A popular way of making extra money is to create a YouTube channel and upload videos. But you can’t start profiting straight away, you have to meet a few requirements before you start getting paid on YouTube. But once you do, it can be an excellent way to mix fun while increasing your income at the same time.
Years ago anyone could monetize their videos immediately. Google changed their system in an attempt to curb uploads of copyrighted content.
It’s a positive change if it improves the overall health of the YouTube community. However, it can make the road to profitability longer when you’re starting out.
YouTube requirements to earn video ad revenue in 2022
Anyone can still create their own YouTube channel and upload videos. It’s free to create your channel and free to upload as many videos as you want. But to generate revenue from ads on your channel you need to become a member of the YouTube Partner Programme first. If you’re wondering ‘when will youtube monetize my channel’, here are the requirements you need to meet so you can be a member of the YouTube Partner Programme:
- Have more than 1,000 subscribers
- Your videos must have received more than 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months
- A Google Adsense account
- You must follow all the Channel Monetization Policies
- Have zero active Community Guidelines strikes against your channel
If you want to be a YouTuber then the process itself remains the same. You will just need to wait to reach the required thresholds of subscribers and video hours watched. Here are the steps:
- Setup a channel
- Upload content that is original and good quality
- Promote the content and give it a good title, descriptions and tags so people find it
- Wait until you get to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours (within the previous 12 months)
- Make sure your account is in good standing IE don’t upload any copyright content
- Apply for the YouTube Partner Program
- Once accepted pick which videos to monetize
Once you’re up and running the money can then start to trickle in. Remember that it doesn’t mean you can’t make money at all on the first videos you upload. It means you won’t make money on the initial views you receive. For example, if you uploaded 40 videos and they each averaged 100 hours of viewing time and earned you 1,000 subscribers, you could then apply to the YouTube Partner Program and monetize them. If those same videos then go on to get more views you would profit from the new views.
You can still put links in video descriptions to your own blog. You can also still do sponsored videos such as when you’ve been given a product to review. This means although you can’t profit from the Google Adense video ads immediately there are still other opportunities. For example, if you have a link to your own website in the description people may click on that and in turn, you then make money from your own website.
How will the rules affect you?
For those starting out it does mean you’ll lose a bit of early revenue. How much could you miss out on? Getting an accurate figure on how much YouTubers earn per thousand views of their videos is difficult. Lot’s of different websites say different things. Some figures are as low as $0.30 and as high as $7.60 with everything else in between.
The MoneyCortex channel is tiny so we have very limited data. At the moment the channel isn’t monetized, but in the past, we had a CPM of only $1.53. Watch out Pewdiepie!
Let’s go with that figure any way to give us a ballpark number.
If each of your videos averaged 5 minutes of viewing time, you’d need 48,000 views to reach the required number of watch hours. That would mean not being able to monetize the first 48,000 views would mean missing out on $73.44.
If you’re serious about building a big channel then in the grand scheme of things that’s not a lot of money. In the beginning, it should be all about learning the processes and getting good at uploading awesome videos anyway. These are rough and ready numbers but hopefully it gives you an idea.
Don’t let the requirements put your off
If you’re in the early stages of creating a channel or have been considering it – don’t let YouTube requirements for monetization put you off.
The aim of these requirements is to look after genuine uploaders over the long term. It’s aimed at stopping money flowing to those who create new channels to upload other people’s content and then make a few bucks from it. This change will deter some people from doing that. Anything that protects those YouTubers who are genuine users is a good thing!
This could also mean there are fewer total videos on YouTube that are monetized. Perhaps that will push up the revenue received as advertisers have to compete for display slots a bit more. So, if you want to earn money from a channel for many years, what are you waiting for, get creating! The sooner you meet the requirements the sooner you start getting paid on YouTube!
April 7, 2017