Podcasts have been entertaining and educating millions of people across the globe for many years. They are amazingly convenient to listen to, but there are always more things you can do to elevate the experience for your listeners.
Transcribing your podcast will help set you above the rest. Not only will you make your content more accessible to those who are hard of hearing or deaf, but transcriptions will also make your audio easier for everyone to follow.
Why Transcriptions Are Important
More than 1.5 billion people worldwide are hard of hearing. That is roughly 20% of the entire population, and that’s a lot of overlooked consumers.
Many hard-of-hearing people cannot rely on lip reading alone to understand what you are trying to communicate. On top of this, many podcasts only present audio with no visual elements. Doing so can completely exclude 20% of the world from accessing their content.
But transcribed content is not only for people who suffer from hearing loss. Many people with perfectly fine ears opt for transcribed media because of how beneficial it is. Listeners will find your words and message easier to grasp when given the option to read a transcription.
How Do Podcast Transcriptions Work?
When it comes to podcasts, there are two typical recording styles. Some are recorded and uploaded solely as audio recordings, while others contain visual recordings as well.
Podcasts that feature visual recordings can benefit from transcription as either a separate transcription itself or in the form of subtitles. If you have soft-spoken guests, chaotic speakers who overlap each other, or even people with unique accents, subtitling can clear up any confusion. This is even more true if your camera switches back and forth between guests to capture reactions.
Many assume transcription services are helpful only to subtitle visual media, but this is inaccurate. Your podcast can still benefit from a transcription, even if it is only an audio recording.
Having a transcription on hand makes it easier to follow and backtrack. Without the help of visual cues, backtracking an audio file can quickly become confusing and turn off your listener. Being able to simply pause the audio and look back at the transcript can help prevent any frustration.
If you share podcasts on your own website, extra accessibility can be as simple as adding a section with an audio transcript. But suppose you upload your content on a website specifically dedicated to podcasts. In that case, it likely already has a function for you to add your transcriptions, making the process even more seamless!
Elevate Your SEO Agenda
Transcriptions don’t only help your listeners better understand your content. A podcast transcript can help algorithms read and pick out essential keywords and subjects. This makes it even easier for listeners to find your podcast episodes in the first place!
Increasing natural web traffic can be daunting, especially for podcast creators. Because search engine algorithms cannot listen to the audio itself, many podcasts rely entirely on self-promotion or word of mouth to gain traction. You can minimize this extra effort by simply giving the algorithm something it can read, thus improving your searchability.
But Won’t Transcribing Take a Lot of Effort?
It doesn’t have to. Transcribing your own podcast independently can quickly become tiresome. Having to listen to every single recording multiple times just to write out what is being said is most certainly a difficult task for some.
Luckily, transcription services are growing more popular each day. Human transcription is one of the most trusted services out there, offering reliable and accurate results. Professionals can take your audio and transcribe it at a fast rate, depending on your needs and budget. To learn more about how such a service can help your podcast, get more information here. Hiring a professional transcriber can save you time, and the extra cost will be worth the additional listeners you will gain.
The Bottom Line
Transcriptions are becoming more commonplace for a reason. Making your content as accessible as possible is crucial to reach an overlooked audience. And its usefulness doesn’t stop there; it can help everyone better understand your content, backtrack quickly, and improve your SEO. Elevate your podcast with transcriptions to stand out above the rest. You’ll need to in today’s cutthroat world.
