Wondering how to add subtitles or closed captions to your YouTube videos? Video content creation started as a hobby during the early days of the internet, with YouTube’s first-ever video, “Me at the Zoo,” as a perfect example. Now, YouTube video creation is a multi-billion-dollar industry, with top creators earning $10 million to $50 million annually. No wonder people are jumping on the platform to secure a slice of the global audience. However, carving out your niche can be difficult, and you need all the help you can get. One of the best, most underrated ways to do so is captioning your YouTube videos—and the best way to do that is to hire professional YouTube transcription companies.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- YouTube video creation has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, with top creators earning millions. However, to stand out, creators must use strategies like captioning their videos to reach global audiences.
- Captions improve accessibility, help non-native speakers, and boost SEO, making videos more discoverable. They also enhance user experience, increasing engagement and retention.
- YouTube’s auto-captions lack accuracy, so professional transcription services are the best choice for reliable captions. While AI is fast, it often falls short compared to human transcription’s 99% accuracy.
Why Add Captions And Subtitles To Your Uploaded YouTube Videos?
Have you ever watched a video on YouTube with difficult-to-understand audio, then clicked on the CC button and found that there aren’t any subtitle options available? I’m willing to bet good money you skipped that entire video.
One of the biggest points of getting captions for YouTube videos is to keep the audience watching. Even live videos are captioned, though those are done through automatic means.
Aside from that, many reasons exist to add closed captions and subtitles to your uploads. Here are some of them:
| Reason | Description |
| Accessibility | Makes content accessible to viewers with hearing impairments, ensuring inclusivity. |
| Improved Comprehension | Helps non-native speakers or viewers who may struggle with accents, fast speech, or jargon understand the content. |
| Better User Experience | Videos with captions are more likely to be shared on social media, as they can be consumed silently. |
| Global Reach | Subtitles in different languages can attract an international community and expand the video’s reach. |
| Boost SEO and Discoverability | Captions allow search engines like Google Search to index the video’s content, improving ranking and helping viewers find the video easily. |
| Higher Engagement and Retention | Keeps viewers engaged longer, as they can read along, leading to better retention rates and higher watch time. |
| Legal Compliance | Fulfills legal requirements in some countries where video accessibility is mandated. |
| Enhances Learning and Information Retention | Subtitles help viewers retain information better, especially in educational or instructional videos. |
| Increased Social Media Sharing | Videos with captions are more likely to be shared on social media, as they can be consumed in silent mode. |
Does YouTube Automatically Caption Videos?
YouTube doesn’t automatically add captions to every video uploaded. However, the creator can enable captions in supported languages.
YouTube utilizes automated speech recognition that tries to generate captions using AI transcription platforms. Unfortunately, the accuracy of YouTube’s captions can be unreliable depending on a few factors. If the audio quality is poor, with lots of distortion or background noise, some words might get lost.
So, in the interest of accuracy, YouTube’s automatic captioning isn’t the way to go.
How Do You Manually Add Captions For Your Youtube Videos?
If you’re like many content creators, you realize that YouTube’s auto-caption feature is essential to your audience. However, is that the end of it? Certainly not. If you’re a YouTuber that prioritizes the accuracy of your video captions in their channel by adding them in manually, here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Find the “Subtitles” option”
Log in to YouTube, go to YouTube Studio, and select Subtitles on the left menu—that’s three steps at once.
Step 2: Choose A Video
This is where you’ll choose the video to which you want to add subtitles. I uploaded three short videos as samples.
Step 3: Click on Add Language.
After choosing a video, you’ll see an option to choose the subtitle language. In my case, I’ve chosen English.
Step 4: Click Add.
Right after choosing a language, click the option for ADD LANGUAGE.
Step 5: Pick one of the two methods of manually adding captions.
For this step, you can choose which method of adding captions you prefer. The options are:
- Upload File: If you have your transcripts—perhaps you created them yourself or produced by professionals, like Ditto Transcripts—you can upload them here.
- Type Manually: Although YouTube provides shortcuts to expedite the process, manually typing captions requires substantial time and effort—we don’t recommend this option as it can be laborious and inefficient.
There are also two automated features that you can use.
- Auto Translate: YouTube can automatically generate caption translations into other languages you select.
- Auto Sync: YouTube automatically syncs the captions to match your video timing, so you don’t have to do it manually.
However, these options are powered by machine learning algorithms, which means they can’t be as accurate as the ones provided by professional services. So, they’re not the best option for YouTube videos where accurate captions are crucial for your audience.
Ultimately, uploading a transcript or caption file is your best bet, as it allows you to explore other, more accurate, and less time-consuming options, which we will discuss later.
Step 6: Once done, click Publish
After choosing a method or adding the caption, you can finish the job by clicking “Publish” in the upper-right corner. If you want to edit your captions, return to this page.
