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

So far, there are two undeniable truths about making a YouTube Short. For YouTube to recognize a video as such, it needs to be less than 60 seconds long and in a vertical format.

However, YouTube hasn’t shared much information about the specifics of tall video content. This technical restriction is relatively new, so creators may be curious about the best aspect ratio for making YouTube Shorts.

As YouTube educators, we need that information too. It'll help us answer specific questions, such as, “

 Are we talking about an aspect ratio of 9:16 or a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels?

To find the answer, we did a test using the 

 channel. For more details about how we did that, plus a curious look at what may be the skinniest video ever, press play below:

By testing the bounds of vertical content, we discovered which videos YouTube considers to be Shorts, and thus, which videos make it to the 

. This featured section gets millions of views, so every creator should learn the technical requirements to appear there.

Do This One Thing To Get More Views With YouTube Shorts

Before we dive into our YouTube Shorts test, consider creating a featured section for the Shorts on your own channel. This creates a controlled environment of content where you can easily see all your Shorts. It’s almost impossible to know when a Short will be featured on the discovery shelf, so this is a crucial step in ‘tracking’ your progress.

To quickly create a Shorts featured section, read our guide, “

How to Get More Views with YouTube Shorts.

Once you've added this feature, you’ll see a section that automatically shows all of the YouTube Shorts on your channel. Or more importantly for this experiment, the videos YouTube 

But remember, enabling this section doesn't mean your video will appear on YouTube’s prized discovery shelf. It still has millions of other short videos to compete with. The only thing you’ll know for sure is which videos meet the requirements to be considered a YouTube Short.

Most creators understand the concept of making a video that's less than 60 seconds, but what does vertical format actually mean? We’ve seen several examples of square videos appearing as YouTube Shorts, so we decided to test the bounds of vertical content.

To do that, we created a video with an aspect ratio of 1:1 and 1080x1080 resolution - in other words, a perfect square. When we checked the video’s analytics, 12.6% of views came from the YouTube Shorts traffic source, as shown below:

This confirms what we already knew, especially after seeing the evidence on other YouTube Shorts. You can, in fact, make square videos classified as YouTube Shorts.

Ironically though, there’s both an advantage and disadvantage of doing that:

 YouTube Shorts weren’t designed with square videos in mind. That means the video will have an unsightly black bar at the top and bottom of the frame.

 On the flip side, square videos leave the bottom of the screen empty, and viewers can easily see your channel name, video title, and subscribe button.

YouTube Shorts: Can They Be ‘Wider’ Than Perfect Squares?

For our next YouTube Shorts test, we wanted to see if we could make one wider than a square. So we uploaded a video that was just 10 pixels wider than it was tall, and as we expected, the video didn't appear in our featured Shorts section. So by YouTube’s standard, that video was not considered a Short.

This test confirms a very important benchmark. 

Now we know the widest YouTube Short you can make is a square video. If the video is wider than it is tall, it won't be considered a YouTube Short.

Here’s another rule to follow: Don’t make a video skinnier than what you’d shoot on a smartphone. We created a video with a resolution of 360x1920 pixels, and while it can be viewed on YouTube, it didn’t appear on the Shorts shelf.

There’s no reason to upload a video thinner than what a smartphone produces, but hey - we just wanted to have a little fun. 

Ideally, vertical video is shot on a smartphone, and that's your safe zone. If you go any thinner than that, your video may not be considered a YouTube Short.

Can you make square videos and still get featured on YouTube's highly-viewed Shorts shelf? Let's find out.

YouTube Shorts: What Is a 'Vertical' Video?

 was first released in 2018, few gamers were interested in the online, multiplayer game. However, that changed when COVID-19 spread across the globe and disrupted everyone’s 2020.

As a matter of public safety, cities around the world issued stay-at-home orders and temporary lockdowns. With few entertainment options, bored gamers decided to finally give 

One of those early gamers was Chance Morris, a.k.a Sodapoppin. In July, he started streaming the game to 2.8 million followers on his 

. By September, the game was so popular that 

 is the talk of the internet, millions of people are accepting the game’s challenge: Repair a malfunctioning spaceship while an "imposter" hunts and kills members of the crew. Everyone’s playing it, from influencer royalty like James Charles to 

 is popular on Twitch, but the game also has a large presence on YouTube. According to vidIQ’s keyword tool, more than 54 million viewers entered the phrase ‘Among Us’ into YouTube’s search bar. And that was just in the past 30 days.

