Analyzing Per-View Gain for Content Making on Video Platforms

How Much Money Do YouTubers Make Per View

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Can you make a living on YouTube? Everyone knows that big YouTubers get paid through the ads that play ahead of their videos. More and more YouTubers keep showing how much money they are making from YouTube via the lifestyles they lead. It begs the question - how much money do YouTubers make?

One of the main questions is “how many views do you need to start making money on YouTube?” The answer to this question is complicated. You need 4,000 hours of annual viewing time and 1,000 subscribers on your channel to sign up for monetization, but just being able to monetize your videos doesn’t mean you’re going to make money.

The reason is that YouTubers are not paid per view, they are paid per ad impression.

• Types of YouTube Ads - What is an Ad Impression?
• CPI Rates Explained
• How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?
• Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

Want a fast answer about how much money a YouTuber makes? Check out these calculators .

Types of YouTube Ads – What is an Ad Impression?

If you ask YouTubers about how much they make per thousand views, you’ll probably get a different answer depending on the person on who you ask. You may have already heard things like $5 per thousand views or $1,000 per 1 million views, but neither of these is for sure.

Google’s AdSense service, through which YouTubers make money, pays YouTubers for ad impressions. For most types of ads – including short pre-roll ads, the ads which appear at the bottoms of videos while they play, and the ads which appear as banners to the side of YouTube’s player – an ad impression means someone clicking on the ad and choosing to visit the advertiser’s site. One exception is skippable video ads, for which an impression is created when a viewer watches the ad for 30 seconds.

YouTubers do not make money on the views of their videos, because not all viewers click on ads. Many viewers bypass ads completely using ad-blockers. The amount of money YouTubers earn from a single ad impression is called their CPI or “cost per impression.”

CPI Rates Explained

YouTube advertising is currently managed inside the AdSense platform. In case you’re not familiar with AdSense, you can have 2 different kinds of ads - the cost per click (CPC) or the cost per view (CPV).

Cost Per Click ads

The advertiser pays based on how many clicks he was able to get with that particular ad. These kinds of ads usually appear on the right side of your YouTube channel or they can also appear at the bottom of the screen, during the video.

Cost Per View ads

the advertiser will pay based on the views he had of the ad and not based on the clicks he was able to generate. One of the things that many people aren’t aware of is the fact that the viewer needs to spend at least 30 seconds watching the ad or half the ad, whichever comes first. This means that a single viewer can continue clicking on the ad multiple times that the advertiser won’t be billed for all those clicks because he is only paying for views.

Never Click on the CPC ads of Your Own YouTube Videos

If any of your friends ever suggest that they are going to do so to help you out tell them not to. AdSense has a rate of ad-clicks that it considers normal and if you get significantly more clicks than that it will think you’re artificially pushing that number up by either clicking yourself or having someone do it for you. If this happens they will ban you from AdSense and, although there is an appeals process, it is unlikely you will ever get your account back and be able to monetize videos again.

How much you make from an ad on YouTube depends on your CPI, cost per impression. Simply put, this is the rate that YouTube will pay you for every 1,000 views or clicks of the ads that are attached to your videos. Even though it would be a lot simpler if YouTube had their current CPI rates available, they don’t. These rates vary depending on the ad, the types of videos you make, and how popular your channel is. It is actually against YouTube’s rules for YouTubers to share their personal CPI rates publicly.

Most people tend to assume that CPI rates are between $0.05 and $10. This huge difference is justified by YouTube by saying that they use a very complicated algorithm to determine your CPI rate. According to them, it includes evaluating factors like the ads, the type of audience who views your video, audience engagement, audience retention, and the price of the ads.

How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?

Many people are aspiring to make money as famous YouTubers, but it is not an easy task. You have a long way to go before you start making any money at all.

In general, it’s reasonable to expect to start earning some money when you get to 1 million subscribers. This is the point at which you can start treating YouTube as your job, but the truth is that you will still not be making amazing money. At 1 million subscribers you will only be starting to be seen as someone important in your industry. You won’t even necessarily be “YouTube famous” yet – there are a lot of channels with 1 million subs.

Even though most people think that YouTube channels with 1 million subscribers are already making a good amount of money and that they are already at the top, the truth is that they’ve just started climbing. They aren’t even near the top. Just to give you a better idea, there are more than 2,400 YouTube channels with more than 1 million subscribers.

According to Google, when an advertiser pays $100 to Google, Google pays $68 to the publisher (in this case, the publisher is a YouTube creator).

This graphic won’t apply to every situation because every situation is unique. It’s just an example using assumed numbers.

How much money for 1,000 YouTube views?

15% of 1,000 is 150

150x CPI ($0.18) = $27*

51% of $27 = $13

Using these rates, 1000 views are worth $13!

*CPI vary

Assuming that the average rate is about $0.18 per impression, you still need to factor in that most people don’t click on ads or watch skippable video ads for 30 seconds. Only about 15% of viewers tend to watch the complete ad (or, at least half of it). So, considering that you have 1,000 views on your video, only 150 viewers watched your complete ad. So, at $0.18 per view, Google will charge $27 to the advertiser and the YouTube channel will get 51% of that, meaning the creator will earn $13 per 1,000 views.

Want to know how much YouTube pays for 1 million views ?

It will take you a long time to start earning enough money to support yourself through AdSense. That’s why AdSense isn’t the primary way that huge YouTube stars make money. In addition to AdSense revenue you can (and should) also consider other opportunities such as product placement, endorsements, and brand sponsorships. Many YouTubers also make some money from selling their merchandise.

Some YouTubers earn millions of dollars every year. Although the exact numbers have never been disclosed, many different websites have made educated guesses.

Forbes publishes an annual list of the highest-paid YouTubers, which includes revenue from things like book deals and makeup lines. It is useful to look at this list gain have some perspective about how big YouTubers make their money, and how big they had to get to make it.

As of 2017, YouTube gamer Daniel Middleton (DanTDM) is the highest-paid YouTuber earning 16 million dollars. He is followed by gamer Evan Fong (Vanoss Gaming) with $15.5 million, Dude Perfect with $14 million, and Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) and Logan Paul with $12.5 million. However, as we already mentioned, even though a substantial part of the income of these YouTube stars comes from YouTube/AdSense, the bulk of it comes from things like merchandise and sponsorships.

Instead of relying on YouTube to pay them, YouTubers need to seek out other ways of leveraging the YouTube platform to earn money .

We all agree that being a YouTube star isn’t an easy path. However, if you honestly love what you do, then you will be willing to put effort into making great videos regularly. Part of that is also being willing to take the time to promote them and yourself, as well as putting time and effort into forging a good relationship with your audience.

Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

YouTube used to let anybody monetize their videos, but that has now changed. Then for a while, you’ll qualify for monetization after reaching 10,000-lifetime views on your channel. But as of 2018, the rules to YouTube monetization has gotten more challenging.

To monetize you must have:

- 4,000 of annual watch time

- 1,000 subscribers

The reason for this is that YouTube was having trouble with channels that were trying to monetize stolen or inappropriate content, besides, YouTubers are gaming the system by using automated programs to gain more views. By making creators get more watch time and subscribers before they apply for monetization, YouTube has been able to create a review process in which they can prove that the channel has a legitimate audience and stop content thieves and criminals from making money. Naturally, this new rule also makes it very difficult for new YouTubers to make money.

Are you finding it difficult to earn money on YouTube? Subscribe to the Filmora.io YouTube channel for more tips on channel monetization.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Can you make a living on YouTube? Everyone knows that big YouTubers get paid through the ads that play ahead of their videos. More and more YouTubers keep showing how much money they are making from YouTube via the lifestyles they lead. It begs the question - how much money do YouTubers make?

One of the main questions is “how many views do you need to start making money on YouTube?” The answer to this question is complicated. You need 4,000 hours of annual viewing time and 1,000 subscribers on your channel to sign up for monetization, but just being able to monetize your videos doesn’t mean you’re going to make money.