Manual Transcription, Automatic Captioning, or Professional Help?
Now that we’ve covered the why and how of adding captioned texts and subtitles to YouTube videos, let’s move on to your options for uploading the actual transcript files. There are three generally accepted ways to go about this:
DIY Captioning
You can type the captions yourself or hire someone else to do them. Typically, this is done through specialized software (which costs money), or you can go old-school and type out the subtitles and time stamps on a notepad and save them as the appropriate file.
As you might have guessed, this option has a glaring issue: it takes too much time. Trained transcriptionists take three to four hours to transcribe one hour of audio. Hand that work over to someone with little to no training and no specialized software or equipment, and you can expect long wait times.
YouTube once offered “Community Captions,” a feature that allowed viewers to edit, correct, and translate existing captions and subtitles in videos. However, handing off a task to more untrained transcribers can lead to potentially more errors, not to mention online vandalism.
The point is that manual transcription and correcting of said transcripts take too long to do and fix.
So, in the interest of saving time, you consider the next option—
AI Transcription
AI transcription is fast, even before 2022, when ChatGPT rose to prominence. With such platforms, you can create transcripts and subtitle files faster than you can brew coffee in the morning. Unfortunately, the significant tradeoff for time is accuracy—and let me tell you, the latest statistics don’t paint a pretty picture.
Automatic transcription has only been found to be 86% accurate at the best of times. Now, 86% might not sound like a big deal to you. However, to your audiences, an ill-timed subtitle error can completely turn them off and make them leave your video page. Plus, it doesn’t help that subtitle errors don’t exactly promote the image of a serious, fastidious YouTuber who cares about the quality of their videos.
So, if you want fast transcripts, go for AI. However, the next option is recommended if you wish to fast (as far as humans go) and accurate transcripts.
Professional Transcription
If you want quality, accuracy, and professionalism and don’t mind waiting a day or two for your transcripts, hiring a professional transcription company is the best choice. You don’t have to do it yourself or deal with inaccurate AI transcripts—simply send the video file to your provider and get your transcript within the applicable turnaround time.
It doesn’t have to stop with YouTube videos, too. You can use professional transcription companies for all videos posted to social media, ensuring you get enhanced benefits for all your creation efforts.
However, transcription companies are a dime a dozen today, so how do you choose which one to trust? Well, let me show you why Ditto Transcripts is the best in the industry.
Why Use Ditto Transcripts As Your Subtitle Provider?
Here are the top reasons you should hire Ditto to caption your YouTube videos.
Accuracy
AI’s 86% accuracy rate looks high as a baseline, yet it is nothing compared to Ditto’s 99+ % accuracy rate.
Other people might argue that human transcripts all offer 99% accuracy rates. Yet, they fail to consider that some companies may offer low prices that reflect their lack of experience. Ultimately, dealing with low-quality transcription companies will cost you more time, money, and effort.
Never settle for the cheapest, fastest transcriber with the lowest accuracy rates. Choose Ditto; we can produce high-quality subtitle files and transcripts every time, with 99% guaranteed accuracy rates. Any transcript you receive from us is guaranteed to be ready for use for your videos.
Affordability And Fast Turnaround Time
YouTubers understand that quality captions might come with a hefty price, but that price tag shouldn’t say “arm and leg.”
Reliable transcription companies meet their clients’ transcription needs quickly and accurately without charging exorbitant prices. Our regular rates start at $1.75 per audio minute. You can also opt-in for our more economical options to fit your budget. Need a YouTube video caption file ASAP? Get results in 24 – 48 hours with our rush services.
Here at Ditto, we provide costs upfront and allow clients pay-as-you-go options without committing to long-term contracts. Get what you need and leave if you want, though I guarantee you’ll be back for more.
Confidentiality And Security Measures
Ditto’s transcription and captioning service has rigorous security protocols to ensure that every byte of data we receive is kept safe and confidential. Our security measures include:
- Detailed Reporting and Tracking Features
- Individually Defined User Access Levels
- Individual User Names, Passwords, and PINs (immediate deactivation upon request)
- Scaled Network Redundancy
- Virtual Private Network (VPN) Integration
- Dedicated Data Centers
- Encrypting All Data With SSL 256-bit Encryption
- Criminal Background Checks For Transcriptionists
*For legal and security purposes, we do not caption videos that you legally do not own.
Quality Customer Service
With Ditto, you don’t have to worry about your transcribers ghosting you when you need them most. It doesn’t matter if you’re a current or prospective client; call us within normal business hours, and we’ll happily address any of your questions.
Let Ditto Transcripts Caption Your YouTube Videos
Don’t settle for cheap, inaccurate services or pay through the nose for expensive ones. Maximize your YouTube video’s reach with Ditto’s captioning service, and reap all the benefits without drawbacks.
Ditto Transcripts is a Denver, Colorado-based transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.
