How Much Do YouTube Shorts Pay? Learning from A to Z

Making money on YouTube shorts is not easy. You need to understand how the algorithm works, what criteria you need to follow, and what topics are trending right now. Following trends is extremely important because if you don’t do it, your content won’t bring you the revenue you deserve. Despite the fact that short-form videos bring less than regular videos ($0.01 - $0.06 per 1000 views on shorts against $1.61 and $29.30 on classic videos).

Still, it’s not a reason to give up. Famous content creators started from zero and now earn around ten hundred thousand dollars only on shorts. We analyze their experience and highlight core points every beginner must know about. You can implement these practices and start building your project, increasing the audience and the number of views and earning much more than before.

YouTube Shorts Monetization Guidelines

First, let’s clarify about YouTube shorts monetization. The thing is that there are no specific monetization rules for this type of content. Short-based content is supposed to attract users to visit your channel and watch long-range videos. You increase your follower count and boost the monetization for regular videos.

Why does this happen? The main reason is the low amount of money you can earn on short videos. Creators earn approximately $0,05 per 1000 views on shorts. This number may change depending on several factors (country of origin of your audience, number of views, and the time of the day your videos were watched), but it doesn’t make a significant difference. Moreover, the video must be eligible for monetization so that you will get revenue for this content. 

How to ensure the content is monetized?

There are several requirements you should follow to start getting money for the content views. First, you should have at least 500 subscribers (reduced from 1000). Your YouTube shorts must have no less than 3 million views over the last three months or 3000 hours of watch time. You must upload at least 3 public videos in 90 days. Once you meet these requirements, you can apply for the YouTube Partner Program, unlock subscription tools, and product promotion. Also, there are several requirements for shorts:

• The video length should be at least 10 seconds.
• The video should have a vertical format.
• There should be no copyrighted content in the video.
• There should be no age restriction for the video.

Once you meet these criteria and your videos reach 1,000 views, you can monetize short-form videos. Beginners who are only entering YouTube and start getting views may find it difficult to expand your audience. If you belong to them and want to boost your account fast, consider using the YouTube promotion package and get plenty of views on your short-based videos in a few days.

You should also remember that the key to success is YouTube account visibility. You need to make your account visible so more people will engage with your content and watch videos. Once you have problems making your account visible, check this video. The author provides a detailed explanation of common issues that make your account invisible and gives useful tips to help you fix such issues.

Maximizing Income From YouTube Shorts

Once you get basic knowledge about monetization and know what to expect, it’s time to increase the impact and make even more money from YouTube shorts. We must say that short monetization differs from regular video monetization. The most common difference is that all short revenue splits between different parties: the creators who publish content and music publishers whose songs were used in the videos. The revenue split is a 4-step process:

• The platform pools revenue from all the short ads.
• After that, YouTube calculates the amount of money that goes to the creator pool. The calculation depends on the views and music usage across all Shorts. If the content contains music, the revenue splits between the creators and publishers.
• Next, the platform distributes the ad revenue to short creators who unlock monetization. The distribution is based on total shares of shorts.
• Eventually, YouTube creators get 45% of the revenue.
  

It means that getting 1 million YouTube short views will bring you less revenue than if you watched the same number of full-length videos. 

The monetization is not perfect because some people expect to get more and more after reaching 1k views on shorts. However, the low initial revenue is not a reason to give up because you can unlock your full earning potential with music shorts by making brand deals and signing sponsorship contracts. When you have a valid sponsorship agreement, the brand pays you for product and service promotion in your videos.

This screenshot shows an example of promoted short video. We see a banner that appears on the screen representing a brand and a promo code for those who want to use its services.

Another example of promotion via YouTube shorts is when people create a thematic video and mention the product or the service. For example, they create a scene in a supermarket and tell viewers about the credit card of a specific bank. They say what benefits it brings and how cool it is, paying for something and representing the product from the best angle. 

Depending on the contract terms, you will receive additional short-form video revenue that may depend on the follower count, number of views, likes, etc. If you already have a solid follower and view count when signing a brand deal, you will have solid income.

Success Stories of YouTube Shorts Creators to Inspire You

Everyone who starts to create content on YouTube wants to succeed and earn only from the content. Today, when short-form content dominates on several platforms (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), creators become competitors who fight for every view and every follower trying to be better. However, every hard worker has someone who inspires them to do what they do and be hungry for more. We will go through the most popular content creators and analyze their activity so you may find their content exciting.

Mr Beast

He is the most-subscribed YouTube individual, and his videos get millions of views and likes daily. Mr Beast works with both formats and publishes short-based and regular videos on different topics. He doesn’t repeat himself and always finds something new to show it to the audience. 

His shorts easily surpass a 100 million views barrier and get solid engagement because he keeps his audience interested with every next post. 

Nas Daily

Nas Daily is the nickname of Nuseir Yassin, a famous YouTuber who mastered the art of short-form videos far before it became popular. He used a storytelling approach to tell an interesting story based on facts, life events, or something people never heard about.

The author draws attention by using short and catchy descriptions, forcing people to click and watch the videos.

At the beginning of his career as a content creator, Nas Daily dedicated himself to sharing 1-minute videos on Facebook every day for 1000 days straight. He traveled the world and told exciting stories about individuals he met.

YouTube Shorts Content Optimization Tips

The only way to give people the content they want is by optimizing it to the needed condition. Once you have your shorts optimized, you will reach 1 million views extremely fast. Below are some simple steps you should follow.

First, consider your video is longer than 10 seconds and is created in vertical format. Second, ensure you use trending music and represent trending topics in your video. People follow trends, so you must follow them as well to satisfy your audience. Next, you have to create a proper title and description for your shorts. The description may contain keywords and trending hashtags. Creators often underestimate hashtags, and it’s their mistake because hashtags are crucial for the YouTube algorithm and should appear in every video to help you get more views on YouTube shorts.

Also, pay attention to YouTube short viewer analytics to see what videos get more views, comments and likes. It gives you an understanding of what needs to be done to improve audience engagement.

In this video, an author shares his experience of analyzing short-based videos. He explains how to make the algorithm work to your advantage and start getting more views on every video.

Final Thoughts

Everyone who is interested in making money on YouTube wants to learn about monetization and take as much revenue as possible. Still, using the advantage of the YouTube Partner Program is not enough because the income will be minimal. You have to use all the available options to monetize your content and start making more money from deals, sponsorships, and paid subscriptions on Patreon and other platforms connected to YouTube. Also, you have to work to improve your content to attract more viewers and make them watch your videos.