Want to snag some of those views for yourself? Here are some tips for creating awesome 

 videos, take some time to review the game’s top keywords. Once again, we used the vidIQ keyword to compile this list:

These are great keywords to consider at the start of your research. But keep in mind that these are the most popular terms, meaning they’re harder to rank for on YouTube. If you have a small to medium-sized channel, use variations of these keywords to stand out from the competition.

‘Among Us Stack Kill’ A Top Keyword for Imposter Strategies

Look at the top 10 keyword list above. ‘Among Us imposter’ makes the cut, but our keyword tool says it's an extremely competitive search term. If you wanted to make content around the imposter side of 

, how would you do that and get decent views?

All you have to do is niche down even further. Dig deeper into the thrill of being an imposter, and you’ll find a valuable keyword opportunity: 

The videos attached to this keyword are absolutely hilarious. In them, creators share their strategies for killing multiple crew members at once on the 

SKRIMP, a channel with nearly 10K subscribers, got more than 30K views with this “stack killing” video:

Not bad for a channel with less than 10K subscribers, right? 

Other channels are experiencing success with “stack kills” too. For example, 

 has 1K subscribers and earned nearly 5K views with their video, “

Among Us Impostor Secret Stack Kill Strategy.

‘Among Us, But’ Is the Shock Value You Need For More Views

 is fun, but the entertainment value explodes on a modded version. Some creators are taking advantage of this by playing/creating outlandish versions of the game, and you should too.

 used the ‘Among Us, But’ keyword to showcase their video game development skills. Their video is titled “I Made Among Us, But It’s Single Player (Among You).” That’s a headline many die-hard fans would click, as evidenced by the video’s 2.9M views:

Tokaint has 108K subscribers today, but they didn’t start there. Our community manager Daniel Holzhauer discovered that this channel went from 7K to 100K 

 in less than a month. Interestingly, their most-watched videos contain the 'Among Us, But' keyword.

Another creator is leveraging this term too. 

 has 7K subscribers and is getting tens of thousands of views using ‘Among Us, But’.

Admittedly, this keyword is getting some attention from top YouTube gamers, so it’s a tad competitive. However, there’s proof of smaller creators getting more views than they’d normally receive.

 is a fun game and a joyful online trend, but who knows how long it will be popular. If gaming is your niche, use this trendy title to get more views on

Are you playing Among Us like the rest of the world? While you're fixing that spaceship, use these tips to upload the footage to YouTube and get more views.

How to Get More Views On YouTube By Playing Among Us

Dan, our executive producer at vidIQ, has achieved something every creator dreams of. After posting a video to YouTube’s platform of 2 billion monthly viewers, he's gained 852,000 views in just a few weeks.

That magical video is titled, “How to Make a Map in Minecraft 1.16.3," and it’s one of his shortest videos at only 58 brief seconds:

Dan’s video - and any vertical video less than 60 seconds - is what YouTube is now calling YouTube Shorts. The platform has been testing this content in the 

, a new display area for discovering short-form content. In it, viewers can cycle through random videos - kind of like TikTok’s never-ending loop of content.

We’ve talked about YouTube Shorts a lot on 

 to help creators understand what Shorts are and how they behave. If you need more information about short-form content on YouTube, use those two resources to get caught up!

As for Dan’s 852,000 YouTube Shorts views, just keep reading. There’s a strategy behind his success, and it’s repeatable for both newer and established creators.

How Long Does It Take For a YouTube Short to Get Views?

When Dan isn’t filming YouTube growth tutorials for vidIQ, he posts gaming videos on his own channel, 

. But as a gamer, he wasn’t sure how YouTube Shorts would complement his channel's strategy. Gaming videos are usually much longer than 60 seconds, so he decided to post a couple of Shorts and wait for the results.

Within 48 hours of posting his first Short, Dan's video was featured on the YouTube Shorts shelf. It quickly gained tons of views, and then suddenly, people stopped watching the video.

Meanwhile, his second Short was stagnant with minimal views, no discovery placement, and no circulation on YouTube. To his credit, there were 337 views, but those came from people finding his video through YouTube’s browse features or loyal subscribers watching his content. He welcomed those views, but Dan was aiming for the YouTube Shorts shelf specifically.

