backgrounds that contrast with each event. This way, you ensure the viewer directs their eyes to the things you want to highlight in your thumbnail.

 The next question you need to ask is, does the image show emotion and, or excitement? If you’re including a face in the thumbnail you’ll want to focus in on the whites of the eyes - that creates a better human relationship.

 Of course, not all thumbnails can convey emotion - particularly if there's not a person in the thumbnail. But they should all be able to tell some sort of story. If the viewer can take an educated guess at the content of the video from the thumbnail, then the thumbnail is doing its job. Custom thumbnails should create intrigue, entertainment or excitement, while teasing a simple, yet powerful message, that compels you to click and find out more.

 Another common trait of awesome thumbnails is consistency. And we're not just talking about quality. Each channel creates a style that you can see throughout their thumbnails. The goal should be to create thumbnails the viewer can instantly recognize as your thumbnails from your channel.

 A vibrant thumbnail is a great thumbnail. But this isn't achieved without a little work. Video creators edit their images to be more colorful and sharper at a smaller size so they pop out of the screen. In Photoshop, you can add an image adjustment layer on top of a simple thumbnail to increase the saturation to make the color pop just that little bit harder. The effect may seem subtle but when you throw it onto YouTube, where it's competing against everybody else's thumbnails, it can have a huge impact.

 Text should be used very sparingly. No more than two or three words. Remember, you have a video title to do that - and the last thing you want to do is regurgitate your title in the thumbnail. That’s a very common mistake. As with everything, there are exceptions to this rule. And if you are doing something that is very educational and needs to say exactly what it does on a tin, then it may be valuable to use a text. But try and keep it as limited as possible. Probably no more than five or six words.

 Always remember YouTube alignments. You cannot avoid this timestamp blotting your thumbnail. Just be aware that it is always on the bottom right hand corner of your thumbnail or you'll end up with a problem.

 Now there is something to remember about all of these thumbnail tips, tricks and guidance. Once you know them, don't be afraid to break them. Which brings us back to the most efficient thumbnail ever created on YouTube. One color, 17 million views. This is a disruptor. Something that follows no rules and because of that it stands out as something totally unique. It helps that the title is perfect too. It challenges your understanding and compels you to click, to get an answer to the question that's in your head, which is, what does this mean?

Here at vidIQ, our thumbnails have consistent branding, consistent themes, and consistent colors. Above are all the thumbnail guidelines we’ve started to follow more religiously in the last year. And the results speak for themselves. We've increased click-through rate (that's how many times people click on our thumbnails) by 100% in the last 12 months. If you're unfamiliar with how click-through rate works we cover this in detail with our thumbnails essential guide. Check the 

Here's my challenge to you. The next time you're on YouTube watching your favorite video creators, take a look at their thumbnails and ask yourself, why do I click on this content? Take those answers and spend twice as long as you usually would do creating your next thumbnail. Because as I said at the top of this video, better thumbnails lead to more clicks. Let's do this.

Awesome custom thumbnails lead to more views and more clicks. It's as simple as that. Here are 10 reasons why some custom thumbnails work and others don't.

10 Reasons Why Some Custom Thumbnails Work and Others Don't

On April 1st PewDiePie retook the lead for the most subscribed to Channel, in the 

' diss track which now has over 80 million views. PewDiePie went a few hundred thousand subscribers ahead, and then T Series slowly clawed that back. But that difference accelerated when T Series were about 50,000 subscribers behind, and then 24 hours later, they got to 80,000 subscribers ahead. A pretty significant difference, especially in T Series' favor. And what can we credit this sudden influx of subscribers to? Put simply, it's YouTube views.

Anything PewDiePie can do in terms of generating views, T Series can do more frequently and with a lot more resources. And although 

T Series is absolutely terrible at converting views into subscribers

, ultimately for this subscriber race that doesn't matter.

