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

Earning 4,000 hours of Watch Time is the dream for most creators, but it isn’t easy. Gaining 100 hours, sure. But thousands? That’ll test your determination to keep going on YouTube. Essentially, you have to post multiple videos and hope people watch them for long enough.

But once you have 4,000 hours, everything gets easier. You’ll be one step closer to applying to the YouTube Partner Program, which lets you monetize your channel with advertisements. Having those valuable hours allows you to focus on other things, too, like 

. That’s the second milestone required for the YPP.

YouTube Partner Program – How to Monetize Your Channel

When you’re collecting Watch Time hours, it’s easy to overlook certain parts of the process. The biggest, most understated thing, is that 

These 5 Videos Aren’t Eligible for YPP Watch Time

Before you start earning Watch Time, know which videos are in your best interest to create. There are five videos that make it hard – in most cases, impossible – to reach 4,000 hours.

Years ago, private and unlisted videos counted toward YPP Watch Time. 

 when YouTube decided that public videos, not partially viewable content, could accumulate watch hours.

prioritize public videos over private or unlisted ones.

 Unlisted videos can only be watched if certain people have the link. This privacy option benefits creators with specific content plans. They may want to send videos to friends and family or create a webinar for a limited audience.

If you’re trying to monetize your channel, unlisted and private videos aren’t very helpful. Make sure videos that need to be public are, in fact, set to public. That’ll help you reach 4,000 hours and apply to the YPP.

How to set private or unlisted videos to public on YouTube

Log in to YouTube on desktop. Click your profile icon and select 

You’ll see a list of all the videos on your channel. Find the videos you want to make public, then go to the 

 column. Click the eyeball symbol to reveal a menu of options: private, unlisted, members only, and public. Choose 

 from your monetizable total. For example, imagine your channel has 2,000 watch hours. If you delete a video that contributed 500 of those hours, you’ll be left with 1,500. Before you delete anything, check to see how many watch hours your content has earned.

Sometimes deleting a video is inevitable. Maybe you’ve grown as a person since it was first published and want to clean up your image. Or perhaps someone appeared in your video without prior consent, and they want you to take it down. Whatever the reason, make sure it’s worth deleting a video and losing precious watch hours.

Have you created video ads for YouTube? If you were hoping these would help you apply to the YPP, unfortunately, they won’t. Watch hours from advertising campaigns don’t count toward YouTube monetization. Even if you’ve earned 10,000 hours, none of it will go toward the 4,000 hours you need.

This seems fair because ads can get millions of views. If YouTube counts them for YPP acceptance, that’ll create a shortcut to monetization.

Short, vertical videos and how they relate to the YPP is a complicated subject. We know that 

; YouTube made that clear a few months ago. The platform also announced that Watch Time from Shorts doesn’t contribute to a creator’s 4,000-hour goal. But will this change in the future? Is there a monetization program just for Shorts in the works?

Only time will tell. For now, know that Shorts won’t help you monetize your channel – not quickly, at least.

There’s a small caveat to this statement, though. If a Short is viewed on the Shorts shelf, a display area for brief, vertical videos, it won’t earn YPP watch hours. But if the same video is viewed on a regular watch page with YouTube ads and a comment section, you can earn eligible Watch Time.

So while Shorts are mostly viewed on the Shorts shelf, they 

 get played in monetizable areas. If you need all the watch hours you can get, take advantage of this loophole. Those seconds, however small, add up.

Live streams are a great way to increase your Watch Time. These videos are usually lengthy, and if people stick around until the end, you can add several hours to your analytics.

According to YouTube, live streams that aren’t converted to video-on-demand content won’t earn YPP watch hours. The information around this is pretty vague, so we'd suggest making sure your live streams are public when they've ended. Don't archive a live stream by setting it to unlisted or private. 

Just to be sure, we asked YouTube if this advice made sense for creators. 

We didn't get a straightforward answer, but creators chimed in with their personal experience. A few of them said they earn Watch Time both during and after a live stream, which includes video-on-demand viewing.