The reason is that YouTubers are not paid per view, they are paid per ad impression.

• Types of YouTube Ads - What is an Ad Impression?
• CPI Rates Explained
• How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?
• Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

Want a fast answer about how much money a YouTuber makes? Check out these calculators .

Types of YouTube Ads – What is an Ad Impression?

If you ask YouTubers about how much they make per thousand views, you’ll probably get a different answer depending on the person on who you ask. You may have already heard things like $5 per thousand views or $1,000 per 1 million views, but neither of these is for sure.

Google’s AdSense service, through which YouTubers make money, pays YouTubers for ad impressions. For most types of ads – including short pre-roll ads, the ads which appear at the bottoms of videos while they play, and the ads which appear as banners to the side of YouTube’s player – an ad impression means someone clicking on the ad and choosing to visit the advertiser’s site. One exception is skippable video ads, for which an impression is created when a viewer watches the ad for 30 seconds.

YouTubers do not make money on the views of their videos, because not all viewers click on ads. Many viewers bypass ads completely using ad-blockers. The amount of money YouTubers earn from a single ad impression is called their CPI or “cost per impression.”

CPI Rates Explained

YouTube advertising is currently managed inside the AdSense platform. In case you’re not familiar with AdSense, you can have 2 different kinds of ads - the cost per click (CPC) or the cost per view (CPV).

Cost Per Click ads

The advertiser pays based on how many clicks he was able to get with that particular ad. These kinds of ads usually appear on the right side of your YouTube channel or they can also appear at the bottom of the screen, during the video.

Cost Per View ads

the advertiser will pay based on the views he had of the ad and not based on the clicks he was able to generate. One of the things that many people aren’t aware of is the fact that the viewer needs to spend at least 30 seconds watching the ad or half the ad, whichever comes first. This means that a single viewer can continue clicking on the ad multiple times that the advertiser won’t be billed for all those clicks because he is only paying for views.

Never Click on the CPC ads of Your Own YouTube Videos

If any of your friends ever suggest that they are going to do so to help you out tell them not to. AdSense has a rate of ad-clicks that it considers normal and if you get significantly more clicks than that it will think you’re artificially pushing that number up by either clicking yourself or having someone do it for you. If this happens they will ban you from AdSense and, although there is an appeals process, it is unlikely you will ever get your account back and be able to monetize videos again.

How much you make from an ad on YouTube depends on your CPI, cost per impression. Simply put, this is the rate that YouTube will pay you for every 1,000 views or clicks of the ads that are attached to your videos. Even though it would be a lot simpler if YouTube had their current CPI rates available, they don’t. These rates vary depending on the ad, the types of videos you make, and how popular your channel is. It is actually against YouTube’s rules for YouTubers to share their personal CPI rates publicly.

Most people tend to assume that CPI rates are between $0.05 and $10. This huge difference is justified by YouTube by saying that they use a very complicated algorithm to determine your CPI rate. According to them, it includes evaluating factors like the ads, the type of audience who views your video, audience engagement, audience retention, and the price of the ads.

How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?

Many people are aspiring to make money as famous YouTubers, but it is not an easy task. You have a long way to go before you start making any money at all.

In general, it’s reasonable to expect to start earning some money when you get to 1 million subscribers. This is the point at which you can start treating YouTube as your job, but the truth is that you will still not be making amazing money. At 1 million subscribers you will only be starting to be seen as someone important in your industry. You won’t even necessarily be “YouTube famous” yet – there are a lot of channels with 1 million subs.

Even though most people think that YouTube channels with 1 million subscribers are already making a good amount of money and that they are already at the top, the truth is that they’ve just started climbing. They aren’t even near the top. Just to give you a better idea, there are more than 2,400 YouTube channels with more than 1 million subscribers.

According to Google, when an advertiser pays $100 to Google, Google pays $68 to the publisher (in this case, the publisher is a YouTube creator).

This graphic won’t apply to every situation because every situation is unique. It’s just an example using assumed numbers.

How much money for 1,000 YouTube views?

15% of 1,000 is 150

150x CPI ($0.18) = $27*

51% of $27 = $13

Using these rates, 1000 views are worth $13!

*CPI vary

Assuming that the average rate is about $0.18 per impression, you still need to factor in that most people don’t click on ads or watch skippable video ads for 30 seconds. Only about 15% of viewers tend to watch the complete ad (or, at least half of it). So, considering that you have 1,000 views on your video, only 150 viewers watched your complete ad. So, at $0.18 per view, Google will charge $27 to the advertiser and the YouTube channel will get 51% of that, meaning the creator will earn $13 per 1,000 views.

Want to know how much YouTube pays for 1 million views ?

It will take you a long time to start earning enough money to support yourself through AdSense. That’s why AdSense isn’t the primary way that huge YouTube stars make money. In addition to AdSense revenue you can (and should) also consider other opportunities such as product placement, endorsements, and brand sponsorships. Many YouTubers also make some money from selling their merchandise.

Some YouTubers earn millions of dollars every year. Although the exact numbers have never been disclosed, many different websites have made educated guesses.

Forbes publishes an annual list of the highest-paid YouTubers, which includes revenue from things like book deals and makeup lines. It is useful to look at this list gain have some perspective about how big YouTubers make their money, and how big they had to get to make it.

As of 2017, YouTube gamer Daniel Middleton (DanTDM) is the highest-paid YouTuber earning 16 million dollars. He is followed by gamer Evan Fong (Vanoss Gaming) with $15.5 million, Dude Perfect with $14 million, and Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) and Logan Paul with $12.5 million. However, as we already mentioned, even though a substantial part of the income of these YouTube stars comes from YouTube/AdSense, the bulk of it comes from things like merchandise and sponsorships.

Instead of relying on YouTube to pay them, YouTubers need to seek out other ways of leveraging the YouTube platform to earn money .

We all agree that being a YouTube star isn’t an easy path. However, if you honestly love what you do, then you will be willing to put effort into making great videos regularly. Part of that is also being willing to take the time to promote them and yourself, as well as putting time and effort into forging a good relationship with your audience.

Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

YouTube used to let anybody monetize their videos, but that has now changed. Then for a while, you’ll qualify for monetization after reaching 10,000-lifetime views on your channel. But as of 2018, the rules to YouTube monetization has gotten more challenging.

To monetize you must have:

- 4,000 of annual watch time

- 1,000 subscribers

The reason for this is that YouTube was having trouble with channels that were trying to monetize stolen or inappropriate content, besides, YouTubers are gaming the system by using automated programs to gain more views. By making creators get more watch time and subscribers before they apply for monetization, YouTube has been able to create a review process in which they can prove that the channel has a legitimate audience and stop content thieves and criminals from making money. Naturally, this new rule also makes it very difficult for new YouTubers to make money.

Are you finding it difficult to earn money on YouTube? Subscribe to the Filmora.io YouTube channel for more tips on channel monetization.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Can you make a living on YouTube? Everyone knows that big YouTubers get paid through the ads that play ahead of their videos. More and more YouTubers keep showing how much money they are making from YouTube via the lifestyles they lead. It begs the question - how much money do YouTubers make?

One of the main questions is “how many views do you need to start making money on YouTube?” The answer to this question is complicated. You need 4,000 hours of annual viewing time and 1,000 subscribers on your channel to sign up for monetization, but just being able to monetize your videos doesn’t mean you’re going to make money.

The reason is that YouTubers are not paid per view, they are paid per ad impression.

• Types of YouTube Ads - What is an Ad Impression?
• CPI Rates Explained
• How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?
• Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

Want a fast answer about how much money a YouTuber makes? Check out these calculators .

Types of YouTube Ads – What is an Ad Impression?

If you ask YouTubers about how much they make per thousand views, you’ll probably get a different answer depending on the person on who you ask. You may have already heard things like $5 per thousand views or $1,000 per 1 million views, but neither of these is for sure.

