A YouTube transcript is essentially the text version of everything that’s spoken in a video. Sometimes YouTube automatically generates it (which, to be frank, can be somewhat inaccurate), or the video creator uploads their own transcript. The manual ones tend to be far more accurate since they are edited and typed by real people.
Why They Matter
Transcripts provide multiple benefits, from accessibility to SEO improvements, making videos more discoverable and user-friendly.
1. Accessibility and Inclusivity
YouTube transcripts are helpful to those who cannot hear well or just prefer reading. My uncle, for example, finds video audio too fast, so he always reads transcripts to keep up.
2. Better Understanding for Foreign Speakers
If English isn’t your first language, following along in text can really help. I’ve found that reading transcripts during a French tutorial video helped me catch words I wouldn’t have understood just by listening.
3. SEO and Being Found Online
Google and other search engines aren’t able to read videos, but they can read text. So if you provide them with a transcript, it’s simpler for them to determine what’s included in your video. I saw my videos getting listed more in search after optimizing the transcripts for real searched keywords.
For an even better ranking strategy, Views4You provides insights into boosting video performance.
Downloading Transcripts from YouTube
On the computer, you can simply open the video, click on the three dots below the video, and then “Show transcript.” It will appear on the side. On the app, there is also the same sort of menu, although sometimes it will make it say “Captions” or “Show Transcript.” It is not on all videos, particularly if the creator did not enable auto-captions or provide their own.
Editing and Tweaking Transcripts
YouTube’s auto captions can be a bit eccentric. I’ve had it translate “weather the cat” when I’d said “whether the cat.” If you’re the video owner, you can correct these errors in YouTube Studio under the “Subtitles” tab. Or you can simply upload a whole new transcript if you’ve already typed one out. That way all is well and intelligible.
For those looking to increase your engagement, optimizing video transcripts can make a real impact.
Benefits to Content Producers
A well-structured transcript can grow your audience, boost engagement, and make content more versatile.
1. Building Your Audience
A clean transcript enables you to reach those who are not fluent in your language or who learn better by reading.
2. Building Trust and Engagement
When your readers can understand you easily, they’re not as likely to wander off. There’s a way that simplicity makes one feel more at ease and engaged.
3. Repurposing Content
I will occasionally take my transcripts and convert them into blog entries or brief social media posts. It is a huge time-saver since I’m not beginning from scratch. It is recycling content but in a really useful manner.
For those wanting to expand their audience further, click here for more on how transcripts can help in subscriber growth.
Uses Beyond YouTube
Transcripts can be repurposed for written content like blog posts, social media captions, and even email newsletters.
- Transcribing into real blog posts or articles can actually increase your site content.
- You can extract quotes from a transcript for social media captions.
- You can even utilize transcripts as the foundation for podcasts or email newsletters. I gave that a shot last year and it worked beautifully!
Tools You May Find Useful
If you need higher quality than YouTube’s automatic captions, you can try something such as Otter.ai, which transcribes using AI (and isn’t perfect, but I find it’s pretty great). Rev.com employs actual human beings, so it’s super accurate but possibly more expensive. Descript is neat for editing the audio and text simultaneously, and Temi is pretty affordable.
Legal and Ethical Stuff
Ensure that you have the proper permission if using another’s video transcripts in a commercial enterprise. And do not commit errors in transcripts that mislead individuals. Fact-checking is always required.
Where Transcription Technology is Headed
Speech recognition continues to improve as does AI. I recall a few years ago, the transcripts were so awful I could barely use them. Now, they’re not flawless, but they’re a considerable improvement. What I’m seeing in the future is that we’ll have real-time transcripts that are quite accurate, which is wonderful news for both accessibility and content creators.
FAQ
1. How do I download a YouTube transcript?
You can copy and paste it directly from YouTube’s transcript window or use any third-party downloader.
2. Is it possible to edit the automatic transcript of another person’s video?
Nope, just the owner of this video can edit or include new transcripts.
3. Do transcripts really assist with YouTube rankings?
They can, yeah. A good transcript that is full of the right keywords can make your video more discoverable.