How Many Views do you Need to Make Money on YouTube?

Introduction

Making money on YouTube, in 2023, has become a fantasy. It was not that difficult a few years ago (in 2012 or so). But everyone, from middle schoolers to retirees, is now looking to make some bucks with YouTube’s Partner Program (YPP). But how many views do you need to make (good) money on youtube?

In general, you need 6-figure+ views to earn decent money on YouTube. But if you have a strong (in terms of CPC) niche, you can make money with fewer views. It all depends on your audience and how much they’re worth to advertisers.

For example, a personal finance video pays $50 per 1000 views. If it’s a cat’s personal finance, YouTube will pay $30 per 1000 views. If the cat is From Bangladesh, similar Personal Finance videos will earn around $11. And if it’s a funny cat video, it drops all the way to $2 per 1000 views. In simpler terms, it depends.

Adriana (me lol)

Things that affect a YouTube view’s revenue potential

Of course, there are things that add up or lower your potential YouTube revenue per view. And here they are:

1. The country you’re in

You heard it right! Regardless of where your viewers are from, YouTube may consider your location as an earning factor. Some advertisers may want to spend more on US-based channels as they are more expensive to target. Although YouTube has never publicly said how much this factors in, it is likely a part of their monetization algorithm.

2. The topics you cover

This is a no-brainer. The more expensive the topics you cover, the more money you can make. For example, if you run a tech channel, you’re going to make more money than if you run a cooking channel. This can be because of 2 reasons:

a. More advertisers bid on certain niches.
b. More expensive advertisers bid on certain niches, regardless of the quantity.

In most cases, it’s the latter, because cheap ads can be worth as less as $0.01 per click. However, one expensive ad can even pay $50.

3. How many ads do you run?

This is a controversial topic. Some YouTubers will run as many ads as possible to maximize their revenue. However, this is not always the best idea. If you run too many ads, your viewers will get annoyed and may stop watching your videos. This will decrease your view count and, as a result, your revenue. It’s good to keep a balance.

4. Channel’s “T&Cs History”

YouTube’s algorithm looks at the history of your channel to see if you have violated any of its terms and conditions. If you have, they may cap the amount of money you can make from advertising. They generally release the penalties over time.

5. Type of Advertisers

There are 2 types of advertisers on YouTube: direct and indirect. Direct advertisers are the ones that you contact and work with directly. Indirect advertisers are the ones that use Google’s AdWords to place their ads on your channel. They pay YouTube aka Google, and YouTube pays you through YPP. In most cases, indirect advertisers will pay less than direct advertisers.

6. A teeny-tiny bit of luck

Let’s face it, some people are just luckier than others. Some channels blow up overnight and make a ton of money while others struggle to get any views. There’s not much you can do about this one. However, to keep the odds on your side, post videos on Saturday and Sunday, between 6pm and 9pm EST.

7. More views, the more the pay-per-view

The title says it all. The more views you have, the more value each view will have. For example, if you get 100,000 views monthly, you may earn $20 per 1000 views. However, if your views per month are 10,000, the revenue per 1000 views can be less than $10. This is similar to the snowball effect.

8. Ad Limitations

If YouTube has limited your video for monetization, or if you yourself have marked that for good, the particular video will make less money. Limited videos can generate as much as 10 times lower revenue.

9. Traffic Source

Your views’ traffic source plays a key role in determining the amount YouTube pays per view. A view from social media, referral, or direct will pay up to 10 times less money, even if the view comes from a Tier-1 nation. Views from browse features pay higher. And the views from YouTube searches pay the highest, because the viewers have actually searched for your content’s keywords, and are more likely to convert after clicking the ad.

So, we pretty much discussed the key factors. The rest of the article will be about how many views it will likely take for your YouTube channel to earn a healthy income.

Can a beginner make money on YouTube?

It depends on what you mean by a beginner.

YouTube beginner

If you are a beginner in YouTube terms, then you will need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last 12 months to be eligible for monetization. This is because YouTube needs to see that your channel is active and engaging before it will allow you to run ads.

