Watching a brand’s video, according to 84% of consumers, persuaded them to purchase a good or service.
That’s why video marketing is becoming an increasingly popular tool for businesses of all sizes, but to make the most of it you must ensure you are taking advantage of all the SEO benefits that come with subtitling your videos.
Subtitling your videos helps to boost your SEO rankings, improve content accessibility, and increase engagement.
When done correctly, subtitles also increase the visibility of your videos in search engine results, making them more discoverable by potential viewers.
With the right strategy and tactics, you can unlock the potential of subtitles and use them to your advantage.
In this article, we have discussed the top 8 proven SEO benefits of subtitling your videos, and how you can get started with subtitling today.
Introduction to video subtitles
Video subtitles are the text version of what’s being said in a video.
They provide a visual representation of the audio for those who are hearing impaired, as well as for people whose first language may not be English.
Subtitles also provide a way for viewers to follow along with the video’s content even if they’re in a noisy environment or unable to listen to the audio.
Ways to add subtitles to your videos
Subtitles can be added to videos in a variety of different ways.
Some platforms, such as YouTube and Vimeo, allow you to upload pre-made subtitles files that have been created in a text editor.
You can also create your own subtitles by typing them directly into the video editor.
Additionally, some video platforms offer automated captioning services that generate subtitles based on the audio of your video.
However, when you’re uploading a video on your own website, you have to add the subtitles by yourself.
In this case, you’ve three options:
- Type and add subtitles by yourself manually
- Hire someone to create the subtitles for you manually
- Use an AI software to create subtitles automatically
The first option is apparently the cheapest one as you will do the subtitles yourself and wouldn’t have to pay anyone.
Its monetary cost is 0, but if you’re considering the time and energy cost, that’s hefty. You’ll have to spend multiple hours typing the subtitles manually, costing you a lot of time and energy.
The costs of the second option are opposite to the costs of the first option.
You’ll have to pay the one you’ll hire to create subtitles for you, increasing the total monetary cost. On the other hand, you’ll save your time and energy.
The third option, using an AI software to add subtitles to videos, is the most suitable one in these three options and balanced in terms of costs.
It costs you a little less than the second option in monetary terms. Also, it generates subtitles automatically using AI in a few minutes, costing you less time and energy.
Once you’ve created the subtitles using one of the above-mentioned options, you’ll need to make sure they’re correctly synced with the video.
This means adjusting the start and end times of each subtitle so that they appear at the right time.
This is a time-consuming process, but it’s important to get it right so that the subtitles appear in sync with the video.
Now that you know how to get started with subtitling your videos, let’s take you to the SEO benefits you’ll reap:
1. Subtitles help you reach a wider audience
The wider the audience you can reach with the content you create, the greater the potential for engagement and site traffic.
Subtitles help you to expand your viewer base by making your content more accessible to various segments of the population.
Globally, more than 1.5 billion people suffer from hearing loss. Considering they’re in your target audience and you’re not trying to reach them, you are losing an opportunity to widen the audience for consumption of your video content.
By reading subtitles, people with hearing loss l consume your video content, widening your overall audience ultimately.
2. Subtitles improve user experience (UX)
The user experience is crucial to the success of any video marketing campaign, and subtitles can make viewing videos more enjoyable and less frustrating for users who are deaf or hard of hearing.
On top of that, subtitles provide a written record of what is being communicated in the video, which can help viewers who prefer to read over watching.
Subtitling your videos improves the overall user experience, which leads to higher engagement, more shares, and ultimately greater success for your video marketing campaign.
3. Subtitles enhance understandability
By subtitling your videos, you are not only improving the overall user experience by making your content more accessible, but you are also enhancing its understandability.
This means that your subtitles are written in a way that is easy to understand and follow.
You can use various strategies and tactics to make your subtitles more understandable, such as keeping them short and simple, avoiding jargon, and including visuals and illustrations in your video.
Moreover, enhancing the understandability of your video by adding subtitles helps to engage your target audience, improve your brand image, and encourage people to share your content.
4. Subtitles improve accessibility for audiences with disabilities
Adding subtitles to videos is an important step in making sure that your content is accessible to everyone.
Subtitles provide a more enjoyable and understandable experience for those who are hearing impaired, as well as for people whose first language may not be English.
By making sure that your videos have subtitles, you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and ensure that everyone is able to access and enjoy your content.
In addition to making your videos more accessible to those with disabilities, adding subtitles can also help you comply with accessibility laws and regulations.
For example, many countries have laws such as Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that require your web content to be accessible to those with disabilities.
Similarly, the UK has its own accessibility requirements which the businesses, for instance in Lancashire city, have to comply with.
5. Subtitles help increase engagement
Another SEO benefit of subtitling your videos is that it helps increase engagement on your website.
According to a research, having subtitles available increased viewers’ likelihood of watching a video till the end by 80%.
Also, if you have videos that are highly relevant to your website content but are in a language that your target audience does not understand, your visitors can still enjoy and benefit from your video content by watching the subtitles.
This helps increase overall engagement, as visitors are likely to stay on your website for longer and may find other content on your site that is relevant to their interests.
6. Subtitles translate into more views and leads
Subtitling your videos also helps to increase the number of views and leads that your video generates. Overall, captions increase your video’s views by 7.32%.
If you subtitle your videos in different languages, you can significantly increase the number of views and leads from different countries.
By targeting a wider audience, you are increasing the likelihood of people visiting your website and making a purchase from you.
7. Transcripts improve off-page SEO
One of the most important SEO benefits of subtitling your videos is that it provides an opportunity to build internal links back to your site from the transcripts on the video.
This is an excellent opportunity to build your site’s authority and improve your site’s SEO rankings.
By using your video transcript as a source of content and linking back to your website, you can create a powerful citation for your content that will be useful for years to come.
As time passes, these citations continue to build your site’s authority, maximizing the SEO benefits of subtitling your videos
8. Subtitles make video content readable for Google
Google crawls the text of subtitles, making it an excellent opportunity to ensure that your content is easily readable by Google.
By including key terms, phrases, and sentences that are relevant to your video’s topic and content, you are able to boost your video’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is an important SEO benefit of subtitling your videos, as having your content easily readable by Google can greatly improve your video’s chances of being discovered by new viewers.
Just remember to avoid keyword stuffing and make your subtitles readable and natural so that they are penalized.
Unlock the power of subtitles
Subtitles are an often overlooked but powerful tool for video marketing. They have many SEO benefits such as increasing engagement, improving user experience, and making your content more accessible to a wider audience.
Subtitles are a simple but effective way to make your video content more discoverable and are a great way for businesses to provide more value to their customers.
Remember that when used correctly, subtitles help you to achieve your video marketing goals.
With the right strategy and tactics, you can unlock the potential of subtitles and use them to your advantage.
