Anybody can start a YouTube channel.
But growing your subscriber base and consistently making money from YouTube is much more challenging.
You’ll need to be patient and create quality content for your audience without expecting immediate results for at least 6-8 months.
To grow your channel faster, you need to understand your audience’s needs, optimize your content for the right keywords, have a solid marketing strategy, and pan your monetization modes.
Thankfully, there are excellent tools available to help you do all those things. So, if you are wondering how to get monetized on YouTube, you are in the right place.
In this article, I’ll share some of the best YouTube tools to help you grow, manage, and monetize your video content.
Let’s dive in.
Best YouTube SEO & YouTube Analytics Tools
YouTube is not only the world’s biggest video streaming platform but also the second largest search engine, where millions of people search for billions of different keywords every month.
To attract viewers and subscribers, you need to find your audience’s questions and use YouTube SEO strategies to optimize your videos for the right keywords.
Here are some of the best YouTube SEO and YouTube analytics tools to make your job easier.
1. TubeBuddy
With over ten million active users, TubeBuddy is among the most popular YouTube content optimization and keyword research tools.
It’s a Chrome extension that allows you to research the most popular video topics and the most relevant keywords to optimize your YouTube videos.
In addition, it helps you test different video thumbnails and find the one that attracts the highest engagement.
Apart from YouTube SEO and keywords research, TubeBuddy also helps you with content publishing and scheduling. You can use it to create video cards and add them to your library. In addition, you can schedule changes to a video’s title, description, tags, etc.
2. SEMRush
SEMRush is among the world’s top SEO and keyword research tools that help users explore new topics and find profitable search keywords.
It is not a YouTube-specific tool, but you can use it for competitor analysis, keyword research, and finding new content ideas for your YouTube channel.
For example, you can use the Keyword Magic Tool in SEMRush to explore your topic in more detail and find long-tail keywords driving traffic to your competitors.
The search volumes for keywords are different for Google Search and YouTube. But a keyword with high search demand on Google is also generally popular on YouTube.
3. Tubics
Tubics is a one-stop YouTube SEO solution that takes the guesswork out of video marketing by providing you with data-driven insights and YouTube analytics.
It helps you optimize your content at every stage of the marketing funnel. For example, you can use it to find profitable YouTube video content ideas and research keywords with the highest traffic potential.
You can also use Tubics to audit and optimize your existing YouTube videos. Tubics evaluates your videos and provides you with actionable recommendations to improve their search appearance.
In addition, it also helps you find the optimal video length, thumbnail, transcription, etc. In short, it’s a complete YouTube research optimization suite that’ll help you create winning content for your YouTube channel.
4. VidIQ
VidIQ is another leading YouTube content optimization and research tool designed to help you maximize your video’s reach and engagement.
It consists of different mini tools for YouTube keyword research, title and description optimization, competitor analysis, channel audit, trend analysis, and other goals.
With VidIQ, you can find the most profitable YouTube content ideas and keywords to optimize your video titles, description, tags, and transcripts. In addition, its AI idea generator is an excellent source of unique and interesting content ideas bound to engage your audience.
In addition, VidIQ has a thumbnail generator to quickly create eye-catching video thumbnails and a scorecard that helps you measure your video optimization score.
5. Keywords Everywhere
Keywords Everywhere is a handy Chrome extension that helps you uncover numerous video topics and keywords on YouTube.
Once installed, it shows you different types of keywords while you explore videos on YouTube. For example, if you search YouTube for “weight loss tips”, Keywords Everywhere shows you a list of related keywords, keyword search trends, the most popular channel, average views per video, and many other valuable insights.
When you open a video, Keywords Everywhere shows you its tags and the other related tags you can use to optimize your YouTube videos.
You can get these keyword lists for free, but to get the exact search volumes and other critical data, you need to subscribe to one of their premium subscription plans.
6. Keyword Tool
Keyword Tool is another handy product that helps you find the most relevant and trending YouTube search keywords by pulling data from YouTube Autocomplete results.