Whether these hours were recorded for YPP Watch Time is another story. That's why, as soon as possible, we'd recommend checking to see if your live stream is public after it ends. If it's unlisted or private, switch it to public.

How to Get 4,000 Hours of YouTube Watch Time

 That means in addition to regular videos, posting lengthy live streams and experimenting with Shorts. The latter isn’t going to bring you quick success. The Watch Time you earn, if you earn any at all, will depend on where people watch the video. Shorts should complement your regular videos and live streams because all the Watch Time accumulates.

be intentional with the videos you upload.

 It’s easier to earn watch hours when you post videos that are relevant all year. Anything about making more money, product reviews, and video games with lasting popularity are good examples. People continue to search for these evergreen topics on YouTube.

 Instead of posting 30 videos in 30 days, aim to create videos that are entertaining, informative, and completely cover a topic. That could be 15 videos that answer every question about a topic, complete with video chapters and detailed instructions. Provide as much value as you can to make people watch longer.

Create a diverse set of content (regular videos, live streams, Shorts).

Post evergreen content that’s always relevant.

Give your video so much value that people can’t click away.

Make Money on YouTube – How to Get 4000 Hours Watch Time

Earning 4,000 hours of YouTube Watch Time is a major undertaking. If you need more clarification on how to do it, watch our explainer video below:

Put these suggestions to action, and you’ll eventually reach 4,000 hours of Watch Time. But don’t stop there. Your next goal should be applying to the YPP, which you can learn how to do 

You need 4,000 hours of Watch Time to monetize your YouTube channel. Unfortunately, the five videos below may slow your progress toward reaching that big, desirable goal.

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

YouTube’s video editor has undergone some major changes. What used to be a limited tool is filled with features every creator needs, such as a tool for blurring faces, adding end cards, and choosing royalty-free music.

Now that the video editor seems to be complete, we can show you how to use each feature. Watch our tutorial below to get the full tour:

Need a quick way to bookmark this information? No problem. Scroll down to read the complete guide to YouTube’s video editor, then save this page for future reference.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to reach YouTube’s video editor:

Find the video you want to edit and hover your mouse over it. On the pop-up menu that appears, click the 

You’ll know you’re in the right place when you’ve reached this screen:

You can also reach the video editor from any watch page. To do that, click on one of your videos and watch it the traditional way. This means you’ll be able to see comments, your video’s description, and other suggested videos.

If you’re logged in as the channel owner, you’ll see two blue buttons below the video. Click the one that says 

 to reach the video details page, then select the video editor once again.

Basic Controls in the YouTube Video Editor

A good video editor has user-friendly controls. YouTube’s has six important ones you’ll likely need at some point:

 An area for scrubbing through the entire video, complete with a marker for clicking and dragging across the timeline.

 A tool for zooming in and out on the timeline so you can make accurate changes to the video.

 Allows you to speed up or slow down the video.

 Allows you to jump forward or backward in 10-second increments.

 A tool for erasing or reapplying certain changes to your video.

To quickly find each control, match the numbers above to the features below.

Here’s a routine task every creator needs to master. Follow the steps below to trim your YouTube videos of unwanted scenes:

Make your way to YouTube’s video editor (YouTube Studio > Content > Hover over the video > Pencil Icon > Editor).

Click the trim button to highlight the entire video, which will turn blue.

Use the gray video marker to scrub the timeline to the exact point you want to trim. Zoom in so you can see the sound waves and make an accurate selection.

Go to the beginning of the video, then click and drag the dark blue bar to the position of the gray marker. This part of the video will be grayed out and won’t play when you test the results.

Don’t worry about saving your changes just yet. In the next section, we’ll show you the most efficient way to do that.

Next up, we're going to do a split in the middle of a video and remove footage. This is a combination of splitting and trimming, and after we make those changes, we’ll show you the best way to save the video.

On the video timeline, drag your gray marker to the split point of your choice.

