- How much money a YouTube channel makes per view will vary depending on factors like subject matter and viewer demographic.
- YouTube star Austen Alexander is an active-duty sailor for the US Navy who shares his experience online.
- He earns thousands of dollars from his YouTube videos, and said he tripled his CPM (how much he earns per view) by paying attention to certain metrics like when viewers are dropping off, keeping his content free from profanity or copyright music, and optimizing every ad option.
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How much money a YouTube channel generates per view through Google's AdSense program can vary greatly depending on the metrics a creator pays attention to and the strategies they employ.
The rates the ads make are influenced by factors like a video's audience and which advertisers are buying, Petar Mandich, the chief talent officer at influencer-focused management firm Addition, said in a previous interview with Business Insider.
Austen Alexander has been very successful in raising the amount of money he makes per view on YouTube. Alexander is an active-duty sailor for the US Navy and social-media star with 135,000 subscribers on YouTube who earns thousands of dollars through AdSense. He tripled his rate by following a few steps, he said.
Optimizing his ad revenue
Alexander's first Google AdSense paycheck was for $42, he said. Now, AdSense is his highest revenue stream.
On YouTube, how much a creator earns per 1,000 views is called the CPM rate. Alexander's CPM rate is between $7.70 and $9.50, which is considered a high CPM rate for a YouTube creator, according to industry professionals. But when he was first starting out, his rate was about $3, he said.
Here's how he tripled his CPM rate on YouTube:
- Alexander said he doesn't use profanity or any songs that are copyrighted. These factors can lead to YouTube flagging a video for inappropriate content, and possible demonization.
- He enables every ad option on his videos, which include banner, preroll, and mid roll ads. He also includes an "ad break" in the middle of a video, which he said has helped his earnings.
- Alexander said he increases his videos' watch time by building up the anticipation at the start of a video. On YouTube's creator dashboard, users can see when viewers are "dropping off" and look into why that might be happening. He places ads before his viewers will typically click away from a video.
"If your video appeals to more companies and falls within those certain guidelines that the company wants to advertise on, then your CPM will go up," he said. "YouTube subscribers really mean nothing when it comes to revenue."
Another YouTube creator, entrepreneur Marina Mogilko, previously spoke with Business Insider about which of her three channels had the highest CPM rate and why.
Mogilko said her 255,000-subscriber business channel, "Silicon Valley Girl," made an average $10.73 per every 1,000 views, while her other two channels only made $4 and $2.71, respectively.
She said the "Silicon Valley Girl" channel had a high average CPM rate because of her viewers' locations and because the channel was filled with business-related videos.
"People who watch this content aren't kids or students," Mogilko said.