Google’s AdSense service, through which YouTubers make money, pays YouTubers for ad impressions. For most types of ads – including short pre-roll ads, the ads which appear at the bottoms of videos while they play, and the ads which appear as banners to the side of YouTube’s player – an ad impression means someone clicking on the ad and choosing to visit the advertiser’s site. One exception is skippable video ads, for which an impression is created when a viewer watches the ad for 30 seconds.

YouTubers do not make money on the views of their videos, because not all viewers click on ads. Many viewers bypass ads completely using ad-blockers. The amount of money YouTubers earn from a single ad impression is called their CPI or “cost per impression.”

CPI Rates Explained

YouTube advertising is currently managed inside the AdSense platform. In case you’re not familiar with AdSense, you can have 2 different kinds of ads - the cost per click (CPC) or the cost per view (CPV).

Cost Per Click ads

The advertiser pays based on how many clicks he was able to get with that particular ad. These kinds of ads usually appear on the right side of your YouTube channel or they can also appear at the bottom of the screen, during the video.

Cost Per View ads

the advertiser will pay based on the views he had of the ad and not based on the clicks he was able to generate. One of the things that many people aren’t aware of is the fact that the viewer needs to spend at least 30 seconds watching the ad or half the ad, whichever comes first. This means that a single viewer can continue clicking on the ad multiple times that the advertiser won’t be billed for all those clicks because he is only paying for views.

Never Click on the CPC ads of Your Own YouTube Videos

If any of your friends ever suggest that they are going to do so to help you out tell them not to. AdSense has a rate of ad-clicks that it considers normal and if you get significantly more clicks than that it will think you’re artificially pushing that number up by either clicking yourself or having someone do it for you. If this happens they will ban you from AdSense and, although there is an appeals process, it is unlikely you will ever get your account back and be able to monetize videos again.

How much you make from an ad on YouTube depends on your CPI, cost per impression. Simply put, this is the rate that YouTube will pay you for every 1,000 views or clicks of the ads that are attached to your videos. Even though it would be a lot simpler if YouTube had their current CPI rates available, they don’t. These rates vary depending on the ad, the types of videos you make, and how popular your channel is. It is actually against YouTube’s rules for YouTubers to share their personal CPI rates publicly.

Most people tend to assume that CPI rates are between $0.05 and $10. This huge difference is justified by YouTube by saying that they use a very complicated algorithm to determine your CPI rate. According to them, it includes evaluating factors like the ads, the type of audience who views your video, audience engagement, audience retention, and the price of the ads.

How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?

Many people are aspiring to make money as famous YouTubers, but it is not an easy task. You have a long way to go before you start making any money at all.

In general, it’s reasonable to expect to start earning some money when you get to 1 million subscribers. This is the point at which you can start treating YouTube as your job, but the truth is that you will still not be making amazing money. At 1 million subscribers you will only be starting to be seen as someone important in your industry. You won’t even necessarily be “YouTube famous” yet – there are a lot of channels with 1 million subs.

Even though most people think that YouTube channels with 1 million subscribers are already making a good amount of money and that they are already at the top, the truth is that they’ve just started climbing. They aren’t even near the top. Just to give you a better idea, there are more than 2,400 YouTube channels with more than 1 million subscribers.

According to Google, when an advertiser pays $100 to Google, Google pays $68 to the publisher (in this case, the publisher is a YouTube creator).

This graphic won’t apply to every situation because every situation is unique. It’s just an example using assumed numbers.

How much money for 1,000 YouTube views?

15% of 1,000 is 150

150x CPI ($0.18) = $27*

51% of $27 = $13

Using these rates, 1000 views are worth $13!

*CPI vary

Assuming that the average rate is about $0.18 per impression, you still need to factor in that most people don’t click on ads or watch skippable video ads for 30 seconds. Only about 15% of viewers tend to watch the complete ad (or, at least half of it). So, considering that you have 1,000 views on your video, only 150 viewers watched your complete ad. So, at $0.18 per view, Google will charge $27 to the advertiser and the YouTube channel will get 51% of that, meaning the creator will earn $13 per 1,000 views.

Want to know how much YouTube pays for 1 million views ?

It will take you a long time to start earning enough money to support yourself through AdSense. That’s why AdSense isn’t the primary way that huge YouTube stars make money. In addition to AdSense revenue you can (and should) also consider other opportunities such as product placement, endorsements, and brand sponsorships. Many YouTubers also make some money from selling their merchandise.

Some YouTubers earn millions of dollars every year. Although the exact numbers have never been disclosed, many different websites have made educated guesses.

Forbes publishes an annual list of the highest-paid YouTubers, which includes revenue from things like book deals and makeup lines. It is useful to look at this list gain have some perspective about how big YouTubers make their money, and how big they had to get to make it.

As of 2017, YouTube gamer Daniel Middleton (DanTDM) is the highest-paid YouTuber earning 16 million dollars. He is followed by gamer Evan Fong (Vanoss Gaming) with $15.5 million, Dude Perfect with $14 million, and Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) and Logan Paul with $12.5 million. However, as we already mentioned, even though a substantial part of the income of these YouTube stars comes from YouTube/AdSense, the bulk of it comes from things like merchandise and sponsorships.

Instead of relying on YouTube to pay them, YouTubers need to seek out other ways of leveraging the YouTube platform to earn money .

We all agree that being a YouTube star isn’t an easy path. However, if you honestly love what you do, then you will be willing to put effort into making great videos regularly. Part of that is also being willing to take the time to promote them and yourself, as well as putting time and effort into forging a good relationship with your audience.

Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

YouTube used to let anybody monetize their videos, but that has now changed. Then for a while, you’ll qualify for monetization after reaching 10,000-lifetime views on your channel. But as of 2018, the rules to YouTube monetization has gotten more challenging.

To monetize you must have:

- 4,000 of annual watch time

- 1,000 subscribers

The reason for this is that YouTube was having trouble with channels that were trying to monetize stolen or inappropriate content, besides, YouTubers are gaming the system by using automated programs to gain more views. By making creators get more watch time and subscribers before they apply for monetization, YouTube has been able to create a review process in which they can prove that the channel has a legitimate audience and stop content thieves and criminals from making money. Naturally, this new rule also makes it very difficult for new YouTubers to make money.

Are you finding it difficult to earn money on YouTube? Subscribe to the Filmora.io YouTube channel for more tips on channel monetization.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Nov 01, 2022• Proven solutions

0

Can you make a living on YouTube? Everyone knows that big YouTubers get paid through the ads that play ahead of their videos. More and more YouTubers keep showing how much money they are making from YouTube via the lifestyles they lead. It begs the question - how much money do YouTubers make?

One of the main questions is “how many views do you need to start making money on YouTube?” The answer to this question is complicated. You need 4,000 hours of annual viewing time and 1,000 subscribers on your channel to sign up for monetization, but just being able to monetize your videos doesn’t mean you’re going to make money.

The reason is that YouTubers are not paid per view, they are paid per ad impression.

• Types of YouTube Ads - What is an Ad Impression?
• CPI Rates Explained
• How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?
• Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

Want a fast answer about how much money a YouTuber makes? Check out these calculators .

Types of YouTube Ads – What is an Ad Impression?

If you ask YouTubers about how much they make per thousand views, you’ll probably get a different answer depending on the person on who you ask. You may have already heard things like $5 per thousand views or $1,000 per 1 million views, but neither of these is for sure.

Google’s AdSense service, through which YouTubers make money, pays YouTubers for ad impressions. For most types of ads – including short pre-roll ads, the ads which appear at the bottoms of videos while they play, and the ads which appear as banners to the side of YouTube’s player – an ad impression means someone clicking on the ad and choosing to visit the advertiser’s site. One exception is skippable video ads, for which an impression is created when a viewer watches the ad for 30 seconds.

YouTubers do not make money on the views of their videos, because not all viewers click on ads. Many viewers bypass ads completely using ad-blockers. The amount of money YouTubers earn from a single ad impression is called their CPI or “cost per impression.”

