YouTube verification is essential for anyone looking to set their page apart from the millions of content creators on the platform. By making your page more credible to your viewers, you can ensure that your YouTube channel stands out from the rest.
YouTube verification can help increase brand trust and engagement with your audience. Having a verified account also gives you access to great features that can help improve your content, which can, in turn, help increase audience trust in your brand.
In this article, we’ll discuss how you can get verified on YouTube.
What is YouTube Verification?
YouTube verification is a process that YouTube uses to confirm your identity. This means you are who you claim to be, and all YouTube users can see that.
Verification tells others you are a legitimate YouTube gamer, creator, artist, public figure, or business. This is especially important for brand managers and marketers who give out information through their channels.
YouTube also conducts verification of phone numbers. When you start creating content, YouTube usually sends a verification code to your phone to ensure you are a real person and not a bot. It also helps you unlock access to many features.
Why Does YouTube Verification Matter?
Verification can open opportunities for YouTube creators. It allows you to start earning money and establish yourself as an authority in your niche.
Here are some of the benefits of verifying your YouTube account.
Verification Badge: A verification is the subtle gray mark that appears next to a person or business’ YouTube page name. Verifying your page makes it easier to get this badge.
This mark helps everyone view your page as authentic. It also prevents others from using your reputation to create a copycat page.
Increased Upload Limits: Unverified YouTube channels can only upload videos up to 15-minutes long. However, verified channels can upload longer videos.
Custom Thumbnails: YouTube provides you with three default thumbnails for your videos. However, these thumbnails rarely drive views. They don’t have the carefully created elements of a perfect thumbnail, so you’ll likely get low engagement on your videos.
But when you get verified, you can create and add unique thumbnails. This will make your videos more enticing for users to click on.
YouTube Verification Requirements
Here are the eligibility requirements you must meet to get verified on YouTube.
- You need to have grown your page up to at least 100,000 subscribers.
- Your channel needs to be public and active. You must have profile details and a channel banner and be uploading regular content.
- Your representation of your identity must be accurate. On a few occasions, this may involve presenting some documents on request. According to YouTube, “your channel must represent the real creator, brand, or entity it claims….”
However, a few cases exist where YouTube waves the 100,000 followers requirement. This usually happens when the channel already has a solid and well-known reputation elsewhere.
How To Get Verified On YouTube
Here’s how you can get verified on YouTube in four quick steps:
Go to the Application Page
First, you need to visit the YouTube verification application page. If your channel is eligible (you must have 100,000 followers), the page will open up to the application form.
However, if you aren’t eligible, a message will appear telling you to try again when you’ve reached the 100,000 followers requirement.
Fill the Form
Fill out the application form with your details. You will need to input your name and channel ID.
Here’s how to find your channel ID:
- Go to Settings on your YouTube page;
- Find your channel ID under Advanced Settings.
Go back to the form and fill in the ID. You can also click the link below the form to find your ID.
Wait for the Review
After submitting, the YouTube team will spend some time evaluating your application, which may take a few weeks.
There’s no way to know what precisely the team checks, but this may include your channel’s age and whether your content’s previously been flagged down.
The team may also contact you to ask for more details or provide some documentation.
Stay Verified
It’s one thing to get verified and another to stay that way. So, once you get your verification badge, ensure you don’t lose it.
How To Lose YouTube Verification
Some people get their verification status only to lose it with a few careless moves. Here are some negligent actions they took that caused YouTube to withdraw the badge.
Terms and Conditions Violations: As with any other platform, it’s important to obey all YouTube’s terms of service. So, it’s best to stay within the limit of YouTube’s allowances.
Ensure you double-check your content and comments. Having consistent issues can cause your verification to be withdrawn.
Buying Followers and Engagement: It’s understandable that you want to grow your page faster. However, buying followers will only counter the purpose.
YouTube is evolving, and the platform is taking steps to remove all black hat activities and bots, which include fake followers and engagement. YouTube will remove fake followers, and getting flagged consistently can put you at risk of losing your verification.
Changing Your Channel Name: You may have a cause to change your channel name, but doing so can give YouTube a reason to take away your verification badge. They will also put a limit to such updates, which will prevent you from changing your username or phone number again.
Key Takeaways
Getting verified on YouTube is a quick and easy process that will help you create an authentic identity on the platform. This can be very helpful to brands and creators in a niche.
- Verification helps you get a verification badge, increase your video lengths, and build unique thumbnails.
- Gain 100,000 followers before you apply to get verified. In some cases, you can bypass this if you have an established reputation on a different platform.
- You can lose your verification by violating terms and conditions and being constantly flagged down.
Ervin Kalemi