The gray marker should now be highlighted in blue. Drag the marker from the split point to create a split in the middle of the video. Everything that’s grayed will now be cut from the video. To cancel a split, click the X symbol above any of the gray areas.

When you’re done, follow the steps from the previous section to trim the video as you see fit. Click 

How to Save Editing Changes in the YouTube Editor

Before we go any further, we need to talk about saving your video. Here’s the best way to lock in your changes:

Instead of clicking the blue save button in the top right corner, click the three dots beside it.

This allows you to save the changes as a brand new video. If you simply click the Save button, YouTube will show the original, unedited video as it processes the changes for a few hours.

To get around this altogether, do your editing before you make a video public. If it's already public and you need to urgently change something, set it to private until the changes are applied.

How to Add Royalty-Free Music in the YouTube Editor

Unfortunately, you can’t add external audio or footage to the YouTube editor. That means last minute voice-overs or other sound effects will have to be added using a separate video editor, such as Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere Pro.

 add royalty-free music. YouTube has an audio library that any creator can access from the video editor. The music is pretty nice, too!

Here’s how to add audio tracks to your video:

To the left of the video timeline, click the 

A panel of free music tracks will appear by default. You can scroll the list, listen to tracks, and perform searches. Click 

 to insert a song into the video timeline. For extra details about all the songs, click Audio Library.

When the music track is on your timeline, it shows up as a blue bar with three dots at the end. This is a menu you can click to remove the track or view its license, which explains whether you need to credit the artist in your video description.

Next to the three dots are mixing controls. Click the 

 and drag the slider to the appropriate position. By default, the music will completely replace the video’s original audio, so you need to adjust this setting to get a good mixture of the two.

To position the music track itself, simply click and drag it to the appropriate place on the timeline.

How to Blur Faces and Objects in YouTube Videos

Have you ever needed to blur something out of your video? Fortunately, YouTube has a tool for that in its video editor. You can do two types of blurs - one for faces and another for custom objects.

When you do a face blur, YouTube will scan the video for all of the faces it can detect. Then you’ll choose which faces to blur on an individual basis.

A custom blur allows you to place circular or rectangular blurs over different objects.

To access this part of the video editor, go to the timeline and click 

. The lettering is big, blue, and hard to miss. You’ll find it right below the timeline section for royalty-free audio tracks.

YouTube’s face blur will do most of the work for you. After it detects faces, and you select which ones to blur, you’re nearly done. For the custom blur, you’ll need to make more selections, such as whether to employ a circular or rectangular blur, plus motion tracking for certain objects.

We have a helpful blog post on this topic, so be sure to read it 

. If you need a visual tutorial, watch the video below to learn more about blurring in the YouTube video editor:

How to Add End Screens in the YouTube Video Editor

The video editor probably isn’t the best place to add end screens. If you go back to the video details page, there’s a dedicated end screen feature that’s less cluttered.

But if you want to add end screens in the YouTube video editor, the tools there work just fine. To add one, go to the video timeline and click the card icon. It’s right below the 

 feature we discussed in the previous section.

A pop-up will appear, allowing you to choose between promoting a:

The number of subscribers you have will determine how many of these options you can access. But in any case, you can only add four end screens to a video.

For each option, YouTube will guide you through the process for choosing the playlist, video, channel, etc., you want to promote. It’s pretty straightforward and doesn’t take much time.

Here are a few extra things to remember, though:

End screens run for a maximum of 20 seconds at the end of the video.

YouTube has templates to help you create an end screen layout for your videos. In the video editor, the template option is listed with the other promotion types above (video, playlist, etc.)

You can import end screens from previous videos.

End screens are great for suggesting content to your audience so you can get more views. And if you really want to wow your viewers, you can design something like what we have below – a nice layout where you can direct viewers to certain videos on your channel.

Need to quickly trim a video? Add royalty-free music to set the scene for your content? If so, you're going to need this guide to YouTube's new-and-improved video editor.

How to Use YouTube's Video Editor [2021 Update]

Gaming on YouTube is competitive. Depending on which game you choose to play, it can be hard to stand out among the viral let's play videos or the informative how-to tutorials.

