Rachel
YouTube has become a household name used by people of all ages. Speaking of age, did you know the highest paid YouTube channel of 2018 belongs to a 7-year-old kid?! A 7-year-old kid with the YouTube Channel Ryan ToyReviews has made a total of $22 million on YouTube by posting videos of him playing with and reviewing toys.
Realistically speaking, you may not gross $22 million from YouTube views, ads, and clicks, but you can turn your YouTube channel into a profitable and marketable means for your website.
First, if you haven’t created a YouTube channel yet, you need to. A YouTube channel connected to your website, and vice versa, will give viewers a way to enjoy your content without having to read it. This video marketing tool will enable you to create content that your potential customers can share, like and view all on a handy app on their Smartphones.
If you have created a YouTube channel, then you need to implement a call-to-action in your posts.
Call-to-Action: What is it and Why do I Need it?
A call-to-action is a prompt within a website or application that asks a reader to do something specific.
For YouTube, we will use this example:
If a visitor has arrived at your YouTube channel through a Google or YouTube search, you should create a call-to-action that specifically tells the visitor to go to your website by clicking the link below or the link embedded into the video post.
This is the first way you can use YouTube to drive traffic to your website. Or vis-versa, you can steer customers to from your social media platforms to your YouTube channel.
Familiarize Yourself with the Video Description Box
When you post a video to YouTube, you can add a variety of searchable keywords and keyword phrases into the description box. You can include hashtags, as well as content tags, to describe your video; and the more tags, the better! These tags are great for search engine optimization and for viewers to understand what your business is all about.
In addition to these keywords and tags, you will want to include some substance to describe the video. This should be a couple of sentences, at least, to give your readers and understanding of the video. You can also include information in the description, as well as a reminder to visit your website.
Ensure that you also take time to create a thumbnail that will attract viewers and is linked to your topic description. This thumbnail image is the first view that consumers will see of your video, you want to make sure that it is interesting enough for them to click and view it.
Target Your Audience
This seems to be a common theme among creating a successful website, but it is true, and the same goes for YouTube content. You need to know the audience you are attracting so you can capitalize on it.
If your YouTube channel is attracting a specific demographic, you can continue to focus on that demographic, or you can add content that can attract a new audience.
If you don’t know how to gain audience information, you can view this through your Google Analytics program or within your YouTube account dashboard.
Marketing your YouTube account is important to gather followers, therefore use all tools at your disposal such as various social media platforms and ads.
How Can I Monetize My YouTube Videos?
In addition to driving traffic from your YouTube channel to your website, you can also enable monetization on your account. There is a standard advertising revenue program for anyone to take advantage of, or there is the YouTube Partnership Program that channel owners can apply to join.
Some of the information required by YouTube can be found within the ‘Watch time’ report. You will be able to see data on views, click through rates, impressions and how long viewers watched your content. This may help you in understanding what content resonates with viewers and also if the joining the YouTube Partnership Program.
Eligibility Requirements to Join the YouTube Partnership Program
- You are required to have more than 4,000 watched hours on your YouTube channel in the last 12 months
- You must have more than 1,000 subscribers
- You must have an active and connected Google AdSense account. (In addition – you can only have one Google AdSense account connected to one YouTube channel.)
- To be approved for a Channel Membership, you must have more than 30,000 subscribers. A channel membership means that your members make recurring monthly payments for perks that you offer through your YouTube channel content.
- To be approved for a Merchandise Shelf, you must have 10,000 subscribers. A merchandise shelf means that users can borrow and buy your merchandise that you showcase on your watch pages.
- You can also apply for Super Chat, as long as it is provided in the area in which you live. Super Chat means that your fans will pay you in order for their comments and messages to be highlighted during a chat stream.
One final way to monetize your YouTube channel is to have your content watched by a YouTube Premium Subscriber. This will allow you to earn additional revenue when a YouTube Premium Subscriber views your content.
Things to Remember
- Create a call-to-action on your YouTube channel to tell users where to go and what to do. Make sure this call-to-action includes a link to your website so that you can drive the YouTube traffic from your channel to your website.
- Use the video description box under each video you upload. Include keyword descriptions of your video. This description should be a couple of sentences long and should also include hashtags and content tags to describe the video. These tags will help your video be discovered.
- Familiarize yourself with the audience you have attracted on YouTube. You can find this information under the Google Analytics program or your YouTube account’s dashboard. This will tell you the audience you have attracted so that you can produce content specifically for this demographic. Additionally, this will allow you to expand your target audience to include additional demographics that you want to appeal to.
- In order to set up monetization on your YouTube channel, you will need to connect your Google AdSense account. Only one Google AdSense account can be connected to one YouTube channel.
- If you have gained a large number of subscribers, you may qualify for other YouTube monetization partnership benefits.
- You will need a minimum of 10,000 subscribers to apply for the Merchandise Shelf partnership.
- You will need a minimum of 30,000 subscribers to apply for the Channel Membership partnership.
Time to Become a YouTuber
YouTube is a resource that you should implement into the content of your website. YouTube will help your website rank on search engines because the bots will index the content and establish the website’s content is credible to rank on the search engines results pages. YouTube is a great way to add additional monetization to your online business.