YouTube Autocomplete keywords are the search terms YouTube shows when you type a keyword in its search box. They’re high-traffic keywords that thousands of YouTube users are already searching for
By using the Keyword Tool, you can find the most relevant YouTube Autocomplete keywords for your topic. You can then use these keywords to optimize your YouTube videos’ title, description, tags, and thumbnails.
Best YouTube Monetization Tools
Once your channel starts getting regular views and subscribers, you can start thinking about different ways to make money from your content.
In this section, I’ll share the best YouTube monetization tools to help you make money on YouTube with different methods.
7. YouTube Brandconnect
According to Google, 40% of US consumers have purchased a product they discovered in a YouTube video. This is why brands are spending billions of dollars on promoting their products by collaborating with YouTube content creators.
YouTube Brandconnect is YouTube’s official portal to connect its content creators with the world’s biggest brands. The platform currently works only in the US, Canada, and UK.
Brandconnect uses Google AI technology to evaluate your audience needs and connect you with brands selling the most relevant products to your subscribers. You can earn money by creating unique content for your partner brands and helping them reach your audience.
8. Izea
Izea is the world’s leading influencer marketing platform that helps you monetize your YouTube audience by connecting you with leading brands.
As a content creator, you can use Izea to find brands that resonate with your audience and make money by promoting their products and creating branded content.
Izea’s intelligent platform uses advanced technology to match YouTubers with relevant brands. This is important because when you promote products from brands relevant to your channel’s audience, you can feature them naturally in your content. Such content also drives better results for the brands.
9. Uscreen
Uscreen is a video membership platform you can use to convert your YouTube audience into paying subscribers.
Here’s how it works.
You create a Uscreen premium membership site with exclusive video content and encourage your YouTube audience to sign up for a fee.
With Uscreen, you can charge viewers to access your premium content in various ways. For example, subscribers can pay every time they watch a video on Uscreen. Or you can sell them a monthly subscription or a video bundle. You also have the option to sell lifetime memberships or offer limited-time content access.
To help you convert your YouTube audience into paying subscribers, Uscreen offers optimized landing pages, opt-in boxes, and several other conversion tools.
10. Patreon
Patreon is the world’s leading membership platform that allows creative professionals to get paid for their work without waiting to reach a specific subscriber count or watch time.
As a YouTube creator, use Patreon to create members-only content that your YouTube subscribers can access by paying for a monthly or annual membership fee. You can offer on-demand content, exclusive behind the scenes videos, and even collaborate with your biggest fans to create unique video content.
Patreon’s popularity has skyrocketed in the last few years as YouTube’s monetization policies have become tighter. Some of YouTube’s most widely followed channels have Patreon accounts where they charge viewers to access their content and make much more money than YouTube advertising.
It’s not a YouTube alternative because you’ll use your channel’s growth to fuel your Patreon account. But it provides a more efficient way to make money from your video content.
11. Shopify
Shopify is the world’s most popular eCommerce platform that allows anyone to start selling online in a matter of minutes.
With Shopify, you get a ready-to-use online store where you can sell your own product inventory or choose from a long list of fulfillment services that provide products on demand.
Your job is only to route traffic to your store, market your products, and generate orders for your fulfillment partners to get paid.
Thousands of YouTube creators are using Shopify to run successful eCommerce businesses. Creators with established YouTube channels route their audience to the different products on their Shopify store to generate sales.
They’re selling everything from T-shirts, mugs, caps, and clothing to artwork and products related to their channel’s topic. For example, many creators running mobile and tech review channels have set up Shopify stores selling tech gadgets, gaming keyboards, mouse, computers, etc.
12. Thinkific
Thinkific is among the world’s leading online course selling platforms which provides YouTube creators an excellent opportunity to monetize their expertise and build an eLearning business.
You can create a Thinkific school and put together an exclusive online course that teaches your audience about a specific topic. For example, if your channel is about graphic design and you share free design tips with your subscribers, you can create a full course on Thinkific and encourage your subscribers to enroll for a fee.
Similarly, if you’re a tech reviewer, you can create a course teaching wannabe reviewers how to become professionals and make money by reviewing tech gadgets.