CPI Rates Explained

YouTube advertising is currently managed inside the AdSense platform. In case you’re not familiar with AdSense, you can have 2 different kinds of ads - the cost per click (CPC) or the cost per view (CPV).

Cost Per Click ads

The advertiser pays based on how many clicks he was able to get with that particular ad. These kinds of ads usually appear on the right side of your YouTube channel or they can also appear at the bottom of the screen, during the video.

Cost Per View ads

the advertiser will pay based on the views he had of the ad and not based on the clicks he was able to generate. One of the things that many people aren’t aware of is the fact that the viewer needs to spend at least 30 seconds watching the ad or half the ad, whichever comes first. This means that a single viewer can continue clicking on the ad multiple times that the advertiser won’t be billed for all those clicks because he is only paying for views.

Never Click on the CPC ads of Your Own YouTube Videos

If any of your friends ever suggest that they are going to do so to help you out tell them not to. AdSense has a rate of ad-clicks that it considers normal and if you get significantly more clicks than that it will think you’re artificially pushing that number up by either clicking yourself or having someone do it for you. If this happens they will ban you from AdSense and, although there is an appeals process, it is unlikely you will ever get your account back and be able to monetize videos again.

How much you make from an ad on YouTube depends on your CPI, cost per impression. Simply put, this is the rate that YouTube will pay you for every 1,000 views or clicks of the ads that are attached to your videos. Even though it would be a lot simpler if YouTube had their current CPI rates available, they don’t. These rates vary depending on the ad, the types of videos you make, and how popular your channel is. It is actually against YouTube’s rules for YouTubers to share their personal CPI rates publicly.

Most people tend to assume that CPI rates are between $0.05 and $10. This huge difference is justified by YouTube by saying that they use a very complicated algorithm to determine your CPI rate. According to them, it includes evaluating factors like the ads, the type of audience who views your video, audience engagement, audience retention, and the price of the ads.

How Much Do Big YouTubers Make?

Many people are aspiring to make money as famous YouTubers, but it is not an easy task. You have a long way to go before you start making any money at all.

In general, it’s reasonable to expect to start earning some money when you get to 1 million subscribers. This is the point at which you can start treating YouTube as your job, but the truth is that you will still not be making amazing money. At 1 million subscribers you will only be starting to be seen as someone important in your industry. You won’t even necessarily be “YouTube famous” yet – there are a lot of channels with 1 million subs.

Even though most people think that YouTube channels with 1 million subscribers are already making a good amount of money and that they are already at the top, the truth is that they’ve just started climbing. They aren’t even near the top. Just to give you a better idea, there are more than 2,400 YouTube channels with more than 1 million subscribers.

According to Google, when an advertiser pays $100 to Google, Google pays $68 to the publisher (in this case, the publisher is a YouTube creator).

This graphic won’t apply to every situation because every situation is unique. It’s just an example using assumed numbers.

How much money for 1,000 YouTube views?

15% of 1,000 is 150

150x CPI ($0.18) = $27*

51% of $27 = $13

Using these rates, 1000 views are worth $13!

*CPI vary

Assuming that the average rate is about $0.18 per impression, you still need to factor in that most people don’t click on ads or watch skippable video ads for 30 seconds. Only about 15% of viewers tend to watch the complete ad (or, at least half of it). So, considering that you have 1,000 views on your video, only 150 viewers watched your complete ad. So, at $0.18 per view, Google will charge $27 to the advertiser and the YouTube channel will get 51% of that, meaning the creator will earn $13 per 1,000 views.

Want to know how much YouTube pays for 1 million views ?

It will take you a long time to start earning enough money to support yourself through AdSense. That’s why AdSense isn’t the primary way that huge YouTube stars make money. In addition to AdSense revenue you can (and should) also consider other opportunities such as product placement, endorsements, and brand sponsorships. Many YouTubers also make some money from selling their merchandise.

Some YouTubers earn millions of dollars every year. Although the exact numbers have never been disclosed, many different websites have made educated guesses.

Forbes publishes an annual list of the highest-paid YouTubers, which includes revenue from things like book deals and makeup lines. It is useful to look at this list gain have some perspective about how big YouTubers make their money, and how big they had to get to make it.

As of 2017, YouTube gamer Daniel Middleton (DanTDM) is the highest-paid YouTuber earning 16 million dollars. He is followed by gamer Evan Fong (Vanoss Gaming) with $15.5 million, Dude Perfect with $14 million, and Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) and Logan Paul with $12.5 million. However, as we already mentioned, even though a substantial part of the income of these YouTube stars comes from YouTube/AdSense, the bulk of it comes from things like merchandise and sponsorships.

Instead of relying on YouTube to pay them, YouTubers need to seek out other ways of leveraging the YouTube platform to earn money .

We all agree that being a YouTube star isn’t an easy path. However, if you honestly love what you do, then you will be willing to put effort into making great videos regularly. Part of that is also being willing to take the time to promote them and yourself, as well as putting time and effort into forging a good relationship with your audience.

Why No Longer 10,000 Views?

YouTube used to let anybody monetize their videos, but that has now changed. Then for a while, you’ll qualify for monetization after reaching 10,000-lifetime views on your channel. But as of 2018, the rules to YouTube monetization has gotten more challenging.

To monetize you must have:

- 4,000 of annual watch time

- 1,000 subscribers

The reason for this is that YouTube was having trouble with channels that were trying to monetize stolen or inappropriate content, besides, YouTubers are gaming the system by using automated programs to gain more views. By making creators get more watch time and subscribers before they apply for monetization, YouTube has been able to create a review process in which they can prove that the channel has a legitimate audience and stop content thieves and criminals from making money. Naturally, this new rule also makes it very difficult for new YouTubers to make money.

Are you finding it difficult to earn money on YouTube? Subscribe to the Filmora.io YouTube channel for more tips on channel monetization.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Maximize Views, Magnify Impact (YouTube Marketing Essentials)

5 Tips to Get More Views with YouTube Optimization [Free Checklist]

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

We all want our videos to get a lot of views, and in turn, lead to more subscribers. In order to do so, we have to prepare it for success. If you are hoping to optimize a video after it has already been published to YouTube, then you aren’t going to get the best result, because much of optimization is done before the video is even shot.a

In this article, we will give youa checklist , which you should have with you at the very beginning of creating a YouTube video: the ideation stage. As you go through your process, check off each task. By doing so, you can ensure that you have given the video the best chance to rank high and be discovered.

How to Optimize Your Video to Rank Higher on YouTube?

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention
2. Do Keyword Research
3. Engage Your Audience
4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention:

Even though your view count is going up, it doesn’t mean your audience is watching your video. And if they are not, then YouTube is going to consider your video less valuable and therefore, lowering its rank.

Audience Retention is an important metric to keep an eye on after every video you’ve published.

Before you start your next project, take a look back at the Audience Retention of your previous videos.

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access to Analytics
3. Select the video you want to review
4. Click into engagement
5. See where a dip in watch time

What is Good Audience Retention?

If you want to see how your Audience Retention is performing, the Average Percentage Viewed will give you a broad perspective. The higher the percentage, the more people are watching your entire video.

If you get above 60% Average Percentage Viewed, you should feel very proud. In our modern world with our short attention span, that is considered good retention.

In the example above, we see that on average, a viewer will only see 44% of the video. For the video below, we see that it only has 30% of the video viewed. Overall, the first video is performing better.

There is also a dip that happens at the beginning in the second example, which indicates that viewers are skipping forward and about 20% then deciding it’s not worth continuing. It’s good data to help you improve your introduction and the hook.

If there is important information that you are presenting at a given point and in the Audience Retention you see that only a small percentage of your viewers actually see it, then for the next video, you might want to position the details in a different point in the video.