About four weeks went by, and then it finally happened - the views on Dan’s second YouTube Short began to skyrocket. The process was fascinating to watch because the ascent wasn’t steady. On some days, the video earned anywhere between 50 and 100,000 views in just 24 hours. And right now, it's the most-watched video on his gaming channel.

Of course, that’s the same video we’re so intrigued by right now: “How to Make a Map in Minecraft 1.16.3.” It has more than three-quarters of a million views and has earned Dan more than 5,000 new subscribers.

To hear the details of this feat, watch our latest video about how Dan got featured on the YouTube Shorts shelf:

Now that we’ve witnessed the power of YouTube Shorts, only two questions remain: How did Dan’s short video attract hundreds of thousands of views, and what can creators learn from his experience?

How to Get More Views on Your Next YouTube Short

If you know anything about Minecraft, you know that creating a map is a beginner-level task in the game. But to get on the YouTube Shorts shelf, that’s exactly the kind of topic Dan was looking for - a teachable moment.

Prior to creating his first Short, Dan did some keyword research on YouTube and learned that new players were curious about how Minecraft maps work. With such powerful intel, he decided to make a video answering that one, specific question.

Whether you're trying to rank on YouTube’s search pages or get featured on the Shorts shelf, doing these two things will help you succeed faster:

 Shorts still appear on the regular side of YouTube, so Dan took the time to create a proper thumbnail, write a video description, and plug in some tags - all for the benefit of anyone watching his video outside of the Shorts shelf.

Don’t overlook a video's ‘weaker’ traffic sources.

 Even with Dan getting 750,000 views on a Short, percentages from ‘lesser’ traffic sources represented thousands of quality views.

So what does this mean for you and your channel? Well, for one thing, it tells us YouTube Shorts aren't just for people who dance in front of their phones. Gaming channels can benefit too.

Our Best Tips For Creating YouTube Shorts

Out of everything Dan learned from his viral moment, here are his best tips for creating popular, attention-grabbing Shorts.

To create a Short, simply record a video as you normally would, in a widescreen format. When you’re editing the video, you can adjust the aspect ratio and chop off the left and right sides of the frame.

Shorts should quickly add value to a viewer’s day. Try to teach people something new, and have a strong hook from the beginning. If you can make viewers laugh, that’s even better. Humor should boost your video’s retention rate, and that lets YouTube know your content is worth sharing.

Finally, have some patience. Shorts can take 24 hours or even a month to start getting thousands of views on YouTube.

Dan’s latest Shorts are doing OK, but who knows how they’ll perform in the next 20-30 days? 

No matter what kind of YouTube channel you have, add some Shorts to your strategy so you can potentially, 

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.


How This Creator Got 852K Views in 58 Seconds From YouTube Shorts

One of the many benefits of being a creator on YouTube is access to a huge range of analytics and metrics around your content. But unless data is your thing, it can get a little overwhelming to have so much information at your fingertips.

So which analytics and tools are going to help you grow your channel? The vidIQ team answer that question on this episode of TubeTalk! You will learn about:

CTR - why you should analyze your thumbnails

Data source - How to use that to understand your audience and their needs

Video Views over the past 28 days/ 90 days

YouTube's News Terms of Service: What You Need to Know

Did you know that YouTube updated its TOS?  One of the changes is that the platform can now run ads

 on unmonetized channels - without offering any revenue share. 

Find out more in this episode of our podcast.

Catch up on the Latest YouTube News With TubeTalk

TubeTalk is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to TubeTalk on your favorite podcast app so you never miss an episode!

You can also find the complete list of all the

YouTube has a playground of analytics and data for creators, but which 5 metrics are the most important? Find out on this episode of TubeTalk.

Top 5 YouTube Metrics Every Creator Should Study

As a YouTube creator, you can learn a lot about your audience by regularly checking the comment section. You’ll discover a few things below each video, such as the number of total comments and how many likes/replies they’ve received. If you go beyond the numbers and read each comment, you’ll learn even more. 

Die-hard viewers often share video ideas and valuable feedback you need to see. The more you 

 and encourage their ideas, the tighter your community will become.

It’s incredible to see helpful suggestions of any kind, especially when you're just starting out. But did you know you can glean extra information from the hundreds of YouTube comments you receive?

