If you are a content creator on YouTube, one of the questions you may have is the requirement for monetization. YouTube monetization is a key concern for many creators as it helps them start a side hustle or even make a full-time income working on the platform.  

You may also want to know how much YouTube pays per view if your videos are already receiving views. With the different monetization options available, all with different requirements, it can be hard to understand the requirements and earning potential. Fortunately, this article will guide you on YouTube monetization and answer how much YouTube pays per view. 

What is YouTube Monetization?

YouTube monetization is the program that allows creators to monetize their work on the platform. The income from YouTube is usually generated in different ways. Still, it is primarily from ads that YouTube posts in their videos either before, during, or after they have finished playing. YouTube has set several conditions that creators need to adhere to before they can monetize their videos.

Requirement for Joining the YouTube Monetization Program

Before you can start monetizing your videos and earning from views, you will need to apply for the YouTube Partner Program. This is the program that allows content creators to earn from their videos. Content creators must meet several conditions before they enroll in this program. These are:

Follow YouTube monetization policy

YouTube has some guidelines and policies that content creators should comply with before joining the YPP. These are like rules books guiding creators on YouTube on how they should behave. They apply to different elements on the platform, from videos to thumbnails and comments.

Subscribers and Watch Hours 

You must have accumulated at least 4,000 watch hours in the last year. This metric will show that your videos are engaging and have returning viewers. The watch hours of the long videos and shorts are counted separately.

You also need to have a minimum of 1000 subscribers. This number will show YouTube that your channel has a dedicated audience ready to view your videos.

Active AdSense Account

You should have an active AdSense account. AdSense is a Google advertising method that allows content creators to display ads on their videos or websites. If you don't have AdSense, you should create one to link it to your YouTube account.

Monetized Location 

You should be living in a jurisdiction where YouTube monetization is possible. Remember that this rule considers where you live and not the target location of your content. This is for several reasons, such as living in a country reputed for fraudulent activities. If there is a vast number of YouTube content creators earning money fraudulently on the platform, the country can get blacklisted.

Two-step Verification

You should have added a security layer to your Google account through the two-step verification.

Have No Strikes for Community Guidelines

If your account has ever been stricken for breaking the community guidelines, you will be disqualified from monetizing it. Therefore, when creating content, you must ensure it adheres to the community standards and can be used for advertising. If you get a community guideline strike, you will be informed through the YouTube studio or by email. You will be informed of the content that has been removed, the exact guidelines it broke, and the effect it has on your channel. You will also be advised on the next step.

If it's your first time violating the YouTube community guidelines, it will only result in a warning. If you get another strike within 90 days, some privileges will be removed. Some of these privileges include:

• Going live
• Uploading playlists
• Creating playlists with friends

After one week, the privileges will be restored, but the strike will remain on your channel for 90 days. If you have three strikes in 90 days, your channel will be permanently removed from the platform.

Joining the YouTube Partner Program

After you have met all the monetization requirements, you should apply for the monetization program. To do that, you will need to visit the YouTube Earn page. This page tracks the number of subscribers and watch hours you have. If you are qualified, YouTube will give you a green light on this page.

When you apply for monetization for the first time and are rejected, you are given 21 days to appeal. After that, you can only reapply after 21 days. If you get rejected for the second time, you are given 21 days to appeal. After that, you can only reapply after 90 days. 

Though this may appear harsh, it's a good approach as it shows that YouTube prioritizes new applicants over repeat applicants. It's advisable to use the time to fix any issues that may have caused the strike.

Steps to Apply for the YouTube Monetization

When ready to apply for monetization, you can go to YouTube Studio. On the navigation menu located on the left, click on Earn. That will take you to the YPP application page, where you should complete four steps. These are:

• Go through the YPP terms of service and accept them.
• Set up the Google AdSense account and connect it to your channel.
• Add the two-factor authentication for your channel
• Give YouTube time to review your channel and provide you with feedback

How long Does it Take to Get Accepted to the YouTube Partner Program?

After completing the official application process, how long will it take to get monetized? According to the official YouTube page, you can expect to get feedback from YouTube within one month. However, many creators suggest that they have been monetized before that. Some have been monetized in as little as 72 hours. So, you need to keep checking your email.

How to Reapply After You Have Been Rejected

Getting denied the chance to monetize your channel after putting in much effort can be disappointing. But as we noted earlier, you don’t have to be disappointed as you can always reapply. According to YouTube, creators should avoid uploading videos that:

• Look like duplicates.
• Reusing other creator's videos that aren't original or transformative.
• Manipulating their engagement to improve their number of likes, views, subscribers, watch time, and more.
• Engaging in illegal activities such as pretending to be someone else or engaging in scams.