How to Improve Audience Retention

Here are a few ways you can retain your audience’s attention if you noticed a drop in viewership:

- Film a hook (introduce your video to let the audience know what to expect)

- Add b-roll (having supplemental footage to cut to makes your video more interesting to watch)

- Have a co-host (Having someone on screen gives the video more dynamic interactions)

- Edit out the unimportant stuff

- Write a conclusion (having a conclusion prepared will allow you to transition from the content of the video to the call to action without the audience even knowing) See this example by PolyMatter below and notice how seamless their ending is.

If you have a video that is doing a good job retaining the audience, then replicate it. If there isn’t, keep experimenting with new structures. Improving audience retention is not simply important for your ranking, but it will affirm that you are building quality videos.

Knowing how to structure your video will allow you to be strategic as you build out your content.

2. Do Keyword Research:

Many viewers find YouTube videos via search, and if you aren’t using the appropriate keywords, then YouTube won’t be able to identify your content and display it for your viewers.

Where Do Keywords Appear on YouTube?

- Title: Have keywords at the beginning of the title and limit them up to approximately 60 characters so it appears in full in search.

- Tags: Include 10-15 tags from general keywords to more specific.

- Descriptions: Put important information and keywords at the beginning of the description so both searcher and the search engine understands what the video is about.

Why Keywords Matter

keyword arrangement is an integral part of YouTube optimization because the robots behind YouTube don’t associate the value of the actual video content with what the viewer is actually seeking. You should pay attention to the relevance of keywords.

Even when you add closed captions, it doesn’t mean the best keywords are present to the Youtube search engine when we speak.

That is why it is important to know your audience and what words and phrases they are going to use to search for your video.

Here is how you can see what keywords were used to find your video:

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access Analytics
3. Select Reach
4. Click into Traffic Source
5. Click Traffic Source: YouTube Search

If you want to find some new keywords for your upcoming video, you will need to do some research.

1. Enter Keywords You Want to Rank for In YouTube Search: This allows you to see what the most popular phrases are in the YouTube search engine.

2. Study the Competitors: See which videos are ranking high for your search term. Use a tool called VidIQ to see the keywords that the top videos are performing.

3. Search for Related Keywords and Evaluate Relevancy: A tool called Ubersuggest can help you find related keywords and allow you to identify the search volume, cost per click (aka CPC is used for determining the budget for paid search), and the competitiveness of the word or phrase.

Search volume: The number of searches with that particular keyword. The higher the number the more popular it is. You should aim to use keywords with a high search volume.

Keyword competition score: This score is usually indicated by a number and it represents how difficult it is for a keyword to rank due to other pages already ranking for that word or phrase. You want to find a keyword with a low competition score.

Pro tip: The best combination is high search volume and low competition score. But if you can’t get that perfect mix, go for the low competitive score, as it will give you a better chance to rank, even if it isn’t searched as often.

4. Come Up With Content Related to Those Keywords: To come up with topic ideas around a keyword, you can use a tool called Answer the Public , which gives you all the most popular questions searched online.

3. Engage Your Audience:

It’s been highly discussed on forums all over the Internet, and there appears to be a strong correlation between YouTube video ranking and the number of likes, dislikes, and comments the video received.

While YouTube itself might not be using the number of likes and comments to determine where your video rank, having high engagement allows your video to be discovered through other means.

Here is an example of how it would work:

- A YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers views your video and likes it

- Then your video might be visible to a fraction of those 100,000 subscribers.

- Boom! Domino effect!

- More people will see your video and like it, increasing your network of viewers and your watch time, which is one of the main factors that YouTube takes into consideration.

Get engagements with a call to action:

- Don’t be afraid to ask for an engagement at the beginning of the video to avoid fall off on retention.

- Encourage them to leave a comment or start a discussion by asking a question at the end of your video.

- Monitor comments and responds to them so you can build a relationship with your audience over time.

It’s all about creating a community and that is what YouTube encourages.

4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length:

YouTube puts a lot of weight on watch time, and in addition to that, it puts more weight on session watch time.

Session watch time is counted when people watch your video and then continue to watch others, it doesn’t have to be your own. The more time people spend watching YouTube videos, as a result of your content, the more likely YouTube will increase your ranking.

Since YouTube puts importance on time spent watching videos, the length of your video will play a key role.

If you have 5 videos and all of them are a minute long, a 100% watch through will only get you 5 minutes total.

However, if you have 1 video that is 20 minutes, and an average viewer only watches half of it, then you have an average watch time of over 10 minutes. That’s more than double what your five short videos can do. This longer video is worth more. However, if that 20-minute video is really boring and people drop off in the first minute, then it’s not any better than 1 of the 5 short videos.

If your format allows, go for a longer video instead of a shorter one. But the most important thing is that you can keep people watching your videos: so use end screen and playlist links to keep them engaged.

End screen: Pick related videos for your audience, so they know exactly what they should watch next. You can even create a background template for your end screens .

Playlist: If you have multiple videos that fit a specific topic, add them to a playlist so the viewer can enjoy them all in one viewing.

Key Takeaways:

1. Use Audience Retention to better understand how to structure your video for the best results.
2. Perform Keyword Research to find the keywords that your competitors are using and your audience is searching for.
3. Increasing Subscribers gets your video in front of more people the moment it is published.
4. Encourage Comments and respond to establish a relationship with your viewers.
5. Ensure that Viewers Continue Watching videos on YouTube after they finish watching yours.

Other Things That Affects Your YouTube Ranking

Except for the above-mentioned factors, there are also other issues that affect the ranking of your YouTube video. YouTube has stated that the number of subscribers doesn’t play a key role in your video ranking.

For example, if a YouTuber has a million subscribers and then overnight they lose 100 thousand, a video they had ranking number 1 will still be ranked number 1.

However, the number of subscribers has a lot of indirect effects on your channel.

- Subscribers know the moment your video is published

- Subscribers will watch your video in the first week (YouTube will rank your video higher if they see a lift in the first week of publishing)

- YouTube put a higher value on subscribers than views and social shares, because it’s harder to fake subscribers

Growing subscribers take time and effort, and even though it shouldn’t be your main focus, there are tactics you can do to gain more subscribers .

Don’t miss a chance to optimize your YouTube video, download, and print out this checklist for your next video project. For more information on SEO(Search Engine Optimization) on YouTube, you can also read the following article.

How to Fast Rank Video Higher with Video SEO >>

10 Best YouTube Keyword Tools to Use with Bonus Tips>>

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Wondershare Filmora. It provides special effects, stock photo & video, sound library, etc., which will definitely enhance your productivity and helps to make money by making videos much accessible.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

We all want our videos to get a lot of views, and in turn, lead to more subscribers. In order to do so, we have to prepare it for success. If you are hoping to optimize a video after it has already been published to YouTube, then you aren’t going to get the best result, because much of optimization is done before the video is even shot.a

In this article, we will give youa checklist , which you should have with you at the very beginning of creating a YouTube video: the ideation stage. As you go through your process, check off each task. By doing so, you can ensure that you have given the video the best chance to rank high and be discovered.

How to Optimize Your Video to Rank Higher on YouTube?

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention
2. Do Keyword Research
3. Engage Your Audience
4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention:

Even though your view count is going up, it doesn’t mean your audience is watching your video. And if they are not, then YouTube is going to consider your video less valuable and therefore, lowering its rank.

Audience Retention is an important metric to keep an eye on after every video you’ve published.

Before you start your next project, take a look back at the Audience Retention of your previous videos.

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access to Analytics
3. Select the video you want to review
4. Click into engagement
5. See where a dip in watch time

What is Good Audience Retention?

If you want to see how your Audience Retention is performing, the Average Percentage Viewed will give you a broad perspective. The higher the percentage, the more people are watching your entire video.

If you get above 60% Average Percentage Viewed, you should feel very proud. In our modern world with our short attention span, that is considered good retention.

In the example above, we see that on average, a viewer will only see 44% of the video. For the video below, we see that it only has 30% of the video viewed. Overall, the first video is performing better.

There is also a dip that happens at the beginning in the second example, which indicates that viewers are skipping forward and about 20% then deciding it’s not worth continuing. It’s good data to help you improve your introduction and the hook.

