Today we are talking about the silent hero of video: captions and transcriptions. Your viewers might be in a meeting, a car, class, or even sitting on a toilet when they watch your video. Wherever they may be, you want to make sure you don’t hinder their ability to get the most out of your videos. That’s why it’s crucial to add captions to your videos.
According to Digiday, up to 85 percent of videos on Facebook are viewed with the sound off. But that’s not the only reason to transcribe your videos and add captions to videos you post. Let’s break it down a little more.
Video Transcripts Increase Search Traffic
Search engines can’t watch a video or listen to audio, but they do index text. Transcripts enable search engines to ingest your multimedia content and index it accordingly.
One study by Live Clicker compared 37 webpages before and after adding transcripts. Pages with transcripts earned an average 16 percent more revenue than they did before transcripts were added.
Closed Captions videos also rank higher in search results. Unlike the other content in your video, closed captions come from a text file that your video references as it plays. That text file is readable by search engine bots and gives your video a higher ranking.
Add Captions to Video on YouTube
Discovery Digital Networks performed an experiment on their YouTube channel comparing videos with and without closed captions. They found that close-captioned videos have 7.3 percent more views on average than videos without closed captions.
In the same experiment, DDN proved that closed captions were indexed by search bots. The test was done by using a phrase that appeared nowhere in the video title, description, or metadata except for its captions. The video showed up fourth in search results on YouTube.
Engagement from Captions
The main way close captions increase viewership is because they keep the viewer engaged regardless of the access to audio. It’s especially important in mobile video viewing environments. Ready for some more data? Facebook found that captions increase video views by 12 percent compared with uncaptioned videos.
A study conducted by PLYMedia measured a 40 percent increase on views for captioned videos. They also found viewers were 80 percent of viewers more likely to watch a video to completion when closed captions were available.
With all of this research, it’s very clear that captions improve viewership on videos, regardless of the platform.
How to Use Transcriptions
Now, let’s move onto transcriptions. Transcriptions have multiple uses. Not many companies have time to write brand new content every day, which is why repurposing content is a vital technique in content marketing.
A high-quality video transcript can be shared on other mediums or used to create other types of content. Depending on the video’s subject a transcript can also create blog articles, guides, email campaigns, eBooks, and social media posts.
Video transcripts align with your SEO keyword strategy. A video transcript helps craft your SEO strategy each time you build a video’s page. If you are targeting keywords like “customized marketing logos” but “custom-made, artistic logos” is repeatedly spoken throughout the video, you should adjust your on-page video SEO elements to match this phrasing.
Transcriptions Improve Accessibility
If all this data isn’t enough for you, there’s one more reason to add transcripts to your videos, which is improved accessibility.
The World Health Organization reports that more than 466 million people in the world —or about 5 percent of the population — are affected by disabling hearing loss. This included an estimated 10 million people in the United States alone who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Captioning brings access to your video content this population which didn’t exist before.
Trust JL Video with Video Marketing
Video content is not just a trend — it’s a must. As social media video continues to grow in popularity, it’s absolutely crucial to add closed captioning whenever possible.
As always, if you want to learn about how to gain more customers and capture new clients through video marketing, please reach send us a message through the contact page. We will be happy to learn more about your business.
Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn, and subscribe to us on YouTube and click the bell for notifications. Share this with a business owner friend or marketing director. JL Video, a video production company Tampa, produces videos for brands trying to connect to their audiences in the greater Tampa area and the entire country. We produce engaging, professional, and creative videos that generate revenue and build brand awareness.
Schedule your free consultation with one of our team members to begin your next video project today!
