Why transcripts are really important for podcasts and audio files
I was recently reading about how much transcripts can help with increasing traffic to websites that have audio files and videos, so I thought I would pass along the following information. Below that information are some very interesting, actual comments I read that are from people expressing why transcripts are so important to them when visiting a website that has audio or video files. So, you might find this helpful if you have these types of files on your website and want to increase your traffic even more.
Blogs are for those who like to read,
Audio is for those who like to listen,
And video is for those who like to watch (and listen too, for the most part).
Since people enjoy consuming content in different ways, it’s smart to expand to other mediums as well. There’s one thing that a lot of people miss when creating audio and video, and that’s the opportunity to include a transcript. And, don't assume that because you have closed captioning, you have all the bases covered.
A transcript is important for many reasons:
- It allows those who cannot listen to or watch your content, still be able to consume it. This not only includes the hearing impaired (who really, really appreciate it when a transcript is available to read), but also those who do not have audio capabilities on their computers, or those who must keep the sound off – like those who may be at work (on a lunchtime break, of course!).
- It allows you to create a written document that has clickable links! Audio and video are great, but having a transcript with clickable links (whether as a PDF or on a website) will always ensure your visitors have an easy and convenient way to visit any website you mention on your video or podcast.
- Some people like to have the text in front of their eyes while listening or watching, because it reinforces the content – which can only help you even more.
- Others prefer reading, over listening or watching, because they can get the information much, much faster.
- It looks professional and shows you’re serious about your content while making it readily available to people in whatever format THEY want.
- It makes your content far more easily searchable. If someone remembered part of what you mentioned in a video or podcast episode and wanted to get the whole thing in context, it’s much easier to search for certain pieces of text within a transcript than it is to scan through an audio or video file to find a certain snippet.
- For search engine optimization (SEO) purposes. Again, audio and video are fantastic, but without any written text, the specific content you talk about will not get picked up and indexed by search engines. However, if you have closed captioning, it will -- but closed captioning does not provide all the other benefits that a transcript does.. The title, tags and description of the audio or video will help, but search engines do not include the actual spoken word from audio or videos in their indexes and algorithms – unless an accompanying transcript is provided in the Description area. The automatically generated transcript by YouTube, under the “More” tab, does not get indexed. Also, you could use some of the transcript’s text in articles and other parts of your SEO and backlinking strategies.
HOW TO GET A TRANSCRIPT FOR YOUR AUDIO OR VIDEO FILE
Creating a transcript can be very tedious work, especially if the file has any length to it. You can do it on your own, but it’s definitely a mindless task that can take up loads of time. Because of this, it’s best to outsource the work. To get a native English-speaking transcriptionist who provides a clean, well proofed document, can average between $1.25 - $2.00/minute. For example, a 12 minute long audio or video file will take a good transcriptionist anywhere from 45-60 minutes or more, depending on the quality of the file, and will cost approximately $15.00 - $24.00.
You can send your files (via Dropbox) and in a day or two the transcriptionist will send you a .docx file that includes all of the text, often highlighting words that can’t be understood. You can then go in and fix the document before creating a PDF and posting it on your blog.
COMMENTS FROM WEBSITE VISITORS ON WHY THEY THINK TRANSCRIPTS ARE IMPORTANT
“There is another reason why adding a transcript to the podcast can be very essential. There are a lot of readers including me that are not a native speaker of English. When listening to a podcast not all the spoken words are clear and understandable. By having transcript we have the ability to search after those words, phrases or sentences and translate them so we can understand. It definitely opens your post to 'foreign' readers who have difficulties with the language you are using”.
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“Podcast transcripts allow you to repurpose your contents, anytime, anywhere. It can be in the blog post format, articles for magazines, guest blog posts, article marketing, ebooks, etc.”
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“Being deaf, transcripts are a godsend. In fact, there's a blog which stopped including transcripts with its podcasts and I've totally dropped it from my read list altogether (including the normal text posts) because I miss half the stuff.”
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“I seldom watch videos, even when my connectivity is good. Why? Because I am typically busy with other things as well. I watch only a few hours of TV per week as well, for the same reason. Sitting down to watch/listen is boring to me.”
