Add Closed Captions to YouTube Videos with Transcripts
Boost SEO and provide a greater customer experience – Add Closed Captions to YouTube Videos with Transcripts!!
There are many reasons to add closed captions to your YouTube videos. You may be looking to capture those all important keywords, especially those that are uncommon words or words with unique spellings. This is important for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes, as audio or speech is not used for web search purposes. Maybe a large portion of your audience is hard of hearing or deaf. Providing the words to your videos is crucial to inform and engage that segment of your audience. Another reason to add closed captions is that perhaps the language you are speaking is not the first language for your audience. Being able to read the words being said allows them the opportunity to better comprehend what has been said, especially if the speaker has a heavy accent or speaks at a fast pace.
Whatever your reason, adding captions to YouTube videos is always beneficial, and the process is rather simple to follow. In this video, I cover step-by-step how to add in a transcript to your video. It can be as simple as copy/paste the words, adding in a .txt file, or maybe you’ve even gone ahead and created a .srt file to upload. There’s also the option to listen to the audio and type the words directly into YouTube. I cover all of these options in the video.
Now, I also make the suggestion to add in your transcript to the Description Box under your video. This may not be an option in all cases, as the character limit (to my knowledge) is 5,000 characters. If your transcript is to large, you can always create a summary. This is again very beneficial for SEO purposes. Make sure you are capturing those keywords, especially those that are uncommon words or words with unique spellings.
When it comes to the format for YouTube captions, it might not have to follow the FCC guidelines such as the 32 characters per line maximum, with 4 lines maximum. In fact, you will notice that if you have YouTube auto sync your transcripts, it is closer to 50 characters per line. This is why I highly suggest that you read over the rules and laws (pertaining to your country) in order to be aware of whether or not your videos fall under the rules and regulations as to what, if any, guidelines you must follow.
Captions no longer stop at YouTube. I have tested out adding captions to Facebook videos as well. Please be aware that vertical (portrait) oriented videos will have captions displayed along the side, rather than the bottom, and appear “sideways.” Although Facebook has not posted any guidelines as to maximum characters per line or maximum lines per caption display, I would recommend no more than 32 characters per line and no more than 2 lines per caption display.
Please be aware of the requirements that Facebook does have. They include the file name, as it must end with the language code and country of origin code. They also require the .srt file to be in SubRip File Format. To find out more, check out Facebook’s help page [HERE].
Vimeo is another video platform that is very popular. For a long time now, you have been able to upload your own caption files to vimeo. However, there is not a service like YouTube where there was the capability to “auto sync,” i.e. create the timings for you. Recently, I’ve heard that Vimeo is teaming up with a company called Amara to do just that. While I have yet to test out this feature, it sounds very promising and exciting. For more information please go to Vimeo’s website, or Amara.
While it sounds great that YouTube offers an auto transcript, this transcript is often full of errors and completely misses your important keywords for SEO purposes. With the high error rate, it also likely would not meet any type of regulatory guidelines when it comes to accuracy. Human transcription is still your best option.
Pham Transcription Services is, on average 99% accurate or greater. We can provide you with a transcript that you can not only upload into YouTube and have it auto sync, but you can also repurpose that transcript for blog posts, webinars, and so much more. For more information about our services, please contact us.
If you have any suggestions for tips you’d like me to cover in an upcoming video, please leave a comment or contact us. For notifications of upcoming videos and posts, please subscribe to the blog. Thank you for joining us for another Quick Tip Tuesday.
-Tina
