{"id":23468,"date":"2019-09-19T08:36:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-19T13:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=23468"},"modified":"2019-09-16T15:31:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T20:31:42","slug":"how-add-video-captions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/how-add-video-captions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Add Captions to Videos [and Why Your Business Needs Them]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We live in the golden age of online video, but it\u2019s also the age of silent film. Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people watch videos on mute. That means to get the most impact from your brand and product videos, you need to add captions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captioning your videos can generate more views<\/a>, more conversions and better SEO. Here’s why captions matter and which tools you can use to create captions for your videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Video Captions Matter for Views and Engagement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Up to 85% of the videos people watch on Facebook are on mute<\/a>. That\u2019s because a lot of us watch videos in shared spaces like open-plan offices, waiting rooms and public transportation where blaring audio is rude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silent approach works if there are captions. Digiday reported that agency research shows intent to buy and other key performance indicators aren\u2019t reduced for muted videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Facebook found that adding captions to videos increased average video view time by 12%<\/strong>, which means more engagement<\/strong> with your brand and message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video Captions Matter for Accessibility<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

About 15% of adults in the U.S. have some form of hearing loss, according to the National Institutes of Health. Videos without captions exclude these millions of people from your audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re producing videos for a public-service organization, like a state agency, city program, school or a television outlet, you\u2019re almost certainly required by law to include captions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Video Captions Matter for SEO, but'\u00a6<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To get SEO benefits, you need to use closed captions<\/strong>. This requires creating an SRT file that contains your video\u2019s captions and uploading it to your social media videos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SRT file works like a transcript of your video that search engine bots can analyze, which helps your video get found. Closed captions may display differently on different platforms, depending on the video display format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open captions<\/strong>, on the other hand, are embedded in the video so they\u2019re not visible to search engine crawlers. But they do look consistent across video platforms because, like the images and sound, they\u2019re part of the video itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-Platform Auto-Generated Video Caption Tools to Try<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Facebook and YouTube can auto-generate captions for your videos, but they\u2019re not closed captions, and users say the quality is uneven. You may want to try them out to see if they work for you. Facebook\u2019s auto-generate tool is only available for Page owners, so if you want to caption videos on your personal profile, you\u2019ll need to upload an SRT file to your video–or upload a video you\u2019ve already open-captioned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free Tools You Can Use to Caption Your Videos for Any Platform<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re producing marketing videos<\/a> for your website and multiple social media channels, it\u2019s more efficient to use apps and tools that aren\u2019t tied to one platform. Make one video, edit one set of captions, and you\u2019re ready to share. Here are a few to try out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. AutoCap<\/a> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n