And now things have turned legal, PewDiePie's diss tracks have irritated T Series enough for the case to go to court. With those videos no longer viewable in India. Is this just the start of potential legal wranglings between the two? Now of course, as we all know you write off PewDiePie in the subscriber race at your peril. But for six months he was the one being chased and now the roles have reversed, the pendulum has swung. PewDiePie has to chase T Series down to 100 million subscribers. Everything seems to be flowing in one direction. But you know who we haven't heard from for a while? PewDiePie himself - don’t write him off.

While the title for the most subscribed to YouTube Channel flip flops between the two, we ask - how much longer can PewDiePie actually hold T Series off for good?

PewDiePie vs T Series- How Much Longer Can PewDiePie Hold T Series Off For Good?

How do you create a Playlist on YouTube? When you are logged in to YouTube, you should see your channel logo in the top right hand corner of most YouTube screens. If you click on that, you have the option to go to YouTube Studio (this is currently in beta, but will become the standard as 2019 progresses). Within the new Studio, click on the videos section that lists all of your most recent videos. Next to each video is a checkbox and if you click it more options will become available at the top. One of the new options is ‘Add to Playlist.’ If you click on this, you can add the currently selected videos to an existing Playlist or at the very bottom, you can create a brand new Playlist. Simply create a title and set the Playlist visibility. For example, you may want to set the Playlist to private until you have several videos in that Playlist.

Playlists are very much underused and undervalued by video creators on YouTube. A proven way to grow your channel is to get viewers to not only watch one of your videos, but a series of videos that are all related together, and that is where Playlists come into play (forgive the pun.) You want to create a binge watch mentality, so not only do you get Watch Time from one video, but session Watch Time from several of your videos.

At the time of writing, how to manage Playlists is a little confusing because the functionality is not yet available in the new creators studio. So if you point your browser to 

https://www.youtube.com/view_all_playlists

, you will reach a page where you can start to edit your Playlists in terms of order of videos, add description, and so on.

One more thing, if you have the VidIQ Chrome extension installed, we have a cool 

. It shows you loads of things about your channel, but at the very bottom of this report card, it tells you which videos on your channel are not currently in Playlists. All you need to do is click through the screens and that will take you directly to the video edit page for that video, where you can add it to a Playlist. Problem solved in no more than thirty seconds.

A proven way to grow your YouTube Channel is to get viewers to watch more than one of your videos - that's why setting up Playlists is a must.

How to Create a Playlist On YouTube 2019 [New Method]

Welcome to another in our exclusive series about getting the most out of 

, but what about the thumbnails you have used for the videos you’ve already published?. Your previous endeavors in the world of creating imagery probably wasn't that great. At vidiQ our thumbnails have certainly evolved in the past year - now we are more consistent with colors, and use much less text.

We know for a fact that our thumbnails are better than what they used to be because of data. If we look at our YouTube click-through rate analytics, it tells us that people are twice as likely to click on our videos now than they were this time last year. So, should you go back through your old videos and update the thumbnails to the skills you have now in the hope that you will get more clicks and more views? Well, this case study might answer that question.

Vevo: Updating YouTube Custom Thumbnails Generated Millions of Extra Views

Even VEVO, one of the largest providers of musical content on YouTube, 

admitted to their own failing when it came to custom thumbnails

. Nine months ago, they decided to embark on a hugely ambitious project to update the thumbnails on thousands of their videos, including this one for 

. The thumbnail went from looking like on the one on the left to the one on the tight:

The short term effect was quite staggering. After the initial surge of views things were starting to flatline, but that switch in thumbnail was just the injection the video needed. The switch-up gave the video an immediate jolt in views, as well as more evergreen momentum afterwards. Vevo confirm that the thumbnail change for that specific video resulted in a 4000% increase in views over a two week period.

Now, obviously a sample size of just one is going to give you some pretty extraordinary results, but what about if you do this over 4000 videos. Well, that's exactly what Vevo did and this is what happened. On average, there was a marked increase in views over a 20 day period, before leveling off to an improved rate of over 5%, compared to how the videos performed prior to the thumbnail change.

