If you're reading this, you probably know that getting 4,000 hours of views is an important checkpoint on the road to YouTube monetization. It's not easy, and many creators spend a year or more getting there, but it's ultimately worth it. Achieving this goal means you can monetize your videos with ads through the YouTube Partner Program, which is like making money in your sleep. This is an easy way to increase your income!
Understanding watch time on YouTube
But first, what is watch time, and how is it calculated on YouTube?
View time is the total amount of time people spend watching a video. Each YouTube video counts watch time, which contributes to your channel's total.
For your viewing time to count towards monetization, you must achieve 4,000 hours of viewing in 12 consecutive months. Videos do not need to be published within the last 12 months, as long as viewers have watched them in the last year.
Do You Need 4,000 Hours to Join the YPP?
Notably, you don't need 4,000 hours to get into the YPP. You can do that with just 3,000 hours and then monetize your videos through fan funding instead of ads. These include Super Chats, Super Thanks, channel memberships, and more. Below are the minimum requirements to join the YPP, but remember that you'll still need 4,000 hours to earn ad revenue.
Finding Your Channel's Watch Time
So, how many watch hours have you collected so far? Knowing this number is extremely helpful, especially when building a strategy to keep viewers' attention.
1. Go to the YouTube Studio and click Earn in the left navigation bar.
2. On the Become a Partner page, scroll down to How to Join. And there, you'll see how much watch time your channel has.
4. Skip the Basic Outro
Filming a long outro feels natural, but did you know there are better ways to close out a video? Most viewers click away when they hear goodbye phrases, such as:
"And that's about it!"
"Those are all of my tips for..."
"If you liked this video, then…"
Instead of announcing the end of a video, leave before anyone knows what's happening. Your watch time will improve when you don't signal that a video is ending.
5. Make Evergreen YouTube Videos
Evergreen content is popular year-round, so you need those types of videos to get watch time fast. Evergreen topics like how to change careers, how to cook brown rice, and tips for making friends in your 30s have a high search volume from January to December.
As you can see, many evergreen videos are search-based and offer steady watch time through sheer popularity.
If you're struggling to find evergreen video ideas, ask yourself a question:
What do my viewers care about more than anything else?
For example, vidq subscribers love to hear growth tips for small channels. One of our videos on the subject has over 78,000 watch hours since it was published six months ago. And the hours are still increasing!
6. Host YouTube Live Streams
Watch time from streaming will always count toward your 4,000-hour goal, so bond with viewers in real time. It's the perfect way to rack up those monetization hours!
When we started our live stream journey, 50-100 people showed up. Now we get hundreds of concurrent viewers, and with that boost in viewership comes plenty of additional watch time.
For example, check out the watch time from this two-hour live stream:
Give streaming a chance when you have about 12 months of YouTube experience. By then you should have 100 or more subscribers who may show up to watch your streams.
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