YouTube video transcription is the process of taking the audio from YouTube videos and turning it into text. This text can then be used for multiple purposes, from captions and subtitles to blog posts and search engine optimization. 💪
Accessibility is the cornerstone of all good user experience design. When you transcribe YouTube videos to create captions and subtitles, you open your content to a much wider audience. Firstly, you give people with hearing difficulties the opportunity to enjoy your content. 🤝
Of course, it is not just people who are hard of hearing who watch videos with the sound off. In fact, 85% of people watch Facebook videos with the sound off. This means that without captions or subtitles, you are significantly limiting your potential audience before you’ve even started. 🤔
The second massive benefit of transcription is its boost to your SEO. Google doesn’t automatically listen to your videos to learn what they’re about, so you need to help it. Text transcription enables Google to understand your video content and place it higher in search results so more people find it and click on your links. 🥇
The final big reason to transcribe your YouTube videos is that these transcriptions can be repurposed into many other types of content. There are many AI-powered tools to help you turn one YouTube video into multiple social media posts, several blogs, or even a complete e-book.
So, with all these benefits of transcription, let’s get on with how to do it, shall we? 😎
Gone are the days of sitting in front of a video screen with headphones on, frantically typing to keep up with what you’re hearing. AI-powered tools can now automate video-to-text transcription. Let’s take a look at a few ways to easily transcribe your YouTube videos without wasting any time. ⚡
Two Methods to Transcribe YouTube Videos
You can do it directly from the YouTube studio for those who want to keep everything in one place, or you can use an AI-powered tool like Submagic.
Submagic - The Fastest and Most Accurate YouTube Video Transcriptions
Submagic uses an advanced AI algorithm to produce the most accurate and reliable video-to-text transcriptions available. This industry-leading accuracy means fewer manual corrections are needed, which supercharges your production workflows. 💪
The first step is to go to https://www.submagic.co/tools/youtube-transcript-generator. This free service does not require you to sign in or create an account. 😉
Step 2 - Enter the URL of the YouTube Video
Next, you simply enter the YouTube video URL you want to transcribe. There is no need to download or upload anything here. You can simply copy and paste the URL directly from YouTube. Then confirm that you own the video and you are ready to get your transcript. ⚡
Step 3a - Highlight the Transcript and Copy It
Once the transcription is produced, you can highlight the full text or just part of it if you want. You can then copy and paste this into wherever you want to use it. 😎
Step 3b - Hit Copy Transcript Button
If you want to copy the entire transcript, this is made easy for you. Simply click the “Copy Transcript” button, and then you can paste the whole transcript wherever you use it. 🧡
YouTube Studio Automatic Captions
The next option is to create a transcription directly through YouTube Studio. As long as you have a YouTube account, the process is very straightforward and keeps everything on the YouTube platform. The downside is that it will not provide the most accurate transcription. YouTube's transcription accuracy is between 85% and 90%, which is a big drop off from Submagic's 99% accuracy.
Start by going to studio.youtube.com. This is where you control all your YouTube video content and only need a YouTube account to get started. ⚡
Step 2 - Select “Subtitles”
From the left-hand menu, select the subtitles option. You will then be prompted to choose which video you want to add subtitles to.
Step 3 - Select Video or Create New Video
If you already have a library of videos in your YouTube channel dashboard, choose which one you want to create the transcript for. If you don’t have any videos in your library, simply create a new one following one of the methods in the dropdown list. For this example, I will upload a new video.
Step 4 - Select Subtitle Language
Once you have uploaded and selected the video you want to transcribe, select the language for the subtitles. In this example, we’ll use English (United States). At this point, you can also set this to the default language for your channel. 😉
Step 5 - Click Duplicate and Edit
Your subtitles are now available. You can see which video has the automatic subtitles attached under the language column where it says (automatic captions). Hover over the middle of the row and click on the pencil to duplicate and edit the subtitles.
Step 6 - Correct any Mistakes
YouTube captions are imperfect, so you must check your transcript to ensure everything has been transcribed accurately. If there are any errors, simply correct them on this screen by highlighting the mistake and replacing it. When you are happy with the transcription, you can save the draft or publish the video - both options are available in the top right corner.
Step 7a - Copy and Paste Transcription
If you want the video transcription in a text block, copy the entire transcript from the editing screen and paste it wherever you want.
Step 7b - Download Transcription
You can choose three file types if you prefer to download the transcription file directly. Hover over the “Published” date and click on the “Options” with the three vertical dots. Then click “Download” and choose the file type that you want. You can select from .vtt, .srt, or .sbv. 🧡
They all present the transcription in slightly different ways, so download one of each file type to find which one is right for you. They all download really quickly and can be easily opened in Notepad. 😉
Best Practices for Ensuring Transcription Accuracy
As a content creator, there are several things you can do to get the best possible transcriptions of your YouTube videos, improving accuracy for whatever you need them for. 😉
Choose the Right Tool
If you favor familiarity, you can download your transcriptions directly from YouTube. The accuracy will suffer compared to Submagic, but it benefits from keeping everything on the YouTube platform. If you need the highest level of accuracy, then you’ll choose Submagic to download your transcriptions. 🥇
Optimize Conditions
The clearer your audio, the higher the chance of an accurate transcription.
To increase the quality of your YouTube videos, use the highest resolution possible, use the best microphones you can when recording, and try to minimize background noise.
If your audio isn’t as clear as it should be, you can use AI tools to clean up audio tracks. This isn’t offered directly in YouTube Studio, but it is provided with Submagic.
Use a Spell Checker
Use a spell checker tool while manually reviewing content to help you pick up on homophone errors like “to,” “too,” and “two.” Grammar tools can also help to pick up on misheard words and successfully add grammar to your transcriptions. 💪
Speaker Attribution
Submagic has a real advantage over YouTube Studio in terms of speaker attribution. Knowing which person is speaking in captions is particularly important for unscripted YouTube videos. When conversations are unplanned, people often interrupt each other, and it can become tricky to track who’s talking. 😉
Make Transcription Part of Your Production Workflows
Transcribing your YouTube videos is essential for expanding your audience, increasing accessibility, and supercharging your SEO efforts. Make a habit of transcribing all your videos so you can take advantage of every opportunity, and do it with the most accurate AI-powered transcription tool on the internet - Submagic. 🧡
This is a free tool offered by us, and you don’t even need to create an account to use it. If you do create a free account you’ll be able to see the full power of Submagic’s AI-powered transcriptions to produce the most accurate and engaging captions and subtitles to guarantee your video content stands out all over social media. 🤝
