How to start making cash on YouTube

admin • May 15, 2020

If you've got dreams of becoming a YouTube star, or you'd simply be happy with a little extra pocket money from showing your face online, we can help you make a splash on the site that "gives anyone the power to create something that everyone can watch", as the YouTube blog so elegantly puts it.

With over one billion people engaging with the site, and the majority of the revenue it makes going back to YouTube's creator community, it's well worth getting your head around how uploading videos can make you money, for free.

How to make a money-making YouTube channel

Make your channel great

You've probably already set up a YouTube channel, but is it the best it can be? Use the customisation tools available in the 'creator studio' bar on your dashboard page.

Tag team

Tag your channel with relevant keywords so people can find it. Make sure all your individual videos are all well tagged-up too, so people have every chance of coming across them when they look for videos on that subject. That's a key point, though - keep the tags relevant. No one wants an irrelevant video clogging up their search results.

What's in a name?

Make sure your YouTube name is short, memorable, and easy to say and spell.

Go a little bit Hollywood

Stand out by creating a YouTube channel trailer to greet new visitors and hook their attention. OnlineVideo.net gives some invaluable tips for creating something fantastic that'll have viewers begging for more.

Build a strong subscriber base

Essentially, good content will earn you subscribers, but there's a little more to it.

Upload regularly

A great video might get you lots of nice comments, but lots of great videos will get you subscribers who check back on your channel regularly. So stick to a regular schedule as much as you can, and give the people what they want - regular, quality content they can rely on.

Talk them up

Apart from a whole host of relevant tags (discussed earlier), and an accurate, relevant file name, videos need a great title and description to draw people in. Put your creative writing skills to the test and make people really want to watch. Don’t give too much away, but don't forget your basic SEO elements either; use all the available space to include the words and phrases people will be looking for, as long as they accurately describe your video, of course.

Deliver…quickly!

YouTube will take many factors into account to decide where it should display your video in the search results, and one of them is audience retention, or 'watch time'. Once you have created and uploaded your videos, you can check how well your video keeps its audience by going to your 'audience retention report', detailed here. But there's something to consider before you start filming, too.

You'll want to show your audience that the content of your video is relevant and valuable to them as soon as possible, to stop people just clicking away from your video before you've got into your stride. When you start monetising your videos (as we'll discuss shortly) people may have already sat through an advert, so you'll want to reward them with video content that dives right in.

Promotion is key

Share your videos wherever you can, across Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, but also on related blogs or video websites - anywhere where people might find it interesting. Do this by embedding your video or sharing the link to it.

Talk about your videos online as soon as you press upload - the fresher the video the easier it will be to get a buzz going. This means thinking carefully about when to upload it. You want a time when lots of potential subscribers will be online, so depending on the subject area you are trying to make a splash in, this could be morning, weekend or evening.

Follow up

When people comment on your videos, comment back, make videos that discuss things they have suggested, and be ready to engage with your subscribers in as many ways as you can. You want to keep them, and interacting with you is sure to keep them interested.

You're almost ready to make some money

Do you have the rights?

Don't try to make money on any video that contains content you don’t have the full rights to use. This includes (but is not limited to) footage, artwork, logos, music and games. As tech site Alphr explains, explicit written clearance to use this material is often required, unless the owner has issued 'blanket permission' for it to be used. Find out for definite before you try to monetise any video that uses another's material.

Count views not subscribers

Views make you money, not subscribers. More subscribers are likely to mean more views, and more chance of people sharing your content, thereby attracting new viewers, but it's the views that count. Because…

Watchers not skippers

You only make money if people watch the full advert placed in your video, or if they click the advert banners put there. If they skip the ad and view the video, you won't earn any money.

Before you worry that everyone will just skip the adverts in your video, bear in mind that YouTube has its own clever ways to help ensure viewers watch the adverts. Alphr explains that YouTube determines when to show ads algorithmically. It does this by analysing how viewers reacted to adverts in the past, and adjusting the position or type of ad to make them less likely to react negatively to it (i.e. skipping it) this time. "Basically", the site says, "leave it to YouTube to determine how many and what type of ads to show."

Let's monetise!

There are two main ways to start getting cash for views:

Turn ads on for videos. You can do this while you upload a new video by clicking the 'monetisation' tab and selecting 'monetise my video' then selecting which types of ads you want to turn on, then clicking 'save changes'. Otherwise you can go back and turn it on on videos already uploaded by finding your chosen video, clicking the 'edit' button or $ sign, and following the same steps. The dedicated support page will give you more info, if you need it.
Link AdSense to your YouTube account. AdSense is a programme from Google which lets you see your earnings as they build up, and receive payment. There are different steps to follow in order to link your account, depending on whether you already have an approved AdSense account or not - find the steps here.

Keep a track of how well your videos are doing - and which are earning the most views - by checking your analytics. You'll find the 'analytics' option in your YouTube channel menu.

Good luck!