Have you ever heard about YouTube certification or about being YouTube certified? We will cover it and tell you what is YouTube certification, where to use it and how to become YouTube certified as soon as possible.
YouTube launched Creator Academy in June 2013 which offers a series of courses designed to provide aspiring creators the opportunity to learn how to maximize their YouTube channels and even become certified specialists.
Isn’t that exciting?
With YouTube being competitive, it would not hurt to learn valuable skills that would lead to generating an enormous amount of income.
Therefore, as a YouTuber, we believe you should be excited to learn more about the program, what is required to become YouTube certified, and the benefits of being certified.
So, with that and much more, let’s dive into the step and step guides and tips for becoming YouTube certified.
What is YouTube Certification?
YouTube certification is a series of courses designed to help all kinds of creators and YouTube partners to make use of advanced YouTube systems and tips.
Note that the creators and partners need to either have a YouTube partner manager or access to Content ID to qualify for the certificate.
The courses usually focus on multiple educational programs and materials such as Right Management, Google Sales, Copyright, Monetization, YouTube Analytics, Reportings, and so on.
The good news is that participants get to learn the latest best practices and industry-level knowledge to help them succeed on YouTube or help others as well.
Source: YouTube Certified Program Overview
How Do You Get YouTube Certified?
As we mentioned, to become a YouTube Certified expert, you must have a YouTube partner or have access to a Content ID.
The YouTube Certified program involves special courses that can be completed either as an individual or a company.
A YouTube partner manager is meant to help you understand which courses are most helpful to you. The Content ID is used to identify your content and safeguard it from plagiarism easily.
Choose a self-paced two-week course for your certification track.
After all, 2 hours will be provided to finish your studies by the exam and remember you must score 75% or higher to pass.
Keep in mind the requirements for individuals and companies slightly different, with certification expiration being shorter for companies.
a) Companies Requirements
Company certification is open for companies that use YouTube‘s managed business services. The services are optimization, video promotion, ad campaigns, monetization, and channel or playlist management.
To qualify for the certificate, 3 employees have to represent the company and participate in the course and all have to attain 75% and above.
Keep in mind, the certification is only valid for a year.
b) Individual Requirements
When it comes to individual certification, apart from being a YouTube partner, your channel needs to be active for one year as well as have 1,000 subscribers. Moreover, you are required to complete the training course and sit for a 2-hour exam and pass.
Don’t forget, you need to retake the exam after 18 months are over to continue being YouTube certified.
So, here are the main requirements for individuals on how to become a YouTube partner.
- You need to have a minimum of 1,000 YouTube subscribers on your channel.
- Have a minimum of 4,000 hours watch hours in the past year.
- Be making original videos where there is no copying anybody‘s content, having copyrights, and so on.
- Regularly upload videos at least once per week.
- Making videos that are helpful to others.
- Have an AdSense account.
How to Create a New AdSense Account for YouTube Videos?
1. Open your YouTube account and sign in to this link https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC/monetization.
2. Click on the part indicating Google AdSense card.
3. Kindly enter your YouTube account password and verify.
4. Indicate the email you want to use. In case you are an AdSense publisher, just go direct to the sign-up section and put your existing email.
5. Once in AdSense, verify if the email on top of the page is correct. If it’s not the correct account, click “Use a different account” to change it.
6. Follow the presented instructions to create a new AdSense account. Provide the correct information, verify, and then submit the application.
7. After submitting the application, you will receive a message informing you of the application has been received.
8. Later on, you will receive an email from AdSense informing you that your account is approved. Keep in mind; the account might take up to several days before it’s approved.
How to Sign Up for the YouTube Partner Program?
1. First, sign up or log in to your YouTube channel.
2. Then click on the channel settings.
3. Click on the username or profile picture on the right side of your screen.
4. The YouTube menu will appear, next click on the setting options.
5. When you see the Account Settings screen, just select the monetization part on the left side of your screen.
6. Next, select the “my account button, “which is blue and white in color.
7. Still, on the bottom left corner of the screen, the YouTube Monetization agreement will appear. Read it carefully and if you agree to the terms and conditions, add a checkmark to the three checkboxes indicated.
Select the accept button to continue:
- Once you hit continue, check the Monetize My Videos labeled part. There will be 3 options for you to choose from. These are the Overlay In-Video Ads, Videos Contain a Product Placement and TrueView In-Stream Ads. All you need is to select all. Next, click on the Monetize button.
8. After hitting continue, you will see a brief introduction on how to monetize each video you upload on your channel. After you are done, click the “Got It“ button to continue.
9. Finally, after you have been signed up for the YouTube Partner program, always remember to turn on the ad features every time you post a video. Then link your channel to your Google AdSense account for the payment process.
Point to Note:
Keep in mind, you don’t have a say, nor can you control which advertiser’s ads message or content that appears in conjunction with your videos. However, you can indirectly influence the advertisements through your title description.