Even if you are already a partner in the program, making one of the above mistakes can lead to suspension. If suspended, you must go through the 21-day appeal and then the 30-day wait.

Turning on Ads

You can now apply for monetization when you are accepted into the program, and your videos meet the advertiser-friendly content guidelines. You can determine if your videos qualify through the self-certification guidance on the monetization page.

When you turn on ads, this doesn't mean that ads will automatically appear in all your content. Before an ad appears on your videos, it will be reviewed by the system or even a human being to determine if it meets their guidelines. When you turn on video ads, you confirm you have the necessary video and image rights. YouTube also streams hundreds of free shows; therefore, such cannot be monetized.

How Much YouTube Pays Per View

Now that you understand the monetization guidelines and requirements, it's time to understand the most important part: how much YouTube pays per view. You should realize that the amount you will earn is dependent on different factors. These include the budget of the advertiser and the location of the viewer.

For instance, if you run a gaming tutorial on YouTube,  your earnings will differ from that of someone who runs a celebrity gossip channel. It should also be considered that YouTube takes 45% of ad earnings and content creators earn 55%. Therefore, for every 10 ad revenue paid, YouTube will take $45, while content creators will take $55.So, how much does YouTube pay?

YouTube pays are between $0.01 and $0.03 per view. That means you can earn between $10 and $30 for every 1000 views. However, since this number is affected by the factors we listed above. It is just an estimate, and the actual amount can be lower or higher than this.

How Much Can You Make With YouTube Shorts For 100 Views?

While it's a relatively new feature borrowed from TikTok, YouTube Shorts allows content creators to upload videos for up to 60 seconds. Similarly, TikTok is introducing 30-minute videos to challenge YouTube. Currently, YouTube allows the monetization of YouTube shorts. You can make between $0.01 and $0.06 per 1000 views. As you may have noticed, this figure is lower than that of long-form videos.

Therefore, making meaningful income from YouTube Shorts can be hard unless you get millions of views. But it is also worth noting that YouTube pushes YouTube short videos more in a bid to compete with TikTok. Therefore, you may not have to put as much effort into monetizing with YouTube Shorts as you would need to do with long-form videos.

Steps to Monetizing YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts are one of the latest YouTube trends. Earning through YouTube Shorts is a bit different from earning through long-form videos. One of the key differences is that the revenue from YouTube Shorts is shared between different parties, such as creators and the holders of the music rights. Here are the steps YouTube follows when determining YouTube Shorts earnings:

• All the revenue from YouTube Shorts is put in a pool.
• YouTube calculates the amount that goes to the creator pool. This usually depends on the number of views and how the creator uses music in the short videos. For instance, if creators aren't using music in their shorts, they retain all the earnings. But if they do, their revenue will be split between them and the owner of the music.
• If you are a monetized creator, YouTube will distribute the music revenue. This will depend on the total number of views the creator gets.
• Creators keep 45% of the revenue.

Example of How The YouTube Shorts Monetization Works

Let us now look at an example of how the YouTube Shorts earnings work:

1. Assuming you are a creator in the U.S., you upload a short video that receives 1 million views.
2. That month, the number of views for shorts uploaded in the United States was 400 million. From the ads appearing in those shorts, YouTube makes $400,000.
3. From the monetized shorts,30% aren’t using any music, while another 30% use only one track. The other 40% uses two tracks.
4. YouTube allocates funds to creators depending on the number of views per short. Based on our example, here is how the revenue will be distributed.

• 100% of the revenue earned by videos with no music will be put in the creator fund.
• Half of the revenue for creators using one track will be put in the creator fund.
• 33% of the revenue earned by videos with two tracks will be put into the creator's funds.

Therefore, YouTube will allocate $220,000 to the creator pool while the rest of the funds will be allocated to the music copyright holders. The one million views you got account for O.125% of the total views. That means your earnings will be 0.125% of $220,000, which is $275. You will be paid 45% of the creator's fund, bringing your earnings to $123. Your earnings per 1000 views are, therefore, $1.23(123/1000)

Other Ways to Earn with YouTube Shorts

Besides the YouTube Partner Program, there are some other ways you can make money with YouTube Shorts. These are:

Affiliate Marketing

This is a program where you promote another business's products for a commission. So, when marketing products on YouTube Shorts, you can add an affiliate link to the comment section of the YouTube Short. 

For instance, if your YouTube Short reviews the Samsung Galaxy S24, you can register for the Amazon affiliate program and include a link to the phone in the comment section. You get paid a commission when someone clicks on the link and buys the products or any other product on Amazon.

Product Sales

Another option is to get your products to sell on the short videos. When doing so, ensuring your product is related to the short video is essential. Otherwise, the audience may not relate to your product. Like in affiliate marketing, you must add the link to your store in the comment section.