What Creators Can Learn From YouTube Comments

On the YouTube mobile app, you’ll find more than a list of comments below each video. YouTube has upgraded the section to include helpful information about who comments on your content.

We don’t have a name for this feature yet (and perhaps YouTube doesn’t either), but here’s what the tool displays:

When the commenter subscribed to your channel.

How many subscribers the commenter has on their channel.

How the commenter interacts with you, such as how many comments they’ve posted on your channel and the likes/replies you’ve left on their comments.

Snippets of previous conversations with commenters, plus the option to jump to the video where each conversation occurred.

The commenter’s YouTube channel banner, which should communicate the creator’s niche (tech, gaming, cooking, beauty, etc.).

To learn more about the new comment feature and its valuable insights, watch our latest video, “Who Posts The Most YouTube Comments on Your Videos?”

How to Find Comment Insights on YouTube [New]

When you want to learn more about the viewers who comment on your videos, follow these steps:

Open the YouTube app on your mobile device.

Navigate to a public video you’ve uploaded, then scroll down to the comment section.

Find a comment/commenter you’d like to investigate. To the left of the comment, click on the channel icon beside the commenter’s name.

Next, you’ll see a screen filled with information about how the commenter interacts with you. It’ll contain everything we listed above, and here’s what the screen looks like:

This tool is filled with information, so be sure to check it out. Regardless of your subscriber count, these highly engaged viewers are worth getting to know!

Do you know who your most engaged viewers are? The ones who comment on most of your videos with encouragement and helpful tips? If not, here's how to find out.

Find Out Who Posts the Most Comments on Your YouTube Videos

As a YouTube creator, you know that video thumbnails are a vitally important part of your content strategy. Depending on how yours look, they can seriously make or break the performance of your videos - no matter how informative or entertaining they are.

With everyone aiming to make the best thumbnails possible, sometimes it’s hard to stand out in YouTube search results. If your thumbnails aren’t colorful, eye-catching, and easy to digest, you may earn fewer views than your channel is capable of.

That’s why every creator should have a 

for comparing thumbnails, and luckily, we’ve developed one right here at vidIQ. Watch our latest video about how to leverage this amazing tool below:

Our thumbnail preview tool has one goal, and that’s giving your content the best chance of being discovered on YouTube. When you’re ready to start raking in the views, here’s how it works.

To access our new thumbnail preview tool, follow these three important steps:

Upload a video to YouTube, along with your preferred thumbnail.

Look for the thumbnail preview tool on the right side of YouTube’s workflow. This appears on the first upload page, as shown below:

Next, type in the search term you would like to rank for and click ‘

’. Instantly, you’ll see a mock-up of your video, complete with your thumbnail, title, and description of choice. The thumbnail preview tool will then compare this mock-up to videos already ranking for the search term you typed.

The process above can help you get more views before you even press publish on a video. And it’s especially useful when you’re competing for a specific search term on YouTube.

But what do you do when YouTube starts recommending your content to random viewers browsing the platform? How can you ensure your thumbnails will perform well in that scenario?

Luckily, we have a solution for that too.

The thumbnail preview tool has two content display options: home screen and search screen. The home screen preview shows you a more random selection of videos, just like you might encounter on your YouTube homepage. Viewing this display helps you determine whether your video can catch someone’s attention when they have no viewing agenda.

To toggle between search and home screen displays, go to the top left corner of the preview tool and click either option, as shown below:

And here are some extra features that make life easier for creators...

With the search tab selected, go to the top right corner of the preview page and click ‘

.’ This helps you quickly find your target search term on the screen, as shown below:

In the home screen mode, go to the top right corner of the page and click ‘

’. When enabled, this shows you random videos from channels on your vidIQ competitor list, for extra thumbnail comparison. You can see what this feature looks like below:

On the other hand, you’ll see random videos from your YouTube watch history when this feature is toggled off.

How to Update YouTube Thumbnails and More Using the Preview tool

If the preview tool suggests your title, thumbnail, and description aren’t working, you can change them. Simply navigate to the ‘

’ tab on the right side of the preview page and edit/swap each asset as you see fit.

The video preview tool is available to all vidIQ users to test, but you’ll need vidIQ Boost to unlock full access. But of course, you can always start by 

, testing our video preview tool, and getting more views on your content today.