If there is important information that you are presenting at a given point and in the Audience Retention you see that only a small percentage of your viewers actually see it, then for the next video, you might want to position the details in a different point in the video.

How to Improve Audience Retention

Here are a few ways you can retain your audience’s attention if you noticed a drop in viewership:

- Film a hook (introduce your video to let the audience know what to expect)

- Add b-roll (having supplemental footage to cut to makes your video more interesting to watch)

- Have a co-host (Having someone on screen gives the video more dynamic interactions)

- Edit out the unimportant stuff

- Write a conclusion (having a conclusion prepared will allow you to transition from the content of the video to the call to action without the audience even knowing) See this example by PolyMatter below and notice how seamless their ending is.

If you have a video that is doing a good job retaining the audience, then replicate it. If there isn’t, keep experimenting with new structures. Improving audience retention is not simply important for your ranking, but it will affirm that you are building quality videos.

Knowing how to structure your video will allow you to be strategic as you build out your content.

2. Do Keyword Research:

Many viewers find YouTube videos via search, and if you aren’t using the appropriate keywords, then YouTube won’t be able to identify your content and display it for your viewers.

Where Do Keywords Appear on YouTube?

- Title: Have keywords at the beginning of the title and limit them up to approximately 60 characters so it appears in full in search.

- Tags: Include 10-15 tags from general keywords to more specific.

- Descriptions: Put important information and keywords at the beginning of the description so both searcher and the search engine understands what the video is about.

Why Keywords Matter

keyword arrangement is an integral part of YouTube optimization because the robots behind YouTube don’t associate the value of the actual video content with what the viewer is actually seeking. You should pay attention to the relevance of keywords.

Even when you add closed captions, it doesn’t mean the best keywords are present to the Youtube search engine when we speak.

That is why it is important to know your audience and what words and phrases they are going to use to search for your video.

Here is how you can see what keywords were used to find your video:

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access Analytics
3. Select Reach
4. Click into Traffic Source
5. Click Traffic Source: YouTube Search

If you want to find some new keywords for your upcoming video, you will need to do some research.

1. Enter Keywords You Want to Rank for In YouTube Search: This allows you to see what the most popular phrases are in the YouTube search engine.

2. Study the Competitors: See which videos are ranking high for your search term. Use a tool called VidIQ to see the keywords that the top videos are performing.

3. Search for Related Keywords and Evaluate Relevancy: A tool called Ubersuggest can help you find related keywords and allow you to identify the search volume, cost per click (aka CPC is used for determining the budget for paid search), and the competitiveness of the word or phrase.

Search volume: The number of searches with that particular keyword. The higher the number the more popular it is. You should aim to use keywords with a high search volume.

Keyword competition score: This score is usually indicated by a number and it represents how difficult it is for a keyword to rank due to other pages already ranking for that word or phrase. You want to find a keyword with a low competition score.

Pro tip: The best combination is high search volume and low competition score. But if you can’t get that perfect mix, go for the low competitive score, as it will give you a better chance to rank, even if it isn’t searched as often.

4. Come Up With Content Related to Those Keywords: To come up with topic ideas around a keyword, you can use a tool called Answer the Public , which gives you all the most popular questions searched online.

3. Engage Your Audience:

It’s been highly discussed on forums all over the Internet, and there appears to be a strong correlation between YouTube video ranking and the number of likes, dislikes, and comments the video received.

While YouTube itself might not be using the number of likes and comments to determine where your video rank, having high engagement allows your video to be discovered through other means.

Here is an example of how it would work:

- A YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers views your video and likes it

- Then your video might be visible to a fraction of those 100,000 subscribers.

- Boom! Domino effect!

- More people will see your video and like it, increasing your network of viewers and your watch time, which is one of the main factors that YouTube takes into consideration.

Get engagements with a call to action:

- Don’t be afraid to ask for an engagement at the beginning of the video to avoid fall off on retention.

- Encourage them to leave a comment or start a discussion by asking a question at the end of your video.

- Monitor comments and responds to them so you can build a relationship with your audience over time.

It’s all about creating a community and that is what YouTube encourages.

4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length:

YouTube puts a lot of weight on watch time, and in addition to that, it puts more weight on session watch time.

Session watch time is counted when people watch your video and then continue to watch others, it doesn’t have to be your own. The more time people spend watching YouTube videos, as a result of your content, the more likely YouTube will increase your ranking.

Since YouTube puts importance on time spent watching videos, the length of your video will play a key role.

If you have 5 videos and all of them are a minute long, a 100% watch through will only get you 5 minutes total.

However, if you have 1 video that is 20 minutes, and an average viewer only watches half of it, then you have an average watch time of over 10 minutes. That’s more than double what your five short videos can do. This longer video is worth more. However, if that 20-minute video is really boring and people drop off in the first minute, then it’s not any better than 1 of the 5 short videos.

If your format allows, go for a longer video instead of a shorter one. But the most important thing is that you can keep people watching your videos: so use end screen and playlist links to keep them engaged.

End screen: Pick related videos for your audience, so they know exactly what they should watch next. You can even create a background template for your end screens .

Playlist: If you have multiple videos that fit a specific topic, add them to a playlist so the viewer can enjoy them all in one viewing.

Key Takeaways:

1. Use Audience Retention to better understand how to structure your video for the best results.
2. Perform Keyword Research to find the keywords that your competitors are using and your audience is searching for.
3. Increasing Subscribers gets your video in front of more people the moment it is published.
4. Encourage Comments and respond to establish a relationship with your viewers.
5. Ensure that Viewers Continue Watching videos on YouTube after they finish watching yours.

Other Things That Affects Your YouTube Ranking

Except for the above-mentioned factors, there are also other issues that affect the ranking of your YouTube video. YouTube has stated that the number of subscribers doesn’t play a key role in your video ranking.

For example, if a YouTuber has a million subscribers and then overnight they lose 100 thousand, a video they had ranking number 1 will still be ranked number 1.

However, the number of subscribers has a lot of indirect effects on your channel.

- Subscribers know the moment your video is published

- Subscribers will watch your video in the first week (YouTube will rank your video higher if they see a lift in the first week of publishing)

- YouTube put a higher value on subscribers than views and social shares, because it’s harder to fake subscribers

Growing subscribers take time and effort, and even though it shouldn’t be your main focus, there are tactics you can do to gain more subscribers .

Don’t miss a chance to optimize your YouTube video, download, and print out this checklist for your next video project. For more information on SEO(Search Engine Optimization) on YouTube, you can also read the following article.

How to Fast Rank Video Higher with Video SEO >>

10 Best YouTube Keyword Tools to Use with Bonus Tips>>

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Wondershare Filmora. It provides special effects, stock photo & video, sound library, etc., which will definitely enhance your productivity and helps to make money by making videos much accessible.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

We all want our videos to get a lot of views, and in turn, lead to more subscribers. In order to do so, we have to prepare it for success. If you are hoping to optimize a video after it has already been published to YouTube, then you aren’t going to get the best result, because much of optimization is done before the video is even shot.a

In this article, we will give youa checklist , which you should have with you at the very beginning of creating a YouTube video: the ideation stage. As you go through your process, check off each task. By doing so, you can ensure that you have given the video the best chance to rank high and be discovered.

How to Optimize Your Video to Rank Higher on YouTube?

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention
2. Do Keyword Research
3. Engage Your Audience
4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention:

Even though your view count is going up, it doesn’t mean your audience is watching your video. And if they are not, then YouTube is going to consider your video less valuable and therefore, lowering its rank.

Audience Retention is an important metric to keep an eye on after every video you’ve published.

Before you start your next project, take a look back at the Audience Retention of your previous videos.

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access to Analytics
3. Select the video you want to review
4. Click into engagement
5. See where a dip in watch time

What is Good Audience Retention?

If you want to see how your Audience Retention is performing, the Average Percentage Viewed will give you a broad perspective. The higher the percentage, the more people are watching your entire video.