The possibilities are endless.
Thinkific provides you the platform to turn your expertise into a formal modular course with assignments, quizzes, certificates, student management features, and a lot more.
Read our detailed Thinkific review to learn more about using it.
Best YouTube Lead Generation Tools
YouTube creators can consistently generate leads from their content to grow their businesses and subscriber base. Building a subscriber base outside YouTube is critical because it creates a backup in case YouTube suspends your channel or you lose its access for any other reason.
Here are some lead generation tools for YouTube.
13. GetResponse
GetResponse is one of the most popular email marketing, lead generation, and landing page building tools. It is a user-friendly tool that even non-technical YouTube creators can use to build landing pages and generate leads.
To grow your subscriber base and generate leads from YouTube, set up a landing page using GetResponse. You don’t need to design anything since it provides you ready-to-use landing page templates.
Just enter your content, add an opt-in offer (a lead magnet), and publish your landing page.
How do you generate leads?
By promoting your opt-in offer at the start and end of your videos and adding a link to your landing page in your video description.
Once a user signs up to your list, you can use GetReponse’s email automation features to send different email sequences and strengthen the relationship with your subscribers to turn them into customers.
14. Kajabi
Kajabi is an online course platform like Thinkific. But it’s also an excellent lead generation tool with email automation, segmentation, and landing page building tools specifically for online course creators.
So, if you’re looking to generate leads from YouTube for an online course, Kajabi is an excellent choice.
You can use its page builder to set up attractive landing pages in no time (no technical design skills needed). In addition, you can host your lead magnet and create opt-in forms to generate leads from your landing page.
With Kajabi, you don’t need a separate email marketing tool. Instead, you can use its email automation features to set up email sequences and sales funnels to convert subscribers into customers.
You only need to route traffic from your YouTube videos to your Kajabi landing page. Kajabi takes care of the rest.
Read our detailed Kajabi review to learn more about using it.
Best YouTube Live Streaming Tools
There are several limitations in live streaming your videos directly from YouTube. For example, you can’t stream on multiple platforms, you can’t add effects and graphics, etc.
Thankfully, most of the best live streaming software enables you to create highly engaging multi-platform live streams that you can distribute to YouTube (and other platforms).
15. StreamYard
StreamYard is among the best live streaming tools in the world. It’s a web-based multi-platform streaming service that allows you to create highly engaging live stream videos and broadcast them to YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. simultaneously.
With StreamYard, you can host up to ten on-screen guests, add graphic cards like the speaker and guest names, use your logo and other brand elements. In addition, you can make your audience feel special by featuring their comments directly in the video screen with their picture.
StreamYard works in your browser, so you don’t need to download any app or software. Its visual editor is designed for non-technical users and provides easy drag & drop options to change the look & feel of your videos.
In short, if you want to create HD streams that engage your viewers and drive more action, StreamYard is an excellent choice.
16. Open Broadcast Studio (OBS)
Open Broadcast Studio (OBS) is a free open-source video recording and live streaming tool that allows you to broadcast live on YouTube and several other platforms.
You can use it to go live on YouTube or stream pre-recorded videos to your subscribers. It also allows you to add custom introductions and various graphical elements for your YouTube live streams to make them engaging. It provides you with a unique stream key that you can enter in your YouTube Studio to go live.
OBS is probably the most widely used live streaming tool since it’s totally free and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
17. Onestream
Onestream is another premium tool that simplifies YouTube and multichannel live streaming. With Onestream you can schedule pre-recorded streams, go live on multiple channels together, and create professional video content to engage your viewers.
In addition, you can schedule video playlists to live stream on your YouTube channel and embed your stream player on multiple sites.
Onestream stands out for its ease of use and stream quality, along with visual elements to make your videos look more professional.
Best YouTube Video Editing Tools
People rarely create high-quality videos in one go. Instead, they use various editing tools and software to polish their content, remove unnecessary frames, and make their videos more presentable.
Here are some of the best YouTube editing tools.
18. Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is an industry-leading video editing solution designed for professional YouTubers and video content creators.
It’s the ultimate video editing tool that covers most aspects of content editing and allows you to transform your raw footage into professional videos that make an immediate impression.
With Adobe Premiere Pro, you can add animated titles, transitions, and visual elements to your video. Similarly, you can use its template library to import effects, color themes, sound effects, etc.
Its audio editor allows you to add multiple tracks, manage volume levels, trim clips, add effects, remove noise, and apply filters.
Its video editor lets you remove backgrounds, change lighting levels, apply color filters, and numerous other options.
Overall, if you’re looking to invest in a proper video editing solution, Adobe Premiere Pro is an excellent choice.
19. Filmora
Filmora is an ideal video editing solution for YouTube creators. It’s easy to use and can be accessed on desktop and mobile devices.
You can use it to remove backgrounds, apply green screen effects, add transitions, trim and cut videos, add multi-layer audios, and add emojis and engagement effects.
In addition, Filmora’s latest version comes with text to speech and speech to text features to speed up content creation and make your videos more engaging.
20. Veed.io
Veed.io makes video editing a breeze. It’s a robust video editor with a drag & drop interface that allows you to easily change the look and feel of your videos the way you want.
You can add images, drop your logo, transcribe videos, add effects, annotations, and a lot more. It also has the conventional editing options such as video cutting, trimming, and multilayer audio editing.
Best YouTube Royalty-Free Content Tools
Stock images, videos, sound effects, and music play a vital role in making your videos memorable and high-quality. You can find hundreds of sound effects and tracks in YouTube’s Audio Library.
But if you’re looking for more, here are some of the best royalty-free content platforms you can use for your YouTube videos.
21. Epidemic Sound
Epidemic Sound is among the biggest sound effects and music libraries for YouTube creators. Its soundtracks are unique and identifiable in YouTube because of their track ids.
Once you sign up for an account, Epidemic Sound integrates with your YouTube channel and provides you with a list of tracks you can use in your audios.
With Epidemic Sound you don’t need to worry about copyright claims and takedowns since all of their tracks are pre-screened and approved by YouTube.
22. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is the world’s largest collection of stock images, videos, soundtracks, animations etc. You can find visuals for all kinds of content categories and use them in your YouTube videos by paying for them.
Shutterstock’s biggest strength is its content quality and variety. To ensure you choose the most suitable visuals for your content, Shutterstock allows you to try them before purchasing.
If you’re a professional YouTube creator who regularly needs stock images and videos, there aren’t many better platforms than Shutterstock.
Best YouTube Content Management Tools
Managing, scheduling, and promoting your content the right way is critical to your YouTube channel’s growth.
Here are some of my favorite tools for YouTube content management.
23. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is among the top social media management and marketing tools that allows you to plan and schedule your YouTube videos.
In addition, it helps you identify the highest engagement time for your content and provides you with several other actionable insights to improve your content performance.
24. Trello
Trello is a user-friendly project management tool Youtube creators can use to organize their video ideas and streamline content execution.
It uses the Kanban methodology in which you can divide your video creation process into different steps such as idea generation, script design, storyboard, content creation, editing, and publishing.
You can then create separate Trello cards (dedicated threads) for every project and organize them under each category depending on its position in the production cycle.
It’s an easy way to visualize your content creation process, organize your thoughts, and streamline communication across your production team.
What Are the Best YouTube Tools For Your Channel?
I’ve shared multiple tools in every category to help you find the best YouTube tools for your channel.
Most of these products offer free trials or free plans. So, I’d recommend that you shortlist the most relevant tools from this article and take them for a trial run before making the final choice.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.
Jeff Cobb, Founder of Learning Revolution
Jeff Cobb is an expert in online education and the business of adult lifelong learning. Over the past 20+ years he has built a thriving career based on that expertise – as an entrepreneur, a consultant, an author, and a speaker. Learning Revolution is a place where Jeff curates tips, insights, and resources to help you build a thriving expertise-based business. Learn more about Jeff Cobb here.