How to Get Income from YouTube

Learn how to get income from YouTube. Step-by-step guide to monetising your channel and growing consistent revenue.

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and show you how to get income from youtube with approaches to monetisation that work for both new and growing channels.

YouTube allows creators to earn money through its Partner Programme once they meet certain eligibility criteria. The most common income stream comes from ads shown on videos, but there are several ways to generate additional revenue through the platform and beyond it.

YouTube rewards consistent content creators who engage audiences and maintain compliance with its monetisation policies. The process takes effort, patience, and a clear content strategy, but once monetised, the income potential can scale significantly.

Step 1: Meet YouTube’s Monetisation Requirements

Before you can start earning, you must qualify for the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP). To apply, you need:

  • At least 1,000 subscribers on your channel

  • 4,000 public watch hours over the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days

  • A linked Google AdSense account

  • Compliance with YouTube’s policies and community guidelines

Once approved, you’ll be able to enable ads, join channel memberships, and access other monetisation tools.

Step 2: Enable Ads on Your Videos

The most common way to earn on YouTube is through advertising revenue. When ads appear on your videos, you earn a portion of the revenue from those impressions or clicks.

There are several types of ads YouTube displays:

  • Skippable ads that viewers can skip after five seconds

  • Non-skippable ads shown before or during videos

  • Overlay ads that appear on desktop videos

  • Display ads alongside the video

  • Shorts ads for short-form video content

Your earnings depend on the number of views, ad engagement, and the type of audience you attract. For example, audiences in high-value markets such as the UK, US, or Canada tend to generate higher ad revenue.

Step 3: Grow Your Channel with Consistent Content

Monetisation only works if your videos attract viewers. To grow your audience:

  • Publish regularly with a consistent posting schedule

  • Focus on topics with proven demand

  • Optimise your titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords

  • Use custom thumbnails to increase click-through rates

  • Engage with your audience through comments and community posts

Quality and consistency are more important than quantity. The most successful channels build trust with audiences over time.

Step 4: Use YouTube Shorts to Increase Reach

Short-form video is one of the fastest-growing areas on YouTube. The platform offers a dedicated monetisation system for Shorts through ad revenue sharing. Posting engaging short videos regularly helps reach new viewers, boost subscriber numbers, and create traffic that supports your long-form content.

Step 5: Explore Alternative Income Streams

Relying solely on ad revenue can limit your earning potential. YouTube provides several additional monetisation options:

Channel memberships
Viewers can pay a monthly fee to support your channel in exchange for exclusive perks such as badges, emojis, or member-only content.

Super Chat and Super Stickers
During live streams, viewers can pay to have their messages highlighted or animated. This works well for creators who interact directly with their audience.

Merchandise shelf
If you have products or branded merchandise, YouTube allows you to integrate a merch shelf below your videos, making it easy for fans to buy directly.

YouTube Premium revenue
When YouTube Premium subscribers watch your content, you earn a share of their subscription fee based on watch time.

Affiliate marketing
Include affiliate links in your video descriptions to promote products and earn a commission on each sale.

Sponsorships
Brands pay creators to feature or review their products in videos. Sponsorship deals can be highly lucrative for channels with loyal audiences.

Step 6: Optimise for SEO and Discovery

YouTube is a search engine in its own right. Optimising your videos for discoverability increases your reach and, ultimately, your income potential.

To improve SEO:

  • Research keywords your audience searches for using tools like Google Trends or TubeBuddy

  • Use those keywords naturally in titles, descriptions, and tags

  • Add closed captions and transcripts to improve accessibility

  • Create playlists to organise your videos around topics or series

  • Encourage viewers to like, comment, and subscribe to boost engagement metrics

The more your content aligns with what users are searching for, the higher the chance your videos will appear in recommendations and search results.

Step 7: Track and Improve Performance

Regularly review your analytics in YouTube Studio to see which videos perform best. Metrics to monitor include:

  • Watch time: Indicates how engaging your content is

  • Audience retention: Shows how long viewers stay on your videos

  • Click-through rate: Measures how often viewers click your video when it appears in search

  • Revenue per thousand views (RPM): Reflects how much you earn for every 1,000 views

Use this data to refine your content strategy, focusing on the topics and formats that deliver the best returns.

Step 8: Stay Consistent and Compliant

YouTube monetisation is not a one-time setup. The platform continuously reviews channels to ensure they follow guidelines. Avoid copyright violations, misleading content, or controversial topics that could affect monetisation eligibility.

Consistency is the key to long-term income. Successful creators treat YouTube like a business planning content calendars, maintaining brand identity, and reinvesting in better equipment or marketing.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Relying solely on ads without exploring other income sources

  • Ignoring SEO and failing to optimise metadata

  • Posting inconsistently or without a clear niche

  • Using copyrighted material that can lead to demonetisation

  • Neglecting audience interaction and community building

How Much You Can Earn from YouTube

Earnings vary widely depending on your niche, audience location, and engagement levels. On average, UK creators earn between £1 and £5 per 1,000 monetised views. Channels in high-value niches such as finance, technology, and education tend to earn more.

Most creators start small, but as views and engagement grow, income can scale significantly. Combining multiple revenue streams helps create stability and reduce reliance on ad performance alone.

Final Thoughts

Getting income from YouTube requires strategy, consistency, and creativity. It’s not an overnight success story, but with the right approach, it can become a reliable and rewarding source of income.

By focusing on valuable content, audience engagement, and smart monetisation strategies, you can turn your YouTube channel into a genuine business opportunity.

We have also written in depth articles on how to delete youtube channel and how to harvard reference a youtube video as well as our YouTube Hub to give you further guidance.