If you get above 60% Average Percentage Viewed, you should feel very proud. In our modern world with our short attention span, that is considered good retention.

In the example above, we see that on average, a viewer will only see 44% of the video. For the video below, we see that it only has 30% of the video viewed. Overall, the first video is performing better.

There is also a dip that happens at the beginning in the second example, which indicates that viewers are skipping forward and about 20% then deciding it’s not worth continuing. It’s good data to help you improve your introduction and the hook.

If there is important information that you are presenting at a given point and in the Audience Retention you see that only a small percentage of your viewers actually see it, then for the next video, you might want to position the details in a different point in the video.

How to Improve Audience Retention

Here are a few ways you can retain your audience’s attention if you noticed a drop in viewership:

- Film a hook (introduce your video to let the audience know what to expect)

- Add b-roll (having supplemental footage to cut to makes your video more interesting to watch)

- Have a co-host (Having someone on screen gives the video more dynamic interactions)

- Edit out the unimportant stuff

- Write a conclusion (having a conclusion prepared will allow you to transition from the content of the video to the call to action without the audience even knowing) See this example by PolyMatter below and notice how seamless their ending is.

If you have a video that is doing a good job retaining the audience, then replicate it. If there isn’t, keep experimenting with new structures. Improving audience retention is not simply important for your ranking, but it will affirm that you are building quality videos.

Knowing how to structure your video will allow you to be strategic as you build out your content.

2. Do Keyword Research:

Many viewers find YouTube videos via search, and if you aren’t using the appropriate keywords, then YouTube won’t be able to identify your content and display it for your viewers.

Where Do Keywords Appear on YouTube?

- Title: Have keywords at the beginning of the title and limit them up to approximately 60 characters so it appears in full in search.

- Tags: Include 10-15 tags from general keywords to more specific.

- Descriptions: Put important information and keywords at the beginning of the description so both searcher and the search engine understands what the video is about.

Why Keywords Matter

keyword arrangement is an integral part of YouTube optimization because the robots behind YouTube don’t associate the value of the actual video content with what the viewer is actually seeking. You should pay attention to the relevance of keywords.

Even when you add closed captions, it doesn’t mean the best keywords are present to the Youtube search engine when we speak.

That is why it is important to know your audience and what words and phrases they are going to use to search for your video.

Here is how you can see what keywords were used to find your video:

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access Analytics
3. Select Reach
4. Click into Traffic Source
5. Click Traffic Source: YouTube Search

If you want to find some new keywords for your upcoming video, you will need to do some research.

1. Enter Keywords You Want to Rank for In YouTube Search: This allows you to see what the most popular phrases are in the YouTube search engine.

2. Study the Competitors: See which videos are ranking high for your search term. Use a tool called VidIQ to see the keywords that the top videos are performing.

3. Search for Related Keywords and Evaluate Relevancy: A tool called Ubersuggest can help you find related keywords and allow you to identify the search volume, cost per click (aka CPC is used for determining the budget for paid search), and the competitiveness of the word or phrase.

Search volume: The number of searches with that particular keyword. The higher the number the more popular it is. You should aim to use keywords with a high search volume.

Keyword competition score: This score is usually indicated by a number and it represents how difficult it is for a keyword to rank due to other pages already ranking for that word or phrase. You want to find a keyword with a low competition score.

Pro tip: The best combination is high search volume and low competition score. But if you can’t get that perfect mix, go for the low competitive score, as it will give you a better chance to rank, even if it isn’t searched as often.

4. Come Up With Content Related to Those Keywords: To come up with topic ideas around a keyword, you can use a tool called Answer the Public , which gives you all the most popular questions searched online.

3. Engage Your Audience:

It’s been highly discussed on forums all over the Internet, and there appears to be a strong correlation between YouTube video ranking and the number of likes, dislikes, and comments the video received.

While YouTube itself might not be using the number of likes and comments to determine where your video rank, having high engagement allows your video to be discovered through other means.

Here is an example of how it would work:

- A YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers views your video and likes it

- Then your video might be visible to a fraction of those 100,000 subscribers.

- Boom! Domino effect!

- More people will see your video and like it, increasing your network of viewers and your watch time, which is one of the main factors that YouTube takes into consideration.

Get engagements with a call to action:

- Don’t be afraid to ask for an engagement at the beginning of the video to avoid fall off on retention.

- Encourage them to leave a comment or start a discussion by asking a question at the end of your video.

- Monitor comments and responds to them so you can build a relationship with your audience over time.

It’s all about creating a community and that is what YouTube encourages.

4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length:

YouTube puts a lot of weight on watch time, and in addition to that, it puts more weight on session watch time.

Session watch time is counted when people watch your video and then continue to watch others, it doesn’t have to be your own. The more time people spend watching YouTube videos, as a result of your content, the more likely YouTube will increase your ranking.

Since YouTube puts importance on time spent watching videos, the length of your video will play a key role.

If you have 5 videos and all of them are a minute long, a 100% watch through will only get you 5 minutes total.

However, if you have 1 video that is 20 minutes, and an average viewer only watches half of it, then you have an average watch time of over 10 minutes. That’s more than double what your five short videos can do. This longer video is worth more. However, if that 20-minute video is really boring and people drop off in the first minute, then it’s not any better than 1 of the 5 short videos.

If your format allows, go for a longer video instead of a shorter one. But the most important thing is that you can keep people watching your videos: so use end screen and playlist links to keep them engaged.

End screen: Pick related videos for your audience, so they know exactly what they should watch next. You can even create a background template for your end screens .

Playlist: If you have multiple videos that fit a specific topic, add them to a playlist so the viewer can enjoy them all in one viewing.

Key Takeaways:

1. Use Audience Retention to better understand how to structure your video for the best results.
2. Perform Keyword Research to find the keywords that your competitors are using and your audience is searching for.
3. Increasing Subscribers gets your video in front of more people the moment it is published.
4. Encourage Comments and respond to establish a relationship with your viewers.
5. Ensure that Viewers Continue Watching videos on YouTube after they finish watching yours.

Other Things That Affects Your YouTube Ranking

Except for the above-mentioned factors, there are also other issues that affect the ranking of your YouTube video. YouTube has stated that the number of subscribers doesn’t play a key role in your video ranking.

For example, if a YouTuber has a million subscribers and then overnight they lose 100 thousand, a video they had ranking number 1 will still be ranked number 1.

However, the number of subscribers has a lot of indirect effects on your channel.

- Subscribers know the moment your video is published

- Subscribers will watch your video in the first week (YouTube will rank your video higher if they see a lift in the first week of publishing)

- YouTube put a higher value on subscribers than views and social shares, because it’s harder to fake subscribers

Growing subscribers take time and effort, and even though it shouldn’t be your main focus, there are tactics you can do to gain more subscribers .

Don’t miss a chance to optimize your YouTube video, download, and print out this checklist for your next video project. For more information on SEO(Search Engine Optimization) on YouTube, you can also read the following article.

How to Fast Rank Video Higher with Video SEO >>

10 Best YouTube Keyword Tools to Use with Bonus Tips>>

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Wondershare Filmora. It provides special effects, stock photo & video, sound library, etc., which will definitely enhance your productivity and helps to make money by making videos much accessible.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

0

We all want our videos to get a lot of views, and in turn, lead to more subscribers. In order to do so, we have to prepare it for success. If you are hoping to optimize a video after it has already been published to YouTube, then you aren’t going to get the best result, because much of optimization is done before the video is even shot.a

In this article, we will give youa checklist , which you should have with you at the very beginning of creating a YouTube video: the ideation stage. As you go through your process, check off each task. By doing so, you can ensure that you have given the video the best chance to rank high and be discovered.

How to Optimize Your Video to Rank Higher on YouTube?

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention
2. Do Keyword Research
3. Engage Your Audience
4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length

1. Keep Your Audience’s Attention:

Even though your view count is going up, it doesn’t mean your audience is watching your video. And if they are not, then YouTube is going to consider your video less valuable and therefore, lowering its rank.