More YouTube views? BEFORE publishing? It may sound too good to be true, but anything's possible with a video preview tool. Here's a guide to using our very own.

How to Get More Views on YouTube Before Publishing Anything

If YouTube is your primary home for publishing gaming or other content, should you live stream on 

? Or is posting on both platforms too much to handle?

Like most things in life, the answer varies and depends on the person. Your individual goals should drive the decision more than anything, so ask yourself two questions to ease the dilemma:

How much time can I spend live streaming or creating videos each week?

Which would be my primary platform, YouTube or Twitch?

Keep those questions in mind as you read this guide. No matter what your answers are, we’re going to highlight the differences between each platform and how to use them to your advantage.

Twitch vs. YouTube: How They Differ For Creators

Compared to YouTube, growing on Twitch is very different. Any full-time Twitch streamer will tell you it takes several hours each week to maintain a live, digital viewership. To make double platforming work, most creators have to find a balance between streaming on Twitch and creating videos for YouTube. One becomes the primary platform, while the other is secondary.

To understand why this happens and how to deal with it, watch our latest video about how to grow a Twitch channel:


At vidIQ, YouTube is our primary platform. We share tips to help creators make more money with their content, and we post multiple videos each week. But 

 That’s a secondary platform for us, and we only use it to engage with the vidIQ community. We host Q&A’s, respond to live stream messages, and playing fun games like Fall Guys and Spelunky.

For us, the key to double platforming is sharing unique content. If you can do the same, adding Twitch to your YouTube strategy should be no problem.

Should You Stream on Twitch as a YouTuber?

The best creators look for ways to expand their reach. Whether they decide to build an influence on Twitter, Instagram, Discord, or all three, connecting with new audiences keeps their brand alive.

You can do the same thing on Twitch, and just like any other platform, the roadmap for growing in that space is unique.

For example, a YouTube video can show up all over the platform for a long time. It can live on playlists, show up as suggested content, or appear in YouTube search results. But on Twitch, your content doesn’t appear on the homepage unless you're live streaming, as shown below:

Few people search for video content on Twitch, so if YouTube is your primary focus, the ‘live’ aspect of Twitch is something to keep in mind.

But even with those barriers, Twitch is a great platform for YouTubers who want to diversify their content. That’s hard to do on YouTube because to grow your channel, you have to find a niche and stick to it - especially as a smaller creator.

. This cooking channel focuses on Jamaican recipes, and that niche helps YouTube recommend their videos to like-minded viewers. In the screenshot below, notice that Sam's videos and thumbnails represent one, specific topic.

If Sam posted broad topics, such as random vlogs and recipes from every country, YouTube would have a hard time consistently matching those videos to potential viewers.

However, if Sam wanted to stream about those things on Twitch, that would be fine. The platform has a home for such content, and a subset of her audience may enjoy the variety.

Gaming channels on YouTube are another example. These creators usually like several games, but they end up playing just one to have a strong niche on YouTube. As a secondary platform, Twitch is a good option for playing multiple games and chatting with viewers.

Making Content on Multiple Platforms Isn’t For Everyone

As a video creator, sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. Double platforming isn't easy, and daily obligations can derail your content goals.

If you're a student or full-time employee, it’ll be tough to maintain a presence on both YouTube and Twitch. It’s even harder if you're new to YouTube because most of your time will be spent building an audience. Because of that, your Twitch streams will be shorter and somewhat infrequent.

This also means your regular Twitch audience will be viewers from your YouTube channel. And to earn those fans, you need to focus on YouTube.

The decision isn’t easy, but if you agree with the statements below, double platforming on Twitch and YouTube might work for you:

You're itching to post content outside of your YouTube niche.

Twitch streams look fun, and you'd like to engage with viewers on that medium.

You have the time to do occasional but consistent live streams while still posting to YouTube.

As long as you’re willing to bring fresh content to Twitch, you have a decent shot at growing your channel. But if that's not possible right now, don't worry. You can slowly transition as life allows, and Twitch will still be around when you need it.

If you need something to do while you wait, join Twitch and study its community of streamers. We have a lot of fun on our channel, so 

 to see how the platform works in real-time!

YouTube and Twitch are very different platforms, but that doesn't mean creators can't take advantage of both. To make it happen, you need to know two important things...

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