7 Facts About Video Transcription (and Why It Leads to Higher Engagement)

Video may be the new kid when it comes to online content, but it has quickly become the most popular, as well. The Internet is full of different types of content, but watching video takes up one-third of online activity, according to Wordstream.

On YouTube alone, businesses and other content creators upload 72 hours of video every 60 seconds. Not only that, but social video generates 1200 percent more shares than text and images combined.

What does that mean for a business and marketing strategy? It means that, if you’re not already using video in your marketing, you should start considering it.

The majority of marketers recommend video for the best return on investment (ROI). Those who use video report that their revenue grows 49 percent faster than non-video users. By including video in their strategies, many companies have closed more sales, increased engagement, and had better organic reach on social media platforms and search engine results.

But hold on a second. Before you grab your smartphone or digital camera and start churning out video content for your organization, there’s something else you should keep in mind to increase engagement on your online videos.

How Can You Stay Ahead of the Game When it Comes to Video Content?

When you produce video content, make sure you also offer video transcription alongside it. This will help you get the most out of your video, including engagement and ROI.

A video transcription is the translation of the video’s audio track to a text version. While this primarily includes the spoken words in the video, transcriptions may include other relevant audio details, such as background noises or music.

The video transcription should be an exact word-for-word reproduction of the video’s audio. This makes video transcription different from video captions or subtitles, which are sometimes abridged to accommodate the amount of time they appear on the screen.

So How Does Video Transcription Lead to Higher Engagement?

There are seven big ways that video transcription can increase your online engagement, making it valuable for your business.

1. Reaching a New Audience: Video Transcription for the Hearing Impaired

Without a text-based version of your video’s content, users who are deaf or hard-of-hearing may not be able to access your video content. According to the World Health Organization, more than 466 million people in the world have disabling hearing loss. That’s millions of people whose engagement you could be missing out on.

When you offer video transcription online, viewers who are hearing impaired can either read the text-based transcription alone, or watch the video while following along with the transcription. This allows them to take advantage of your content, whether it’s a customer testimonial, product demonstration, or brand video.

Want to further expand your online video’s accessibility? Once you have your video transcription, download the transcription as an .SRT file to add captions to the video itself.

2. Video Transcription Is More Accessible In Loud Places

Depending on the environment, video transcriptions sometimes are more convenient than just watching the videos themselves. Let’s say you’re at the airport, waiting for a flight, and you want to watch a video that promises to show you the best places to eat at your destination. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to hear the video above the PA announcements, waiting-area televisions, talking passersby, and rumbling transport carts.

When you can get a transcript for the video, you don’t have to worry about damaging your eardrums as you try to turn up the volume on your phone or tablet. You can just skim the transcription text to get the information you need, and find out where you should eat on your vacation.

3. Add Interactive Video Transcripts

With an online, interactive video transcript, you can click any part of the text and it will start playing the video at that section. This can help you find the information you want more quickly, and can make online video easier to interact and engage with as you watch.

Not sure if a particular video is what you need? If there’s a video transcription available, you can always hit “ctrl + F” to search the transcription page for the keyword or topic you’re looking for. Or simply skim the transcription to learn if it’s something you want to take the time to watch.

4. Video Transcription Is Easier to Go Back to it Later

With longer videos, you might not have time to watch the whole thing at once. Once you come back to finish the video, it can be difficult to remember exactly where you left off. Whether you have an interactive transcript or a simple, text-based video transcription, it is much less difficult to find your stopping point.

Simply search the video transcription for the last thing you remember watching, and select that time of the video. This can save you from watching parts of the video over again, or continually skipping forward or backward to find just the right spot. Users are more likely to enjoy your videos when a transcription makes it easier for them to come back.

5. Copy and Pasting Pieces of Content is Possible With a Video Transcription

Maybe you don’t want to share an entire video, but it includes a quote or fact that is just too good to keep to yourself. If you want to quote a video in an article or social-media post, a video transcription makes this much easier to do.

Rather than pausing the video to type or write down the information, or searching the video for the part they need, your viewers can simply select, copy, and paste the quote directly from the video transcription online. This makes it easier for users to share your video content, increasing engagement and potentially expanding your audience.

6. Text Consumes Less Internet

Although video is a popular form of content, it is also the heaviest consumer of data, and can quickly eat up network data limits on mobile devices. Video transcriptions are especially helpful for users who are trying to consume less data. Text takes very little data, so offering an online video transcription as an alternative to watching a data-consuming video may be preferable in many cases.

An online video transcription also can help people who are browsing on a slow network. It may take too long for an online video to load, but a text-based video transcription will show up much faster. By providing a transcription to the video, you ensure that users with limited data or slower connection speeds can still access and engage with your content.

7. Video Combined With a Transcription Better Connects With Your Audience

When you transcribe the audio from your video, this also helps non-native English speakers understand and engage with your content. Transcriptions, or portions of them, are more easily translated into other languages than video footage and audio tracks. Non-native English speaking users also can use the transcription to build their vocabulary and help with their spelling.

Even native English speakers can use video transcriptions to interact with your online content. When it comes to learning and absorbing information, different people have different skills and preferences. A transcription of your video’s audio track can help those who would prefer to read the information, or go over it later. Your audience might save the video transcription as a PDF to mark up on the computer, or go old-school and print out the transcription to make notes by hand.

Bonus (and most importantly!): Video Transcription Highly Improves Your SEO

Google and other search engines can’t “crawl” video, meaning they cannot “read” a video to know its content. When you transcribe audio from your online video, however, Google can search and index that text. This gives it a better idea of how to rank you in its search engine results. A transcription allows your video to be searchable, both across the over Internet and in your own website and video archives.

When your online video content is searchable, it can help you rank for any valuable keywords the video transcription may contain. This can help your video appear higher on the list of search engine results, making it more likely for Internet users to click on it and watch it.

But, Video Transcription Services Can Cost Too Much!

Thanks to modern technology, there are plenty of options for creating video transcriptions. Numerous websites across the globe offer free audio transcription services, either from voice-recognition software or individuals with video transcription jobs.

Unfortunately, many of the cheap or free options are inaccurate or unreliable. Others may yield good results, but with high up-front costs. Thankfully, Rev offers the best price and quality.

Transcribing audio from your video is easy with Rev

What do you have to do? Follow three simple steps to get your video transcription fast!

1. 1. Upload your files. Upload your audio and/or video files to our secure, confidential website, or just paste the video or audio URL from the web.
   2. Rev video transcriptionists get to work. One of our reliable English-fluent transcriptionists, not software, will transcribe your files. We guarantee at least 99 percent accuracy.
   3. Get your video transcription. Videos less than 30 minutes in length will have a turnaround time of less than 12 hours. You’ll receive an interactive online transcript exportable as Microsoft Word, PDF, or plain text.

Besides 99 percent accuracy and a quick turnaround time, Rev also offers transparent pricing. Rev’s video transcriptions cost $1.00 per minute of audio or video. There is no limit to the number of speakers, and speaker identification is free!

Add timestamps for an additional $0.25 per minute. Get verbatim transcription for an additional $0.25 per minute. Verbatim video transcription includes all sounds heard in the audio, including laughter and pauses.

All Rev clients can get the Interactive Transcript player for free! All you have to do is grab an embed code from your Rev order page and embed it into your website next to your Kaltura video player. (At this time, the interactive transcripts are only available with the Kaltura video player.)

Boost Your Engagement with Video Transcription

There is practically no limit to the benefits of transcribing your online video. Join thousands of satisfied clients and trust Rev with your video transcription needs.