YouTube is the second most popular social platform globally, registering over 2 billion monthly active users. The main reasons why YouTube is popular are its content’s diversity, ease of use, and accessibility.
Because of the high user numbers, creating a YouTube channel is a great way to monetize your craft, education, hobby interests, or another niche. You may have encountered the term watch hours if you’re new to YouTube.
Watch hours refers to the total number of hours viewers spend watching videos on your YouTube channel. It’s one of the major factors that determine how popular a channel is. YouTube also requires a channel to have at least 4000 watch hours and 1000 subscribers in the last 365 days to be eligible for monetization.
This post explores the meaning of watch hours and reviews tricks to increase watch hours on your YouTube channel.
Why Should Watch Hours Matter to Creators?
As explained above, watch hours are the total time users spend watching YouTube videos on a particular channel.
Watch Hours are critical to YouTube creators and aspiring creators who want to monetize their content. You must have at least 4000 YouTube watch hours and 1000 subscribers to monetize a channel.
Additional YouTube channel monetization requirements include accumulating at least 4000 watch hours in the last 12 months, and the videos have to be set for public viewing.
If you’re new to YouTube creation, getting 4000 watch hours on your channel can seem challenging. However, if you’re consistent and utilize some of the tricks discussed in this post, you should be able to achieve this milestone in a few months.
Next, we discuss ways to increase your YouTube watch hours.
Ways To Increase YouTube Watch Hours as a Creator
If you’re a creator hoping to reach the coveted milestone of 4000 watch hours and monetize your channel, these tips will help you get there.
Be Consistent
The first way to increase your YouTube watch hours is to post videos consistently. This can seem daunting for new creators who can sometimes focus on the video quality instead of the number of videos they post.
Even though quality is critical to engaging and keeping a YouTube audience, you have a better chance of reaching the watch hours with more videos than fewer.
Users who first interact with and like your channel expect regular content. If you’re inconsistent, users will lose interest in your channel, and your chances of reaching the target on time will drop.
If you’re unsure about how and when to post videos, review the timeline you need to edit a video, then create a schedule based on that. Posting twice weekly can help beginners reach the required watch hours within the stipulated timeline.
Focus on Evergreen Content
Evergreen content is relevant to a broad audience, isn’t restricted to specific timelines, and appears on search results frequently. Even though many creators aspire to be unique and create a niche channel, getting the necessary watch hours on a niche channel can take longer.
If you don’t mind waiting until your channel attracts a sizable audience, then niche videos are reasonable consideration. However, creators who want to qualify for monetization quickly should consider relevant topics.
Listen To Your Audience
The primary purpose of creating YouTube videos is to appeal to a particular audience. If someone took the time to watch your video, their feedback on improvement is likely valuable. Remember, watch hours accumulate from the time people spend watching your videos.
If you lose viewers because you don’t consider their needs, you will likely spend more time trying to reach the 4000 watch hours goal.
Track Your Watch Hours
Tracking your watch hours can help you learn your progress and provide insights into areas you can improve. YouTube doesn’t have a native watch hours tracker for creators.
But you can use specialized apps like VidIQ. This app will give you several statistics like views per hour, overall watch hours, and more.
Summary
Watch hours on YouTube is the total time users spend watching your videos. Information on watch hours is critical for creators wanting to monetize their channels and collaborate with companies for paid promotions.
YouTube qualification for monetization is 4000 watch hours acquired within 12 consecutive months.
If you want to increase your YouTube channels watch hours, try consistently incorporating feedback from your audience into your videos and focusing on timely and relevant content.
