How Can You Live Stream on YouTube: 2023 Guide

What is YouTube Live?

YouTube Live is a streaming service that allows you to reach your community in real-time. People from all around the world go on YouTube to experience the culture today, learn, or have fun. This streaming service helps companies and NGOs to go live and share flash news while it allows creators to engage with their communities as a real-time experience.

You can go live with your webcam via the web browser, or you can use the mobile app on your smart device if you have more than 1000 subscribers. However, today there are also several mobile apps that help users to live stream to YouTube directly from their devices without the minimum subscribers’ requirement.

So YouTube Live mainly allows you, the content creators, to be in direct interaction with your audience with the help of real-time video and a chat box. As for users, aside from being notified of the live streams that they have subscribed to before; they can also watch trending live streams by clicking on the “Live” button on the sidebar of their YouTube screen.

What are the Benefits of YouTube Live Streaming?

Live streaming on YouTube suggests great opportunities for content creators and brands on the platform. However, you do not have to be dealing with e-commerce to benefit from YouTube’s live streaming feature. This service can also help you out as a content creator. Now, let’s see how you can benefit from live streaming on YouTube:

You can grow your reach and audience: YouTube Live will help you reach a wider audience since the platform displays your stream without any geographical constraints. Therefore, the target audience can be anyone across the world and this live-streaming option will maximize your reach to a global level.
You can reduce the cost and economize on time: Hosting a YouTube Live will save you time and money since you can upload your live streams as on-demand videos without spending hours and dollars on editing. Simply, with a set of lights and a mic, and a plan for your live-stream event, you will save a lot in the post-production stage. And if you want to save even more time on that process, you can always check out Snapmuse.com library for exclusive music for video editing.
You can directly interact with your audience: Audience interaction is one of the key points of creating your own community. As you live stream on YouTube, you can directly interact with your viewers with the help of the chat section. As they can see your actual reactions to their commentary and it is a real-time experience, your audience will enjoy your event as unfiltered content. This will eventually help you in building trust and grow stronger connections with your audience.

YouTube Streaming Ideas

You are so excited and ready to embark on your live-streaming journey, we know! But before that, you might also want to hear our suggestion on live-streaming content ideas.

1. Spontaneous sessions

You can create an opportunity to let people ask you questions about yourself and get them to know you better. This is your chance to show who you are and bond with your followers!

2. Live demonstration

A live demo of your product or service will not only educate your audience but also build trust in your product and increase your sales.

3. Share your experience

By showing your expertise to your audience and giving them tips related to your niche, you can strengthen their interest in your content and eventually promote your channel. You can also create webinars or live pieces of training via YouTube Live and deliver your audience more value which will definitely increase your subscriber count.

4. Live Q&A sessions

People are craving to know! By hosting events related to your niche or your business, you can clear the questions in your community’s mind and establish yourself as an expert on the topic.

Do you know what will help you improve your live-stream content? Some good background music of course! If you want to include YouTube background music in your content, you should browse through our library.

How to Live-Stream on YouTube?

Now that you also have an idea of what to host in your first YouTube Live, we can dive into the how-to. Here are the steps you need to take to go live on YouTube:

1. Set your channel ready

This is a very simple process in which you only have to verify your channel and have live streaming enabled. You can do this easily by visiting: [youtube.com/verify]. Just follow the steps of the instructions and then on the following page, check if you have got live streaming enabled for you.

2. The easiest way to go live

Now that you have set your channel ready, you can go live any moment with your webcam and mic. As you head to [youtube.com], hit the [ create a video and more] button at the right top of the page and come down to [go live]. Then, on the next page, you can set your webcam, create a title for your YouTube Live, schedule the time, and set the filters ready. In the following step, you will either add your thumbnail or quickly take a picture from your webcam to set it as a thumbnail. Finally, you will have your links to share on your social to gather more people to your event and directly go live! It is all done, congratulations!

For the perfect touch for your YouTube Live, you might want to check out our intro music for YouTube and welcome your audience with the perfect hype.

What are the Video Length Limits for YouTube?

Are you wondering how long you can live stream on YouTube? Actually, there is no time limit for YouTube Live. You can stream as long as you want, however, the platform only archives live streams for up to 12 hours. Therefore, if you want to upload your live stream later as another video on your channel, your limit is 12 hours.

Nevertheless, if you want to upload a long video to YouTube and keep your audience entertained, you absolutely need to hook them up with good rhythms. But don’t worry! For the best YouTube vlogs songs, you can always visit Snapmuse.com and get access to the best music library for your creative work.

How Much Will I Earn From YouTube Live Streaming?

YouTube will also pay you for your live streams. However, YouTube will only offer advertisements on your video if you activate monetization on your channel. Once it is activated, YouTube might offer advertisements on your video as follows:

As display and overlay ads, advertising might appear over or next to the content on the desktop.
You might manually place an advertisement during the live stream as a mid-roll advertisement.
As pre-roll advertisements, the advertisements might show up before the live stream and they can be viewed both on desktop and mobile.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that there is an advertising limit, and you can only place one of each type of advertisement per stream.

Do’s and Don’ts

Before we leave it all to you and let your YouTube Live adventure begin, you might also want to see our short list of do’s and don’ts on YouTube Live.

1) Do plan your stream

So that you wouldn’t sit there without anything to entertain your audience. Remember, the goal is to talk about things in your niche and interact with your audience. You need to plan out your topics of discussion beforehand.

2) Don’t have expectations

You should not have any expectation that you will have an at-hand audience in the beginning. Remember, it is not YouTube’s job to provide you with an audience, it is your job to provide entertainment to keep people watching.

3) Don’t get off track

You will want to center your live stream around your niche. Stay on topic as much as possible. Your audience is there to discuss your topic. They clicked on your link to see your niche.

4) Do promote your live stream on multiple platforms

You should use multiple platforms to promote your live stream and be sure to post your live streaming links to your socials. Your Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram will drive traffic to your live stream.

5) Don’t stop the music

To keep your audience entertained, music should be your content’s best friend. With the help of music, you can keep your followers hooked to your live stream. You can use various sound effects, background music, or intro/outro songs to keep your audience alive! And as you know, we are always here for you with our free beats for YouTube on Snapmuse.com.

Now that you have learned everything you need to know about YouTube Live with our guide, you can be the next streamer that will get the spotlight! It’s your time to shine.