What Is Video Transcription: Everything There Is to Know

Online consumer traffic is a blossoming world. The percentage of video output continues to rise exponentially. But it’s important to know that listening to its sound isn’t always an option for some people. Due to hearing impairments, situational circumstances, or merely a preference, a portion of your audience requires a visual aid. Having a readable transcript from video or audio recordings is an all-encompassing way to boost your audience and popularity.

So, exactly what is video transcription, and how does it work? 

The Basics of Video Transcription

Transcription involves converting a video’s audio to a text format. In essence, it’s similar to a script that accompanies a movie. Any forms of audible media (including call center recordings, meetings, and court proceedings) should have supplemental words.

If you’re unfamiliar with where to get started, examining the foundation and elements of video transcription will provide a better understanding of all that it entails. Learning about the different transcription types and methods, in conjunction with the reasons it’s necessary, will set you on the path to expanding your success. 

The Importance of Video Transcription

As long as it’s done properly, there’s really no downside to transcribing audio content. It offers a number of benefits, including: 

• Pulling reference provenance and quotes from verbal sources
• A full understanding of the audio, including unspoken details
• Written documentation of various proceedings and meetings 

More than this, transcription has a few critical aspects that set it apart from a stand-alone video. These points hammer home just how imperative it is to have a broad audience outreach. 

Improving SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) relies on text to promote and increase online traffic. Studies show that search engines highly rank and index pages with video transcripts. Since search engines can only crawl text and not video content, this one is a no-brainer. These pages also report increased user engagement and visibility thanks to SEO content. 

Increased Accessibility

The hearing impaired may have a hard time understanding the content of a video with no text. Also, people with different cultural backgrounds find it easier to comprehend a video’s content with a transcription attached. Transcripts allow diverse traffic to access and understand your content better. 

Better User Experience

Different users have different understanding capabilities. Employing video transcripts permits users to exhaustively digest your video’s content at their own pace. It is also easier to search for topics and keywords in a video transcript. 

Types of Transcription

At its core, transcription comes in two forms: manual and automated. See what works best for you! Distinguishing the difference is the key to whether or not your output will be professional, efficient, and reliable. 

Automated

Speed is the motivating factor in automated transcription. It uses machine learning to produce a result. If you want something done quickly, it will allow you to do so through software, websites, and apps. What it won’t do for you is transcribe with any sort of established accuracy. 

As transcripts are like movie scripts, they often include pauses, background noises, and anything else contained in the audio. These, along with nuances such as accents, multiple speakers, and low-quality sound, make it improbable for any professional level of transcription to occur with AI. 

Manual

The quality, content, and presentation of manual transcripts far surpass automated because they’re done by humans. Offering over a 99% accuracy rate, a human transcriber better understands the tone, context, and other non-verbal information. This ability provides results at a level automated solutions just can’t reach. 

The only drawback to human transcription is the price. Whereas some forms of AI cost nothing, it does cost money to employ humans to transcribe. Therefore, you really need to think about what works best for you. You get what you pay for. Do you want speed or accuracy?  

Ways to Transcribe Audio

Transcribing a video all boils down to whether you want to go with a human transcriptionist or an automated option. Examining what both sides have to offer will allow you to figure out what’s best for your specific needs. 

On Your Own

Using automation is a budget-friendly way to go about transcribing if you don’t mind anything more than a rough draft of the text. If you need something quickly and don’t care about the quality, then there are a number of options out there to help:  

• Mobile apps, nice for when you’re on the move, instantly convert speech to text
• Online web applications that make features available once you upload your video
• Cloud Speech offers many attributes, but you’ll eventually have to pay for services
• Online transcription programs are freely available but have the highest error rate
• Downloadable desktop transcribing software works like online tools, on- or offline 

Leave It to the Pros

Of course, you can skip all this trial-and-error, opting for a surefire way to get the professional outcome you need. AI can’t compare to the quality of the human touch. Transcriptionists, such as those at GoTranscript, are fluent at sifting through accents, background noises, and other nuances. They’ll deliver the best product with a value that’s second to none. 

Just because AI provides swift results doesn’t mean that it’s entirely faster in the end. AI requires a lot of editing, whereas professional services provide a product that’s ready to publish. Time is money, and you’ll likely end up on the losing end when it’s all said and done. Don’t waste effort on edits and attempting to decipher errors. Go with the pros!  

The Choice Is Simple

Transcribing your audio is definitely the way to go to increase your audience and enhance your popularity. For accurate documentation with minimal effort, human transcription gives you the most bang for your buck. Instead of wasting your precious time on inferior results, choose a company like GoTranscript to get the job done right!