Since the main benefit of becoming a YouTube partner is to be able to earn revenue from your original content. Ensure you follow all the Terms of Service and Community Guidelines and you will definitely get the fruit from your labor.
Benefits of Being YouTube Certified
There are many benefits for both individuals and companies being YouTube Certified.
These include:
- You will be included among YouTube certified creators;
- You will get a badge that can be used not only on YouTube but your website, social media, and other marketing platforms;
- It’s a great way to get first-hand access to YouTube materials and announcements;
- A great program to grow your own channel as you learn about audience development and digital rights;
- YouTube certified creators receive more trust from visitors or customers;
- Being included in YouTube Certified companies or individuals directory;
- Using the Certified badge with YouTube‘s permission on digital marketing products.
Tips on How to Get YouTube Certified
- First, check if you are eligible. This means you a YouTube partner or has qualified as a Google advertising associate;
- Follow and abide by all the YouTube policies, such as Terms of Service and Community Guidelines;
- Understand which courses most suit you and will help to grow your channel;
- Complete the self-paced course materials;
- Take the 2 hours exam that has 100 questions and pass by 75% or higher. If you don’t pass after the first try, you can retake the exam after 24 hours. However, a second failure of the YouTube Certified exam leaves you with one more alternative to re-enroll after six months;
- For music partners, make sure you complete the number of courses defined in your SRAV ( if applicable).
Point to Note:
If you don’t qualify for the YouTube Certification, the YouTube Creator Academy has a YouTube official blog where you can acquire a mass of knowledge. Additionally, check the YouTube Service Provider Directory for some great information.
YouTube Creator Academy
The good news is that the YouTube creator academy offers courses that will improve your YouTube channel content or even help to prepare for certification exams. Whether you are starting on YouTube or have been doing it for a while, the training will help you with certification as well.
With the certification process courses lasting two weeks, you get comprehensive coverage of topics on how to build subscribers, which helps you to reach out to new viewers and getting them to subscribe to your channel.
You also learn to select and organize user-friendly content to attract daily viewers. There is also Cross-platform optimization that enables your YouTube channel to sustain its relevance on TV screens, computers, mobile devices, and gaming consoles.
The academy also offers other online courses in different languages such as English, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.
The best thing that YouTube creator academy is totally free to use.
The modules include:
- Channel and YouTube Platform Strategy: Marketing strategies to help you create and optimize a successful YouTube channel.
- Sales on Google: Guidelines on how to drive sales and generate leads with Google AdWords.
- Content Monetization: Learn how to set up monetization, how ads work on YouTube, merchandise, branding, and working with advertisers, and so on.
- Analytics and Reporting on YouTube: Know how to monitor the performance of your channel, videos, and claimed content with up-to-date metrics and reports.
- Methods for Developing Audiences: Techniques to make videos more attractive to the audience to increase subscribers and views.
- Copyright Laws: Identifying when you need copyright permission as you upload your videos.
- Asset Rights Management: Scale and optimize your assets with a deeper understanding of digital rights, complex claiming scenarios and advanced analytics.
- Misuse of Content ID: Educates on how to use a content ID, which content is not appropriate to claim through content ID, among others.
- Sustainable Viewership Creator Strategies: Find out which creative strategies are best for your niche and optimize them.
- Using YouTube Live: You will learn how to go live on YouTube, the tips, tricks, and ideas to use to make your broadcast successful.
Additionally, the YouTube Creator Academy training has other available resources are:
- Content Strategy: Learn how to target the audience while supporting your channel.
- Production: This course covers everything about video shooting, live streaming, 360o videos, and VR.
- Channel Optimization: You get a global channel, build your community, and get discovered with vital insight from YouTube analysts.
- Money and Business: The course is about lessons on making money on YouTube ads and beyond. Additionally, you learn how to make your channel a legitimate business while covering brand deals.
- YouTube Wellbeing: It covers staying healthy while going after long term YouTube channel success. This helps creators avoid burnout.
Point to Note:
The Certified program also involves additional tracks available through nominations for advanced learning such as production, digital rights, and API Content ID.
Unfortunately, these tracks are only available in English and Japanese languages.
Conclusion
Clearly, when you look at the YouTube certification program, you get to appreciate the effort they have put into making your life as a YouTuber or consulting business even better.
From the different courses to the blog section, testimonials, and policies and guidelines, you will be more equipped to face your YouTube competitors.
So, if you are an individual or company and haven’t taken the opportunity to be YouTube certified, look at the step and step guides and tips and start the process.
Glen Beker
I am Glen and I’m a 100% tech-addicted guy, Blogger, Video Editor and Entrepreneur. I spent a lot of my time learning how to properly edit videos, I've tested a lot of vlogging equipment and now with my team, I share all these tips with you.