There's a lane for every creator, though. That's what Nikko, also known as 

, discovered on his YouTube journey. In just 10 months, he gained nearly 40k subscribers by posting tutorials about 

How did Nikko grow his channel so quickly? 

That's what we reveal in this episode of TubeTalk. In an interesting conversation, Nikko shares his inspiring journey and how he approaches gaming on YouTube.

How to make focused content that solves a problem for viewers

The value of quickly getting to the point in your videos

How to keep going when you're making popular but repetitive content

The benefits of joining online gaming communities

Why you should make videos that answer specific questions

Want to know Nikko's secret weapon? It's all about taking the first steps - finding the courage to start a YouTube channel, stay the course, and learn from the experience.

"Good is better than best," he says. "Everything that I'm doing, I try to make it as good as possible and not stress about making it perfect... You just have to figure it out. There's only so much you can tell other people [about how to succeed on YouTube]."

Growing a YouTube channel is about more than video analytics. 

, you'll learn how to leverage additional tools for success, such as pinned comments, the Community tab, timestamps, YouTube Shorts, and certain ranking signals.

TubeTalk is one of the most popular 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​​​ ​TubeTalk podcast episodes 

Can you get 40k subscribers on YouTube in just 10 months? While nothing's guaranteed, these five tips from 100 Percent Zelda may help.

5 Tips to Get 40k YouTube Subscribers Like This 'Zelda' Creator

Do you get excited to monetize your content, only to realize YouTube is showing a limited number of ads on your videos? Or even worse, none at all?

If that’s your current reality, understand that you’re not alone. From music videos to kids’ content, creators have continually asked for more clarity around which videos get fully monetized - and most importantly, 

This year, YouTube won’t keep you in suspense. The 

 team recently posted a video about how monetization works, specifically for gaming content. In it, insider Conor Kavanagh shares tips for titles and thumbnails, graphic scenes, reaction videos, and more.

Hopefully, this video answers creators’ burning questions. But if you need more information, you can also read 

 on YouTube’s support page about gaming and monetization.

Too busy to do either? We totally understand. Here’s a quick guide to earning as much ad revenue as possible from your gaming content.

1. Keep Your Titles and Thumbnails as ‘Clean’ as Possible

Having a shocking title or thumbnail can help you get more views on YouTube. There’s no doubt about it. But the method you use to attract viewers is important. If you decide to add adult themes, graphic violence, or profanity to these visual elements, you might earn less ad revenue from your content.

A gaming video can receive full monetization if the thumbnail and title contain fully censored or abbreviated profanities.

So for example, if either element contains an abbreviation like “WTF” or the phrase “What the ****,” that’s alright. But if you plan to use partially-censored profanity, such as “F#%” or “Sh*t” that will result in fewer ads.

You have to be careful with sexual themes in thumbnails as well. Even if you blur sensitive content, such as genitals, YouTube may decide to limit ads if you’re specifically highlighting that area of the thumbnail.

Oh, and one last tip for titles: You should never include adult references in all caps, such as “18+” or “ADULT ONLY.”

2. Don’t Emphasize Graphic Violence or Gore in a Game

Here’s a tricky one. Many games contain violence and gore, so how can creators make sure they aren’t emphasizing those things?

According to YouTube, it’s all in the editing. The platform understands that certain games will have violence, and for those, you can get full monetization. But when you zoom in on those moments to highlight bloody injuries or fatalities, YouTube will limit the video's ads.

 on violence in a non-educational way, YouTube recommends turning ads off completely. This applies to gory compilations and individual videos showing severe violence.

3. Limit the Use of Sexually Suggestive Gaming Content

Romance is a recurring theme in some games. YouTube won’t automatically punish you for showing these moments, but the platform does draw a line for certain kinds of sexual scenes.

