Chances are, you already know the SEO basics, right?
Researching keywords, optimizing your website, measuring the results, and tweaking your strategy are the fundamentals everyone should take to heart to increase their leads and enhance their conversion rates.
Video schema markup and embedded videos are also powerful techniques to bolster your SEO.
However, we aren’t discussing any of that today.
Instead, I’m explaining how to use video transcript SEO.
This method enhances your visibility, and it’s all the more vital today as video is such a huge part of online marketing.
Most surveyed marketers realize how essential using video marketing is. According to research, 91 percent of businesses use video marketing, and 96 percent state that it’s an “important part” of their marketing strategy.
However, if you want to get the most out of your videos, you can take it a step further and use transcripts for video SEO to maximize your accessibility and reach.
That’s not all, though.
There’s another reason video transcripts are so essential, and that’s accessibility, but more about that later. For now, let’s just focus on video transcript for SEO.
Video Transcripts and SEO
Video transcript SEO is a valuable tool, and there are several ways it contributes to your site’s visibility.
- First, transcripts make your video content accessible to a wider audience, including those who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing or prefer to watch videos with the sound down.
- Looking for a way to get your videos indexed by search engines? Then add transcripts. They enable search engines to crawl your video content and give context to the information you’re sharing. You can also see your indexed videos in Google Search Console’s video indexing report.
- Readers can use transcripts to scan through content and understand the main points if they don’t want to watch a whole video. This can increase engagement and enhance your video transcript SEO.
- You can use transcriptions for internal link-building opportunities on your website. Do you have content complimenting your transcriptions and giving the visitor extra value? Then link to it and keep your visitor on your site for longer.
- Transcripts provide valuable keywords and phrases that you can use to optimize your videos and improve your ranking in search results.
- Finally, evidence suggests that captions can enhance video views by a whopping 80 percent, according to Sendible. In addition, closed captions give search engines crawlable content, increasing the chances of your content getting indexed.
Additionally, you can use transcripts as part of your overall SEO and content strategy. For instance, you can use them to create various forms of written and visual content, including:
- Blog posts and eBooks
- Individual quotes for social media
- Graphics
- Infographics
How To Start Transcribing Your Videos
We’ve established that video transcript SEO can be a boon for your site. But how do you get started?
One free method is manual transcription: just typing the content word-for-word yourself. Of course, while this is the most accessible option, it’s also the most time-consuming. You don’t just need to type it; you must edit and format it perfectly.
Now, I can understand if the manual option doesn’t appeal to you, so you’ll be pleased to know other methods are available to you, like:
Mobile apps: You can now use many mobile apps for transcription purposes. Some of the best mobile apps for transcriptions include Otter and Trint.
Use Google’s automatic captioning: YouTube’s speech recognition software creates automatic closed captions for YouTube long-form content, live videos, and Shorts. The captions are AI-generated so you’ll need to check the quality before publishing.
Speech narration and dictation software: You can use software like Dragon Naturally Speaking to dictate transcripts, but you’d still have to edit, proofread, and format the completed piece for your video transcripts to maximize SEO.
Free transcription tools: Descript and oTranscribe are just two resources that allow you to do transcriptions. Descript also has paid options.
Google’s doc’s voice commands: If you have Chrome, you can use Google’s free voice typing. To use it, open a document, go to docs, find “tools” in the top menu, scroll down, and select “voice typing,” then wait for the microphone icon to appear. Click the icon, and you’re ready to start dictating. To finish the transcription, click the microphone icon again.
Speech-to-text application programming interfaces (APIs): Amazon Transcribe and Deepgram are two examples, but there are many more to choose from. Deepgram gives you a free $200 credit when you sign up for their Pay-as-You-Go service, and new users of Amazon Transcribe get 60 minutes free a month for the first year.
Use captioning: You can also use video editors such as Adobe’s Premiere Pro for a more hands on approach. Start by transcribing your video, then use “create captions” to add captions to your video timeline. When you’ve finished editing, export the captions as burned-in subtitles or other file formats. Plans start at $20.99 per month.
Best Tools for Video Transcriptions
Transcription services have come a long way since they first emerged. Over the years, the quality of transcription services has improved drastically, and you’ve got plenty of tools to choose from.
Here are a few tools for your video transcription SEO, many with a free trial if you want to give them a spin.
Rev
Rev is a popular transcription service that offers high-quality, accurate transcriptions of audio and video files. It has a simple pricing structure of $1.50 a minute for audio and video transcriptions, and English closed captions. Globally translated subtitles cost $5-12 a minute.
It couldn’t be much easier to use. Go to the audio and video transcription option and click the “upload your files” button. Next, upload or drag and drop your files or paste the URL. Then sign in or register and pay.
Sonix
Sonix is a transcription service that helps you convert your audio and video files into text. It provides three packages, including standard, premium, and enterprise.
Features include 35 languages, automated subtitles, an SEO-friendly media player, and secure storage.
The standard package costs $10 an hour and is suitable for shorter projects. Premium is $5 an hour plus $22 per month per user and is best suited for teams. For Enterprise pricing, you need to speak to the Sonix team. A 30-day free trial is available.
Scribie
Scribie is a transcription service offering fast, accurate, affordable transcripts. The company has a team of 50k certified transcribers who cater to different fields, such as medical, legal, and academic transcription.
Pricing starts at $1.25 per minute of audio with a 24-hour turnaround and 99 percent accuracy for files with clear audio. There are additional fees for rush orders, audio time coding, and burnt-in time coding.