Brand Sponsorship

Another way in which content creators monetize their YouTube shorts is through brand sponsorship. This works in a way that allows you to create sponsored content on behalf of a brand. The good thing about this monetization method is that it can earn you a decent amount of money, probably even higher than the YouTube Partnership Program.

When searching for brands to collaborate with, find one related to your niche. Though there are no hard rules on that. You must also note that while you will not need millions of followers to get brand sponsorship deals, you still have a sizable following.

Patreon

This is a subscription-based service where fans give creators tokens to show appreciation for their content. In exchange, the fans are given exclusive content and other benefits. Many big channels with hundreds of thousands or even millions of viewers use Patreon as it helps them complement their ad earnings.

Tips for Increasing Your YouTube Shorts Earnings

Here are ways to increase your earnings on Youtube Shorts:

Keep creating videos consistently

As noted earlier, you need many fans to make a sizable income from YouTube Shorts. Even when using the alternative earning methods listed above, the higher your number of subscribers, the higher your chances of earning more. So, how do you get more views of your videos? Your best bet is to create content continuously. Remember that the more short videos you create, the more your chances of your videos going viral.

Use eye-catching titles and thumbnails

Another way you can easily capture viewers is by using high-quality thumbnails and titles. This is one of the factors that will determine if potential viewers click on your videos or not. No matter how good your video is, if you use a boring thumbnail, nobody will click on it. Ensure you use an eye-catching thumbnail that easily grabs people's attention. 

The best way of mastering the art of creating thumbnails is by watching how other channels with millions of views are doing. Here are some tips on creating a good thumbnail:

• Use the right size of an image. A good idea would be to use the recommended YouTube thumbnail size of 1280 x 720 pixels. You can also go with the everyday aspect ratio of 16:9.
• Ensure that you have a fantastic image for your thumbnail image. The image is what grabs people's attention on a thumbnail. Therefore, to get noticed, you should use a high-quality photo. You can pick a still from your video and edit it using software such as Photoshop or Canva. Use facial expressions or other emotions to help capture your audience's attention.
• Use some text. Adding text to your thumbnails comes with a lot of benefits. The main one is that it provides viewers with a context concerning the text. If you only use an image alone, it will not provide the context, no matter how good. Be creative with your texts. For instance, if creating a video series, you can use numbers.
• Go minimalistic. When creating a thumbnail, you should note that less is more. Since the thumbnail acts as the video teaser, you should keep the text bare minimum.

Monitor your analytics

When creating YouTube Shorts, it's advisable to keep an eye on your analytics. Some of the metrics you should keep watch over are:

• Comments and likes
• Number of views
• The average duration of views

You should watch the views vs. swiped away metric on YouTube Shorts. This metric shows the percentage of viewers that watch your shorts compared to those that swipe away. If there is a massive number of viewers swiping away, this will send the wrong signal to YouTube. It will signal to YouTube that your short videos aren't engaging, so the platform will stop promoting them. Take time also to understand the video completion rate and how to use it.

Learn from other shorts

A great place to get inspiration for your short videos is from other short videos receiving millions of views. You need to check them out to see what they are doing right. When doing that, consider different factors such as:

• The kind of thumbnails they are using.
• Type of title they are using.
• The keywords they are using.

Apply what you learn from these videos to your shorts.

Experiment with different kinds of videos

Instead of sticking to one kind of video, you must be creative and experiment with different types. That way, you can see the kind of videos that are resonating well with viewers. Again, a great place to draw inspiration when doing that is from other short videos in your niche.

Experiment with different revenue streams

Don’t just rely on one revenue stream. Try different revenue streams such as sponsored products, affiliate marketing, and product sales. After all, we have already noted that the big channels also use Patreon to complement their ad revenue.

FAQs on YouTube Shorts Monetization

Here are some of the frequently asked questions on YouTube Shorts monetization:

Can you monetize your YouTube channel with shorts alone?

Yes, monetizing your YouTube channel with short videos is possible. However, you need millions of views to make a meaningful income from shorts. That is why combining earnings from YouTube with other methods is advisable.

Can you earn money with YouTube Short funds?

No. It is no longer possible to earn with the YouTube Shorts fund. This is because the fund was discontinued in 2023. Instead, it was replaced with the YouTube Partner Program, which we have discussed in detail above.

Final Thoughts

YouTube is arguably the best platform for video content creators to earn through ad revenue. However, with their strict rules and guidelines, getting monetized on the platform can be tricky if you don't follow their rules. Fortunately, our guide will help you avoid most content creators' pitfalls. It will also hint at how much you can earn from YouTube's 1000 views. We recommend that you also read our YouTube gaming tutorial.