YouTube is visited by millions who seek clips of their favorite TV shows, movies and music videos. But some user-made videos help creators find stardom. Everyone’s heard the term “viral video,” but what does it mean for those who make them? Learn how to make money with YouTube, and find out what many video uploaders already know.
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The Internet and Advertising
YouTube is extremely popular, and its videos are viewed by millions – which makes it, of course, an excellent venue for advertisers. Many have watched advertisements pop up when they’re viewing YouTube videos, marketing for everything from iTunes to Bob’s Brakes. Advertising is a well-known, potentially lucrative way to make money from the Internet, and it’s no surprise that video-makers have learned how to apply it to YouTube.
One of the most popular advertising programs on the Internet is Google AdSense. Like many other popular sites on the Internet, YouTube is a subsidiary of Google – and, naturally, standard advertising agreements apply. Currently, only approximately 3% of the videos on the site feature ads…but the sky’s the limit on how far YouTube and AdSense may go together.
YouTube Partner Sharing
YouTube’s partner program helps successful video uploaders earn cash for their efforts. Invites are given based on different factors, such as the number of views and compliance with the site’s terms of service. Through the program, the creators of the video earn advertising revenue from Google AdSense – a few cents, here and there, for everyone who follows the ads displayed on and around the video itself.
But, there are ways the creators of the videos may protect their potential revenue strain, and start earning it, even before they become partners with YouTube:
Copyright. Be sure to copyright your videos whenever possible, to avoid having your hard work copied and published on other sites. You will want to retain all photographic rights for your video, which will prevent sellers from making money through T-shirts and other efforts that have been spawned by your creation.
Domain names. Register a domain name for your video. Use the site to market T-shirts and other promotional efforts based on your video, and to provide a contact form for anyone who wishes to contact you.
Making money with YouTube should be the afterthought since there is little potential to earn without having a popular video first. Create videos for YouTube that in no way threaten copyright laws or violate the site’s terms. Do not use a material that is owned by another individual or company. Be creative, and create something that others will want to see – that’s the first step toward YouTube success in any form.
How to Use Google AdWords
Google AdWords is a way to create small, clickable text ads that are placed on other sites by Google. Advertising through AdWords is simple and maybe highly cost-effective, depending on a few variables.
AdWords is a way to run pay-per-click ads on both Google and on a large network of sites that run Adsense ad link units. That means that the small text ads seen on so many sites are placed there by Google advertising on behalf of individual advertisers using AdWords. Those ads also run on the right side of Google search results.
Each advertiser writes their own, short text ad to run in their AdWords Internet marketing campaign and a link to the advertiser’s site is included in the ad. Those ads are then placed on Google’s search results pages and on websites that have signed up to run AdSense ads and that have the advertiser’s keywords on their websites.
Choosing the Best Keywords
The keywords that are chosen will determine where the ad will be placed and when it will come up in a Google search. Those keywords should be highly relevant to the site being promoted as well as being words that will be searched for often. The advertiser chooses their own keywords and AdWords suggests additional keywords relevant to the advertiser’s topic. The advertiser can choose one keyword or many to represent their ad.
Where the ad is placed depends on the quality score of the keyword. This score is determined by how relevant the ad is to the site on which it appears, the quality of the page that is linked to in the ad and how the ad has performed in the past.
The Cost of AdWords
The cost of using this advertising method isn’t fixed. The price changes day to day based on how many people are advertising with the specific keywords. The advertiser’s AdWords account is charged each time someone clicks on their ad. The price they pay is then the price per click of each of their chosen keywords. The quality score also affects the price paid for each click.
AdWords advertisers are pitted against each other for ad placement and click costs. The advertiser chooses the maximum they are willing to pay for each click and Google bids up to that amount on behalf of the advertiser. Those bids determine when and how often an ad is placed. The more popular the keyword, the more advertisers will be using it for their ads and the higher the price for each click will be for that word.
The activation fee to begin with Adwords is $5. Advertisers have the option of pre-paying for their ads or post-paying. The pre-payment method has a minimum of $10 per month. The advertiser puts at least that amount into their AdWords account in advance and the cost for each click is deducted from that pre-payment.
With post-payment, the advertiser’s AdWords account is billed as soon as their cost reaches $50, or 30 days have passed, whichever happens first. Google suggests starting with a budget of at least $50 US per month, but it is not required.
The Benefits of AdWords
Depending on the exact keywords chosen, the cost may be very low. The minimum rate can be as low as one cent/pence per click. The advertiser is also in control of their ads, choosing how much they will spend on advertising and exactly what their ads will say. AdWords is an Internet marketing strategy that has the potential for an enormous number of ad impressions for a low price if the keywords are chosen well.
AdWords Campaign Management
To be successful with an AdWords campaign, it is important to manage the results of the ads. This means watching the click-through rates and noting how much traffic was brought to the website through the ads. Most AdWords advertisers tweak their campaigns by changing words or the advertising budget in order to get better results.