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“Audio files are great because I can listen while I am doing most anything else ... transcripts are very, very important too ... because if you really capture my attention with something, I want the ability to go back and review key points, sometimes several times. Please keep providing them, they are important and a key 'value ad' to your site.”
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“For all those who think transcripts are a waste of time, I will probably never listen to your podcast. No matter how interesting it looks a) I am not an auditory learner - at ALL b) I am a speed reader who can read in a fraction of the time it takes to listen c) with 3 little toddlers running around the house, who can listen to anything anyway. That being said, my hubby listens to almost everything (while he does the dishes or whatever), so audio is good for some people too. It is just frustrating when people force me to choose audio or nothing. Thanks!”
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“Another reason why it is important to have a transcript. If you are Spanish and it's hard to understand spoken English, you need the transcript to not miss anything.”
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“While I love audio, and I intellectually understand the concepts you or someone else are referring to, the transcript enables me to visually digest, absorb and process what I have just heard. It's different for everyone of course, but audio simply gets lost in my noggin even though the material may be really inspiring. It's one of the reasons I suck at oral directions. I get what people are telling me, and I think I know where I am supposed to go, but if I don't write it down I'm doomed. Don't get me wrong, I end up someplace, just usually the wrong place :-) “
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“I think this is more a question of how accommodating you want to be to the various learning styles of the diverse group you have coming to your website. I for one appreciate the effort.”
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“As someone who's been a victim of slow internet connection before I can totally relate with you. I sometimes see videos I love and would like to watch but I won't be able to because of my slow internet connection, but with the help of a transcript I will know exactly what was said.”
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“I love transcripts. It's actually a lot faster for me to read through it than to listen to the podcast. Plus, the headings give me the ability to get straight to the meat and potatoes of your podcasts. Keep it up. It really provides value. Not to mention, transcripts are great for SEO.”
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“Being hearing-impaired, I cannot tell you how nice it is to see an audio podcast with a transcript. I never listen to podcasts. Find it kind of hard to lip-read them for some reason. I've even emailed some of my other favorite blogger sites that have regular audio postings to ask for transcripts. I got a nice email saying, "we're thinking about it". Eh. Stop thinking about it, everyone! Just do it.”
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“People enjoy audio/video work but they take written work more seriously. They just do. Think about public speakers...those who have well-published books/materials (whether by mainstream entities or self-published) are ALWAYS granted more gravitas than those who just speak. So turning your words into written content (especially if you contract it out so you don't feel like you have to re-tread the ground you already traveled) makes you more real and serious. That and things we hear dribble right out of our minds quickly. Need a transcript to make an anchor to learn and/or come back to.”
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“I think a good idea for generating traffic would be to collect transcribed shows together into an ebook and either sell them or give them away as a gift for subscribing to my blog.”
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“Sometimes I don't have the time to listen to the whole podcast, or I want to just quickly scan through the transcript to see if I want to invest the time to listen to it. Unless I know the podcaster well and I trust him/her I wouldn't even listen to a podcast unless it has a transcript attached, since you never know if it would be worth your time. Same goes with Videos for the V-Blog.”
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Hope this has been helpful and maybe gives you something to consider. Maybe you are a newbie and can’t afford the cost right now, but it might be something to consider down the road. If you are already making some money on your website(s) you might want to consider it for your future videos.
Diana
Recent Comments
14
Thanks so much for sharing. A resource I have used in the past for my Water for Shepherds podcast is VoiceBase. It provides a free machine transcription that's 80-90% accurate. Then all you have to do is read through the transcript and correct the 10-20%.
Great points thanks.
The other option is to write a blog post and then convert that into a podcast, that way you have the transcript and links ready made.
Thank you so much for this really great and I have saved it to read when I have some time as another 50 emails to read -
Yeah, Mike, I know that I really like to be able to actually read the information. I so often just want to skim for the information I need and can't do that with audio or video, even if closed captioning is provided. And trying to hear them can also be a problem. So, it's really a big help to have the ability to read it. Diana
You said it loud and clear! Now I've got two problems, I can't hear too good anymore (you know like old age "selective hearing") and with my only eye I can't see very well either. Otherwise I am doing all right but I can feel with you.
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Diana, very interesting post. I had never thought of doing a transcript of a video. I do use videos on my website, but mostly to visualize and reinforce the content, but not match it.
Something else to consider as I move more into video and away from written articles.
Phil