For bulk orders, contact sales.
GoTranscript
GoTranscript is one of the largest online transcription and translation agencies. It boasts over 40,000 transcriptionists and offers translations in 46 different languages.
The transcription company also offers customer loyalty discounts, instant ordering, and a 100 percent “happy” guarantee.
Specialties include the enterprise, medical, legal, and academic sectors.
Transcriptions start at 84 cents per minute, and captions begin at $1.22 per minute.
Otter
Otter.ai offers a range of services, including transcribing your YouTube videos. All you need to do is play your video, hit “record,” and Otter.ai gets to work.
You can also transcribe your Dropbox files, virtual meetings, and audio content.
Once your transcript is complete, you can export it in various formats, including TXT. DOCX and SRT, which is a common format for exporting captions to YouTube.
You can start with the free package, which gives you 300 monthly transcription minutes. Paid subscriptions start at $8.33 a month.
A few more tools to help with video transcript SEO worth a mention include:
- TranscribeMe: This transcription service offers high-quality transcripts at an affordable price. They also provide a free trial so users can test their services before committing to a purchase.
- Adobe Premiere Pro’s “transcription” feature: This allows you to create a written video transcript right in the app.
- Trint.com: Trint is a web-based platform that uses AI to transcribe your videos. It offers three paid plans, monthly and annual subscription options, and a free seven-day trial.
Best Practices for Using Your Video Transcripts to Boost SEO
Once you have the right tools, remember to apply some best practices to your video transcript SEO to further improve your visibility.
Here are some best practices you can use to optimize your video transcriptions for SEO:
1. Add relevant keywords and phrases. For example, if your website is about aging well, you could include “tips for aging well” or “advice for aging well.”
2. Use various keywords and phrases throughout the transcript, but avoid keyword stuffing. The practice of adding excessive keywords without proper context is a negative ranking factor.
3. Place keywords at the beginning of sentences and paragraphs whenever possible. Use a tool like Ubersuggest to help you find keywords.
4. Check the accuracy of the transcript against the audio track and fix any errors.
5. Include a mix of primary, secondary, and long-form keywords.
6. Increase your SEO video transcript efforts by repurposing transcriptions into blog posts, case studies and infographics, etc.
Video Transcriptions and Accessibility
Away from video transcript SEO, there’s another reason why you’d want to use transcriptions and closed captions with your video.
The more people who can access your content, the wider you can spread your message. Providing transcripts helps the millions of people with hearing problems or who are registered as d/Deaf.
I could use plenty of stats here, but to give you some context, 25.4 million people in the U.S. have some mild hearing loss. You want to open doors for those people by making your content accessible.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) means websites must be accessible. Providing transcripts helps achieve ADA compliance.
While there is some debate on the exact nature of legal requirements, there are some guidelines for when your media needs a transcript. If you’re unsure what your legal responsibilities are around accessibility, I’d suggest getting some expert advice.
FAQs
How Can I Transcribe My Videos?
There are several free and paid options available. As well as software, you could use transcription agencies; however, this may be a more expensive option. On the other end of the spectrum, you have manually transcribing them yourself, but this can be extremely time-consuming.
What Are the Best Video Transcription Tools?
It all depends on what you’re looking for and the volume of content you need transcribing. For example, if you’ve got a lot of content to transcribe, a subscription may work out cheaper. Alternatively, if you’re looking for the occasional transcription, then pay-as-you-go services may be better for you. Take advantage of some free trials and see which option works for you. Then, look at whether the tool is within your budget and offers value to your overall SEO efforts.
Why is video transcript important for SEO?
Google and the other search engines cannot watch or listen to your videos (yet, anyway!) Instead, they use text-based content to understand what your video is all about; that’s where transcripts come in.
When you add a transcript, search engines understand context, keywords, and topics. This then allows Google to index your content better and decide where it should rank in its search results.
Video transcripts also allow keyword optimization. When you include relevant keywords in your transcript, there’s more chance of your target audience finding your content. You can then use your transcripts to repurpose your video content into other formats, like blog posts or social media snippets.
How can I optimize my video transcript for SEO?
You can use video transcripts for SEO by including keywords in titles, descriptions, metadata, and throughout the content.
Additionally, you can use subheadings for easier reading and has an opportunity to include keywords.
Provide a summary of the content to give search engines context and add timestamps to help readers find specific parts of the content, too.
Can video transcripts improve search engine rankings?
Here’s the short version: Yes, a video transcription increases SEO.
The slightly longer version: Video transcripts help to maximize SEO because they give search engines context. This can mean your videos have higher visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs) when a user types in a related search.
Video transcripts can also reduce bounce rates. Although bounce rate is a metric rather than a ranking factor, a high rate may mean your content isn’t engaging people. A video transcript can help improve engagement by making your videos more accessible.
Conclusion
Sold on video transcripts for SEO yet?
If you’re not, let me remind you of its benefits.
Providing video transcripts can help boost your SEO in several ways, such as helping the search engines index your site, increasing your ranking, and enabling link-building opportunities.
However, video and SEO in your transcripts can do far more than give your site better visibility. They also provide greater accessibility for people with hearing loss and for people who may prefer to watch content with the volume turned down when they’re in public.
Using video transcripts for SEO, you can get the most out of your online video content as part of your overall online strategy to get your content out to more people.
Do you use video transcripts for SEO? How do they help you and your visitors?