Why You Should Update Your YouTube Custom Thumbnails to Generate More Views

So, this is a no brainer, isn't it? I need to go through all of the terrible thumbnails I was making three years ago, update them all, and I'm guaranteed views. Not so fast. It's important to remember that pretty much every video Vevo releases comes with some traction of view velocity, so that even a few years down the line, that video will be getting hundreds of thousands or views.

For smaller channels who have less views overall, and less evergreen content, it's pointless to change the thumbnails on video that are not driving traffic and expect that to suddenly change. You need to think smartly and be selective. Choose the videos that already have evergreen value on your channel by checking your real time analytics in YouTube Studio. When you first open real time analytics, it will show you videos by most recent, but you can sort by which videos are bringing in the most views over the last 48 hours or 60 minutes. If you sort by either of these, you can soon pick out the videos that could be months, even years old, and still bringing in views. This is called evergreen content, and what you can do is identify videos that are still performing well but look like they have terrible thumbnails.

Uploading eye-catching custom thumbnails for your YouTube videos is vital, but will changing old thumbnails help generate more views? Check out these insights from Vevo.

How Updating Custom Thumbnails Generated Millions of Extra Views for Vevo

Do you know which video category your Channel falls under? To check, log into Creator Studio on YouTube, go to ‘Settings’ which you’ll find in the left hand navigation menu. From the pop-up, go to ‘Upload Defaults’ followed by the ‘Advanced’ tab. On this page in the top right hand corner you will find the category drop down which allows you to select from one of 15 categories. This is the video upload category default, but if you want to change the category of an existing video you can go to the ‘Video’ section in the Creator Studio, click on the video you want to adjust, click on the ‘Advanced’ tab and change the video category.

Why are YouTube Categories Important for Creators?

What's the point in confirming the right YouTube category for your video? That’s an interesting question because when you search on YouTube and filter, there is no option to sort by video category. Also, if you click on the trending page your category options are limited too. Also, to the best of our knowledge, there is no algorithmic boost or penalty if you do indeed put the video in the right or wrong category.

However, when it comes to advertisers finding the right videos to place their adverts on setting a video category is important. So to make sure you get football related adverts from your football content make sure to put it in the sports category so you get more clicks from those adverts and earn more money.

Now sometimes these categories will not be a perfect fit for your channel. For example vidIQ could be in the how to and style section, the education section, or even science and technology. Personally I think it should be in the comedy section, but as long as you put the video in generally the right category you should be fine.

YouTube creators who monetize their content should ensure they select the right category before publishing. We show you how to change your YouTube categories by default or from video to video.

How to Change Your YouTube Video Category: Easy Tutorial

In this post, we show you how to unlock every single YouTube feature. A good place to start is to find out what YouTube features you already have, and you can do this by clicking 

 which will take you to a page that shows you most (but not all) of the YouTube features available.

 The first thing you should do when you create a YouTube account is to verify it as this will unlock many of the basic YouTube features. It only takes a minute and you do it 

 Custom thumbnails allow you to turn random still images that YouTube selects from your videos into powerful works of art that draw viewers into your videos. The best news is that custom thumbnails require zero views, zero subscribers, zero watchtime. All you need to do is verify your account! Check out how to 

 By default you can only upload videos to YouTube with a maximum length of 15 minutes, so to upload longer videos, just like custom thumbnails, you don't need any views, subscribers or watchtime. All you need to do is verify your account.

 vidIq livestreams every week on YouTube, auditing your YouTube channels, and helping you to grow. As with custom thumbnails and 15+ minute uploads, this does not require a single view, subscriber or any watchtime, only to verify your account, although you may need to wait 24 hours before you can do your first livestream once you enable it.

Those are the rules for desktop, but for mobile livestreaming, it's a little more complicated. You cannot livestream directly through the YouTube app if you have less than 1,000 subscribers. However, you can still livestream to YouTube on a mobile device using third-party applications without a thousand subscribers.

