How To Practically Get 4000 Watch Time In Hours On YouTube In Less Than 365 Days
My Channel has been monetized on YouTube with over 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers and here how you can do that too.
Back in 2016, YouTube was my first endeavor before starting Blogging in 2017. I started my YouTube channel in 2016 to make some money. It was a good evening time. I signup for YouTube and make a channel. Upload a video and in less than 10 minutes, there were Ads in my YouTube videos. Good old days. But, then the Washington Post and The New York Times reported that YouTube video uploaders are making money from ads running beside Terrorist content. YouTube lost over 4 Billion dollars as every mainstream advertiser boycotted running ads on YouTube.
For almost a year, YouTube was in a huge crisis. So, they have made some changes. The very first policy they introduce is a minimum of 10,000 views in order to be eligible for YouTube monetization. But, after a few days, they introduce a new metric called “The Watch Hours and a Minimum 1,000 subscribers”
YouTube Partner Program Inclusion Criteria Explained
There are two things to understand here. According to YouTube, if you want to get into the YouTube partner program you need a minimum of 4,000 watch hours in the past 365 days and a total of 1,000 subscribers.
- A 4,000 watch time hours means that you have to complete these criteria in the past 365 days. Most people get confused about this, they think that with every new year your watch time will revise to zero. This is one of the biggest misconceptions. Let me explain it that way. Let say you get 20 watch hours on 30 June 2020, and 10 watch hours on 30 June 2019. This means an increase of 10 watch hours will be added to your YouTube watch time.
- 1,000 subscribers is an absolute figure. There is no time limit for YouTube subscribers.
Which one is the hardest? I think, as a YouTuber, for me getting 4,000 watch hours in time is very difficult. Getting attention from your viewers is the most difficult thing to do.
This is how a monetize Channel look like.
What is a 1 Watch hour mean on YouTube?
Let say you upload a video of 10 minutes long. 4 Viewers watch your video for 5-Minutes on average, and 4 viewers watch your videos for complete 10-minutes. That means that a total of 8 viewers equate 60 minutes of watch time which equates to 1 hour of watch time.
By mathematics;
- I hour of watch time= 60 Minutes
- 1,000 Watch time = 60,000 Minutes
- 4,000 watch time = 240,000 minutes
That’s was just a baseline to understand how *big* this number could be for a new YouTuber to reach 4,000 watch hours.
7 Practical steps to get 4,000 Watch hours on your YouTube channel
I think I am the most eligible person to explain how to get 4,000 watch hours on YouTube as I had been gone through this process and is a YouTube creator from the past 3 years. Did you ever notice that some YouTubers are more famous than others? the reason, “They are doing something which nobody is doing”
1. Making 10 Minutes+ Videos:
Making longer videos on YouTube has many advantages; by getting more watch time on YouTube as well as views. Now, getting more views is directly proportional to getting more watch time. Longer videos will help you to accumulate more watch time. This is proven from my videos.
When I was serious about getting monetize on YouTube, I was sure that I have to prepare a topic to the extent can I can talk about it for 10 to 15 Minutes. Another advantage of making longer videos is that you can actually add multiple ads in future and can make more money through your content.
I was serious about monetizing my YouTube channel because it is quite empowering that you get paid for your thoughts or the knowledge you have. I have never make a video where use a clickbait title or a thumbnail of “Make $1000 a day with this method” because this seem very odd to me. I will recommend to you guys too to make videos that are actually helpful.
2. Optimizing Your Videos For Search:
If we ever search for something on YouTube, did you ever thought about “Why some videos rank on position №1 while other on 2nd and so on”
I have written a post about ranking your YouTube video which you can read in the link given below:
Let me summarize it for you guys;
- Find a keyword that is related to the niche you guys are working with and have a great search volume.
- Include your main keyword in the title, description, and tags of your YouTube video.
- YouTube another ranking factor is watch time. You can get good watch time if your videos are longer then the top 3 videos ranked for a specific keyword.
- Add the end-screen of your previous videos that are related to the video you are uploading.
- Make a Cathy thumbnail to increase your click-through-rate.
Optimizing your videos for search is the best thing you could do to get life-long views and use the compounding thing in practice. Let say you have uploaded ten videos and one of the videos is getting you 100 views on a daily basis. What if you add 20 more optimize videos? You can learn more about YouTube SEO in the link given above.
3. Enlist Your Videos Into a Playlist:
Making a playlist is one of the best things after optimizing your videos to get a 4,000 watch hour of watch time. If you are consistently uploading videos about a single topic, then the best thing could be that you add your video to a single playlist.
You can also promote your playlist so that if a person wants to learn about anything and everything about a single topic, they can learn about it. You will get more watch time through this technique. I find this technique very helpful.
4. Make a Facebook Group and share your videos there:
Making a Facebook group to promote your stories might look a strange idea to you but actually it is very helpful. Facebook highly promote your Facebook group to get you more members.
I have a Facebook group of over 4K members and when I shared my videos there, it generates me 100 to 400 views. Think about a highly targeted audience of 400 is way better than 1,000 views of not very interested in a topic. Fewer views but more watch time.
Groups are a great way to make fans and even interact with your fan. You are building a high engaging fan-base from the very start which is a plus point.
5. Be Consistent on YouTube:
YouTube algorithm will reward you if you are consistent. You get 4,000 watch time on videos only if you are consistent on YouTube, your fans will find your videos more often then compare to a video creator who isn’t making videos on a fixed schedule.
On YouTube, Quantity matters.
Yes, you heard it right. Quantity over quality on YouTube that matters but that doesn’t mean you wake up and start recording about anything without having any prior knowledge or experience.
Also Read: How To get famous on TikTok and get more Likes And Views
6. Write on Your Blog About The Most recent video and Embed it there:
It is a hard for a video creator to reach 4,000 watch hours and 1,000 subscribers if you are new. You will upload a great video and will check your stats after 24 hours.
0 Views.
It is hard. But, you are investing your time and money so why not invest a little bit more and start a blog about the topic you are uploading videos on. I, as a blogger, I started writing on my own blog first and then I switch to YouTube, but learning from my experience. You can start your own blog and embed videos on your newer blog posts.
7. Don’t Forget About User-generated sites:
A friend of mine was struggling to reach to $100 a month but he shared his video to credit and boom, in just a single night he made over $60. Sites like Medium, Quora, Pinterest, and Reddit are best for generating more traffic to your site.
If your video has a quality, getting viral on Reddit could make you getting 4,000 watch hours on YouTube dreams come true in a single night.
Getting a 4,000 watch hour on YouTube is hard for a video creator who is just starting out. But, as time goes on you will get more and more watch time. If you get a 33 watch hour every day, it will take you 31 days to reach 1000 watch hours approx and 120 days or 4 months to get monetized on YouTube.
I hope this helps.
You can read more stuff on this Medium publication about Blogging and Marketing: Menlo Blogging