Audience Retention is an important metric to keep an eye on after every video you’ve published.

Before you start your next project, take a look back at the Audience Retention of your previous videos.

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access to Analytics
3. Select the video you want to review
4. Click into engagement
5. See where a dip in watch time

What is Good Audience Retention?

If you want to see how your Audience Retention is performing, the Average Percentage Viewed will give you a broad perspective. The higher the percentage, the more people are watching your entire video.

If you get above 60% Average Percentage Viewed, you should feel very proud. In our modern world with our short attention span, that is considered good retention.

In the example above, we see that on average, a viewer will only see 44% of the video. For the video below, we see that it only has 30% of the video viewed. Overall, the first video is performing better.

There is also a dip that happens at the beginning in the second example, which indicates that viewers are skipping forward and about 20% then deciding it’s not worth continuing. It’s good data to help you improve your introduction and the hook.

If there is important information that you are presenting at a given point and in the Audience Retention you see that only a small percentage of your viewers actually see it, then for the next video, you might want to position the details in a different point in the video.

How to Improve Audience Retention

Here are a few ways you can retain your audience’s attention if you noticed a drop in viewership:

- Film a hook (introduce your video to let the audience know what to expect)

- Add b-roll (having supplemental footage to cut to makes your video more interesting to watch)

- Have a co-host (Having someone on screen gives the video more dynamic interactions)

- Edit out the unimportant stuff

- Write a conclusion (having a conclusion prepared will allow you to transition from the content of the video to the call to action without the audience even knowing) See this example by PolyMatter below and notice how seamless their ending is.

If you have a video that is doing a good job retaining the audience, then replicate it. If there isn’t, keep experimenting with new structures. Improving audience retention is not simply important for your ranking, but it will affirm that you are building quality videos.

Knowing how to structure your video will allow you to be strategic as you build out your content.

2. Do Keyword Research:

Many viewers find YouTube videos via search, and if you aren’t using the appropriate keywords, then YouTube won’t be able to identify your content and display it for your viewers.

Where Do Keywords Appear on YouTube?

- Title: Have keywords at the beginning of the title and limit them up to approximately 60 characters so it appears in full in search.

- Tags: Include 10-15 tags from general keywords to more specific.

- Descriptions: Put important information and keywords at the beginning of the description so both searcher and the search engine understands what the video is about.

Why Keywords Matter

keyword arrangement is an integral part of YouTube optimization because the robots behind YouTube don’t associate the value of the actual video content with what the viewer is actually seeking. You should pay attention to the relevance of keywords.

Even when you add closed captions, it doesn’t mean the best keywords are present to the Youtube search engine when we speak.

That is why it is important to know your audience and what words and phrases they are going to use to search for your video.

Here is how you can see what keywords were used to find your video:

1. Enter YouTube Studio in your channel
2. Access Analytics
3. Select Reach
4. Click into Traffic Source
5. Click Traffic Source: YouTube Search

If you want to find some new keywords for your upcoming video, you will need to do some research.

1. Enter Keywords You Want to Rank for In YouTube Search: This allows you to see what the most popular phrases are in the YouTube search engine.

2. Study the Competitors: See which videos are ranking high for your search term. Use a tool called VidIQ to see the keywords that the top videos are performing.

3. Search for Related Keywords and Evaluate Relevancy: A tool called Ubersuggest can help you find related keywords and allow you to identify the search volume, cost per click (aka CPC is used for determining the budget for paid search), and the competitiveness of the word or phrase.

Search volume: The number of searches with that particular keyword. The higher the number the more popular it is. You should aim to use keywords with a high search volume.

Keyword competition score: This score is usually indicated by a number and it represents how difficult it is for a keyword to rank due to other pages already ranking for that word or phrase. You want to find a keyword with a low competition score.

Pro tip: The best combination is high search volume and low competition score. But if you can’t get that perfect mix, go for the low competitive score, as it will give you a better chance to rank, even if it isn’t searched as often.

4. Come Up With Content Related to Those Keywords: To come up with topic ideas around a keyword, you can use a tool called Answer the Public , which gives you all the most popular questions searched online.

3. Engage Your Audience:

It’s been highly discussed on forums all over the Internet, and there appears to be a strong correlation between YouTube video ranking and the number of likes, dislikes, and comments the video received.

While YouTube itself might not be using the number of likes and comments to determine where your video rank, having high engagement allows your video to be discovered through other means.

Here is an example of how it would work:

- A YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers views your video and likes it

- Then your video might be visible to a fraction of those 100,000 subscribers.

- Boom! Domino effect!

- More people will see your video and like it, increasing your network of viewers and your watch time, which is one of the main factors that YouTube takes into consideration.

Get engagements with a call to action:

- Don’t be afraid to ask for an engagement at the beginning of the video to avoid fall off on retention.

- Encourage them to leave a comment or start a discussion by asking a question at the end of your video.

- Monitor comments and responds to them so you can build a relationship with your audience over time.

It’s all about creating a community and that is what YouTube encourages.

4. Upload YouTube Video in Proper Length:

YouTube puts a lot of weight on watch time, and in addition to that, it puts more weight on session watch time.

Session watch time is counted when people watch your video and then continue to watch others, it doesn’t have to be your own. The more time people spend watching YouTube videos, as a result of your content, the more likely YouTube will increase your ranking.

Since YouTube puts importance on time spent watching videos, the length of your video will play a key role.

If you have 5 videos and all of them are a minute long, a 100% watch through will only get you 5 minutes total.

However, if you have 1 video that is 20 minutes, and an average viewer only watches half of it, then you have an average watch time of over 10 minutes. That’s more than double what your five short videos can do. This longer video is worth more. However, if that 20-minute video is really boring and people drop off in the first minute, then it’s not any better than 1 of the 5 short videos.

If your format allows, go for a longer video instead of a shorter one. But the most important thing is that you can keep people watching your videos: so use end screen and playlist links to keep them engaged.

End screen: Pick related videos for your audience, so they know exactly what they should watch next. You can even create a background template for your end screens .

Playlist: If you have multiple videos that fit a specific topic, add them to a playlist so the viewer can enjoy them all in one viewing.

Key Takeaways:

1. Use Audience Retention to better understand how to structure your video for the best results.
2. Perform Keyword Research to find the keywords that your competitors are using and your audience is searching for.
3. Increasing Subscribers gets your video in front of more people the moment it is published.
4. Encourage Comments and respond to establish a relationship with your viewers.
5. Ensure that Viewers Continue Watching videos on YouTube after they finish watching yours.

Other Things That Affects Your YouTube Ranking

Except for the above-mentioned factors, there are also other issues that affect the ranking of your YouTube video. YouTube has stated that the number of subscribers doesn’t play a key role in your video ranking.

For example, if a YouTuber has a million subscribers and then overnight they lose 100 thousand, a video they had ranking number 1 will still be ranked number 1.

However, the number of subscribers has a lot of indirect effects on your channel.

- Subscribers know the moment your video is published

- Subscribers will watch your video in the first week (YouTube will rank your video higher if they see a lift in the first week of publishing)

- YouTube put a higher value on subscribers than views and social shares, because it’s harder to fake subscribers

Growing subscribers take time and effort, and even though it shouldn’t be your main focus, there are tactics you can do to gain more subscribers .

Don’t miss a chance to optimize your YouTube video, download, and print out this checklist for your next video project. For more information on SEO(Search Engine Optimization) on YouTube, you can also read the following article.

How to Fast Rank Video Higher with Video SEO >>

10 Best YouTube Keyword Tools to Use with Bonus Tips>>

If you want to find a video editing solution that empowers your imagination and creativity yet takes less effort, please try this robust and user-friendly video editing software Wondershare Filmora. It provides special effects, stock photo & video, sound library, etc., which will definitely enhance your productivity and helps to make money by making videos much accessible.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

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