 A custom URL is one of the first steps you can take to branding your channel and protecting your presence on YouTube. In order to be eligible for a custom URL, your channel requires 100 subscribers, to be at least 30 days old, and have a unique channel icon and channel art. Each channel can only have one custom URL. It cannot be transferred to another channel, but you can remove and change your custom URL up to three times a year.

 One of the most powerful ways to reach your audience is through the Community tab. We use it every day to engage with you, and we find that people just can't get enough of voting polls. To unlock the Community tab, you will need 1,000 subscribers. Once you reach that target, it may take up to a week before you have access to it and YouTube should send you a notification when you unlock it. Check out this video on 

how to build a YouTube audience through the Community Tab

 Probably the most important one of the lot for many of you, is monetization. I'm sure you've heard of the big two requirements for this before, but there are more besides. You will need 1,000 subscribers on your channel and 4,000 hours of watchtime over the last 12 months. As well as this you will need a Google AdSense account set up and linked to your YouTube account. Your channel must also be in good standing regarding community and copyright strikes and follow all YouTube policies. Not having all of this in perfect order can affect your application. Finally, the 

Once you meet all of these requirements you can apply and must go through a review process. If you are rejected, you can apply again in 30 days. We know this is a huge topic with a lot of questions. We've made lots of videos that specifically address monetization, so click on this 

 Super Chats enable your fans to financially contribute to your livestream and prioritize their message at the top of the livestream chat feed. To allow viewers to Super Chat you, your channel must be monetized, of course, with at least 1,000 subscribers. You must also be over the age of 18 and be located in one of the countries that supports Super Chat.

 YouTube Stories allow you to capture micro-moments behind the scenes of your videos to share just like you would an Instagram Story. The Stories feature is currently in beta and available to all eligible channels with over 10,000 subscribers. It may take up to four weeks for Stories to show up after reaching 10,000 subscribers.

 There are many ways to make an income on YouTube, merchandise being one of them, and you may have noticed merchandise carousels appearing on channels. This is part of YouTube's direct merchandising feature, taking all of the pain out of setting it up yourself. As you might expect, being another income revenue stream, to get access to merchandising on YouTube, you must already be in the Partner Program and have 10,000 subscribers. You also need a clean slate when it comes to community guideline strikes.

 A channel membership allows the viewer or subscriber to become a member of that YouTube channel for a monthly fee, and it enables the channel to offer unique perks to those members. Think of it as a Patreon-type service directly tied into the YouTube platform. This YouTube feature has the biggest requirements list of the lot. Already in the Partner Program, 30,000 subscribers, over the age of 18, and available in your country. You and your multi-channel network, if you are with one, must follow the Terms of Service, including the Commerce Product Addendum, and your channel must have zero active strikes. And even if you do meet all of the above, YouTube is still rolling out this service, so it might not yet be available to you.

 If someone else is using your content on YouTube, it may appear in the Copyright Matching list. This allows you to review the match and then take appropriate action. As of now YouTube are currently rolling this out as a small pilot project to channels already in the YouTube Partner Program, so just keep an eye out for it in your Creator Studio.

 I'm sure you've seen this season-slash-episode format that appears on some video titles. They replace hashtags and locations, and when you click on them, they take you to the playlist. We’re calling these "YouTube Season Playlist" for now, and when I asked YouTube how to get this, they told me it was through YouTube invite only. These shouldn’t be mistaken for official series playlists, which are available to all video creators who have verified their account. This does not give you seasons or episode numbers, but does change how your videos are presented and discovered on YouTube.

Have you unlocked every feature available to you as a YouTube creator? We show you how to get access to some of the best features on the platform.

Quality Watch Time: YouTube's New Metric Could Change Everything

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PewDiePie vs T Series- How Much Longer Can PewDiePie Hold T Series Off For Good?

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How Updating Custom Thumbnails Generated Millions of Extra Views for Vevo

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