YouTube growth, without the noise.
Tactics, channel deep-dives, and creator playbooks from the team behind YTGrowth. Written by humans, tested on real channels.
MonetizationHow to Make Money on YouTube Beyond Ads
YouTube pays creators 70% of both channel memberships and Super Thanks after fees, sourced directly from YouTube's own policy pages, not a vendor's guess. Every real method beyond ad revenue, ranked by what it pays and what it takes to start, plus what to prioritize at your channel's size.
More from the blog
Analytics
AnalyticsYouTube Title Length Doesn’t Predict Performance: A 28,947-Video Study
Four published studies each recommend a different YouTube title length, and none of them agree. We measured it directly across 28,947 tracked videos and 707 channels, normalized for channel size and video age, and title length explains almost none of the variance in performance. The actual curve, the one pattern that might matter, and where the four studies went wrong.
StrategyYouTube Video Ideas: 111 Ideas in 15 Formats, Measured Against 83,423 Uploads Across 14 Niches
Most video ideas lists dump every niche into one scrolling wall with no way to tell which ten ideas apply to your channel. This one sorts by format first, backed by real upload data across 14 niches, so the reader can find their format and the length, cadence, and Shorts mix that already works for it.
StrategyMusic Video Ideas: Formats That Promote the Song, and Formats That Build the Channel
Most musician content guides mix song promotion and channel-building into one undifferentiated list. This one splits them, 43 ideas across seven formats, measured against 6,801 music uploads: 2.8 minute median length, the shortest of any tracked niche, and 37% Shorts share, the second-highest.
StrategyTech Video Ideas: What to Film Between Launches
Reviewing whatever device just launched is the obvious tech video, and also the one a bigger channel with more subscribers already owns. 33 ideas grouped into six formats built to survive between launches, measured against 5,876 tech uploads since January 2025 for length, format mix, and how much of the niche already runs on Shorts.
StrategyCooking Video Ideas: What to Film When Recipes Run Out
Recipes are the easy part of a cooking channel; running out of ones worth filming is what stalls it. 34 ideas grouped into six formats that outlast any single recipe, measured against 3,859 cooking uploads since January 2026 for what gets filmed, how long it runs, and where a Shorts strategy fits.
StrategyComedy Video Ideas: 42 for People Who Are Not Naturally Funny
Comedy is one of the few YouTube niches where search demand barely exists, so the premise has to win the click before anyone has laughed. 42 ideas grouped by the six mechanisms behind every comedy premise, plus real upload data on what comedy channels publish and the copyright and prank-policy traps that end them.
StrategyYouTube Gaming Video Ideas: 18 That Do Not Need a Big Channel
Gaming is the most crowded category on YouTube, so the idea has to work harder here than anywhere else. 18 video ideas you can film this week, each with a title to adapt and the reason it works for a channel with no audience yet, plus real upload data on what gaming channels genuinely publish.
AnalyticsThe Ideal YouTube Video Length in 2026: We Analyzed 30,360 Real Uploads by Niche
The average gaming upload runs 73 minutes. The typical one runs 24.3. We pulled real duration data on 30,360 long-form videos published since January 2026 across 14 niches, and found that most published length advice quotes an average quietly inflated by livestreams and lecture recordings. Every niche's median and average side by side, which statistics mislead worst, and where the 8-minute mid-roll line falls for each.
StrategyYouTube Vlog Ideas: Every Format, From Phone-Only to Full Kit
Most vlog idea lists never say which ideas need real gear and which work with the phone already in your pocket. That distinction decides whether you film today or wait. The full breakdown by effort level, the voiceover option for camera-shy creators, and an honest read on how often to post.
StrategyYouTube Challenge Video Ideas: The Complete Guide
A challenge video needs a stake, a reaction, and a stunt viewers have not already seen a hundred versions of. Most idea lists nail the first two and quietly skip the third. The real categories, the safety guidance most lists skip, and how a challenge video makes real money.
StrategyYouTube Shorts Ideas: The Complete Format Guide
Every list of Shorts ideas skips the filter that decides whether any of them work: a hook inside the first two seconds and an ending that loops back into the start. The full breakdown by format, plus how to check a topic has real demand before you film it.