Video-making beginner

If we’re talking about a complete newbie who has never made a video before, then the answer is: “it’s difficult”. First, learn how to make and edit videos, and only then, deploy your skills to YouTube. To make money on YouTube, you will need to have an existing audience that is engaged and willing to watch your videos. Whether or not you are showing your original, you need to have some sort of on-screen personality that can keep viewers entertained. If you can’t keep viewers engaged, then they will click away and you will lose out on potential ad revenue.

Niche beginner

And if you are a beginner in your niche, that’s…. okay. It’s good to learn and explore new things along with the growth of your channel. But keep in mind that it’ll take time to make money. Also, you can’t just choose the easy way and mix up the niches. That’s the worst mistake you can make. Instead, focus on one particular topic and grow your channel organically (with search and browse features traffic). The keywords that pay higher are often more competitive (more difficult for beginners) . Consider all these factors before choosing a niche, and deciding whether or not getting …. views in that niche will be worth it.

How many YouTube views do you need to Start Earning?

To start earning means being accepted into Youtube’s Partner Program i.e. get 4k hours of watch time + 1,000 subscribers. The average channel can be expected there with 100,000 valid views. Remember, “valid” is the word of emphasis. For one thing, different videos have different lengths, so it is difficult to predict the no. of views you need to start earning. And even then, if those 100,000 views are fake/invalid, you will likely not get any subscribers, most likely get denied for the YPP, and hence not make any money.

One common legit way to get 4000 hours of watch time is live streaming. You can ask your friends to watch the stream for a few hours. Again, don’t try to cheat there, as YouTube’s algorithm is really smart. The views and watch hours must be valid.

Another way (less popular comparatively) is to have other popular channels promote your content. This could jumpstart your channel to get to the 4k hours of watch time. And when it comes to 1k subs, it’s a lot easier to achieve. Make good use of YouTube shorts for that. And if you’re lucky enough to get 10 Million views from shorts within 90 days, boom – you are a YouTube earner.

How much does YouTube pay per 1 view?

Woah, that was a load of hard work to join the YPP. Now, to earn actual money, you need to earn it. And it is good to have an idea of how much YouTube pays per 1 view for different niches, in different countries.

In the table below:

• Tier 1 countries include developed countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Tier 2 countries include countries like Germany, France, South Africa, and Japan.
• Tier 3 countries include India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya, and similar countries.

The gap between the highs and lows of YouTube earnings

Not only that different niches pay differently in different countries, the difference between the highs and lows of each country per niche can be significant too. Like, for the Dating niche, the range is $0.007 – $0.08 per view in developed countries. However, for insurance-related views in developed countries, the gap is narrow. The broader the industry is, the more drastic the difference is.

Another thing to note is that the gap is broader in most niches of the Tier 3 countries. The primary reason for this is the noisy purchasing power index of people in those countries. Furthermore, states/subregions of the viewer’s country can widen the gap too. For example, in India, either people from an extremely higher class or extremely lower class watch real estate videos. So, it is likely that for one Real estate YouTube video view, you will get up to 100 times more or less than the other.

In the US, people from Mississippi and Maryland, the poorest and richest states respectively, are the largest audiences for something like “Mississippi man fishing in Maryland”. Due to that, fluctuations in earnings are much higher for those kinds of videos than for example, “Car insurance for Florida in 2022”.

The viewer’s device is another key metric that affects the potential earning range of a YouTube view. Desktop views generate inconsistent incomes due to fewer uses of cookies. On a mobile device, YouTube shows more user-optimized Ads based on the user’s recent activity. In the world, 79% of YouTube viewers access the desktop version of the website. However, in the US, only 49% use desktops. That might be one of the reasons why YouTube views from the US pay more.

How much does YouTube pay for 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, and 1M views?

From the table above, you have learned how much you can earn from 1 view. Now, for the first 1000 YouTube views, just multiply it by 1000. But after 1000 views, things work different.

To be more precise:

• 1 View = x
• 100 Views = 100x
• 1000 Views = 1000x
• 10000 views = 10000x + 30%
• 100000 views = 100000x + 50%
• 1000000 views = 1000000x + 120%
• 10000000 views = 10000000x + 700%

This is a more accurate way to calculate how much you will earn per YouTube view. Even if YPP paid the same amount, as you get more views, you will get sponsors, sell merch, and simply make more money for each YouTube view.