Here are the safe visuals any gaming creator can add to their videos:

A kiss between characters or similar romantic scenes

Limited clothing that isn’t portrayed in a sexually gratifying way (such as bikinis or swim trunks at a pool)

Naked bodies that have been fully censored (no discernible body parts)

Dialogue about romantic relationships (without mentioning sex)

You can get full monetization if you stick to the themes above. If you publish a video more suggestive than that, get ready to see limited ads.

4. Keep Strong Profanity Out of Gaming Commentary

, we revealed that videos with profanity can still earn ad revenue. It all depends on which words you want to say and how early in the video you want to say them.

Words like “hell” and “damn” are totally safe. Saying “WTF” is even OK. These terms aren’t offensive and still allow you to receive full monetization. But if you repeatedly drop F-bombs, especially within the first 30 seconds of a video, limited ads are a real possibility.

Racial slurs and derogatory phrases are in a different category. This kind of language will likely result in demonetization, especially if the creator's intent is to harm or offend.

If you’re making a let’s play video, gaming reaction video, or anything that requires you to speak, be mindful of what you say. Keeping things light and clean will help you earn as much money as possible.

What Type of Content Do These Rules Apply to?

The rules above apply to a wide range of gaming videos and their respective elements. You should extend these guidelines to:

Voiceovers in your gameplay (conversations)

Text, audio, and imagery edited into the video

User-generated comments you’ve added to your video

Instructive gameplay about gambling (it’s illegal)

Any violation (in this blog and YouTube’s support page) serving as a video’s focus

Long videos. Even if a video is lengthy, the above violations still apply.

These are just a few guidelines around gaming and monetization. They represent some of the bigger rules to follow, but if you’re interested in all the details, you can read about them on this 

. If you're unsure of what not do on YouTube, consult this resource to make sure your gaming content gets fully monetized.

Limited monetization on YouTube is no fun. If you're a gaming creator, do these four things to earn as much money as possible from your content.

How to Get Full YouTube Monetization For Your Gaming Videos

What if we told you the ideal duration for a Fortnite video is 9 minutes, 50 seconds? And that no matter how good your content is, trying to exceed that limit will cause hundreds of viewers to click off the video?

Immediately, you’d wonder two things about that mysterious claim:

Let’s start with number two. The length of your videos matters because viewers have a wide range of intentions on YouTube. Some are searching for quick answers to everyday questions, such as how to tie a necktie. Others want to know things that take several minutes to explain. They’ll watch a 30-minute video about building a gaming PC and still have the stamina to view more content.

Knowing which type of viewer you’re dealing with makes all the difference. You can plan better content and film videos that are long enough to appease your audience.

Want to learn how it's done? Keep reading to find the best YouTube video length for your content.

Method 1: Calculate the Average Length of Top-Performing Videos

Producing videos at the right length is easier than you think. All you have to do is:

Perform a search for the topic/title you’re interested in filming.

Copy the video length of the top four or five videos.

Paste the values into a time calculator, such as 

 - you’ll get the average length of top-ranking videos for that search term.

For visual instructions, watch our recent video, “How Long Should Your YouTube Videos Be?”

This isn’t the most scientific method, but it’s a good way to capitalize on what works. With this strategy, you at least know that thousands of viewers - maybe even millions - have watched specific content at a length they could stand.

You only have to do a few searches on YouTube to see how eye-opening this data is. For example, run a search for “how to tie a tie.” The average length for the highest-performing videos is 3 minutes, 10 seconds. Why? Because it’s a 30-second task and people searching this query want a fast solution.

What about “how to build a gaming PC?” As a creator, that’s going to cost you about 26 minutes, 39 seconds. Why? Viewers know the task is complicated and will watch a longer video to get the information.

Method 2: Analyze the Average View Duration on Your Channel

There are other ways to glean your ideal video length on YouTube. Instead of calculating average video lengths, you can follow the steps below to see how long viewers watch your content.

Below the graph showing channel views, Watch Time, subscribers, and revenue, click 

On the next page, you’ll see a row of tabs near the top of the page. Click 

. If you don’t see this option, you may need to expand the menu by clicking 

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.

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