Mastering Video Captioning on YouTube for 2024
Mastering Video Captioning on YouTube
How To Add Captions to YouTube Videos
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.
This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.
How To Turn On Captions on YouTube
In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.
To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.
If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.
If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.
Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps
1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.
2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.
3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.
4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.
Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.
Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.
Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.
Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.
Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.
The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.
This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.
How To Turn On Captions on YouTube
In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.
To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.
If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.
If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.
Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps
1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.
2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.
3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.
4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.
Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.
Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.
Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.
Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.
Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.
The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.
This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.
How To Turn On Captions on YouTube
In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.
To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.
If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.
If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.
Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps
1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.
2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.
3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.
4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.
Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.
Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.
Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.
Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.
Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.
The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
By captioning your YouTube videos you help to make them accessible to more potential viewers. Subtitles are useful to viewers who have hearing impairments, whose first language is different from yours, or who are unable to watch your video with sound. Closed captioning can also be useful for you as a YouTuber because it helps with your SEO, or search engine optimization. Practicing better SEO can get your videos ranked higher in search results. Google and YouTube both index subtitles and transcripts much like they do your video’s description, unless you use automated captions.
This article will first explain how you can turn on subtitles for the videos you watch and then walk you through adding captions to your own videos.
How To Turn On Captions on YouTube
In order for you to be able to view subtitles for a YouTube video the uploader of the video will need to have added them, unless you change your account settings to display automatic captions.
To toggle subtitles on and off click on the Closed Captioning icon in the bottom right of your video player.
If the creator of the video has not added captions then you can enable automatic captions by going into your Account Settings and selecting Playback. Check the box next to Always Show Captions, and then check Show Automatic Captions by Speech Recognition. These captions may be flawed, but you will still be able to see the more accurate user submitted captions on videos that have them. The Always Show Captions feature may be useful not only to the hearing impaired, but to users who do not speak the same language as the video producer.
If you want to change the language of the subtitles click on the settings icon (the one that looks like a gear) next to the closed captioning icon and choose your language next to Subtitles/CC . If the language you want is not there select Auto-Translate and then pick a language. Google Translate will be used to generate subtitles in your chosen language.
Adding YouTube Captions in 4 Steps
1. Go to Video Manager in your Creator Studio and then look at your videos. Decide which one you want to add captions to.
2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the video you want to add captions to and choose Subtitles and CC.
3. Select Add New Subtitles or CC.
4. Choose whether to create your captions, upload a file that has them, transcribe your video, use automatic captioning, or use captioning software.
Create Subtitles or Closed Captions will allow you to create your subtitles on YouTube.
Upload A File allows you to upload a pre-made subtitle file from your computer. Supported file types include SubRip (.srt) and SubViewer (.sbv). You cannot use a word or PDF document for your subtitles.
Transcribe and Set Timings is where you can type a transcript of your video and set timings to sync it to your video. This differs from Create Subtitles or Closed Captions in that your transcript is all typed in to one text field.
Use Automatic Captioning will automatically use speech recognition technology to create captions. You can edit these auto-generated captions later if there are mistakes.
Use Captioning Software or Services is what you choose if you want to use a program or service to create the subtitles for your video.
The easiest way to add subtitles to your videos is to use Automatic Captioning. However, Automatic Captioning is imperfect and may result in your viewers getting a sloppy, skewed, interpretation of your video. Automatic captions are also not indexed by YouTube and Google the way subtitles you create or upload are. This means that they will not have any value to your SEO strategy. If you do not input your own captions or transcript you are missing out on an opportunity for better search engine rankings. Automatic Captions are great if you do not have time to input subtitles and need a temporary solution, though.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Rallying Towards Partnership: Reach the Critical 10K View Target Quickly
How to Become A YouTube Partner
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Navin explains this issue really clearly.
YouTube announced changes to its Partnership Program for some time. For a long time, anybody who had an account in good standing could monetize their videos and start earning ad revenue, but now you need to have 10,000 views to qualify.
My first thought was that this isn’t fair. Small channels shouldn’t be barred from trying to earn money.
EmEditor Professional (Lifetime License, non-store app)
I was prepared to go to war over this. Or do an angry blog post. One of those.
However, when you consider YouTube’s reasons for imposing this milestone, it actually starts to make a lot of sense. Here are 4 reasons why this will be a good thing for creators.
1. 10,000 isn’t a crazy number
This is actually a very do-able number for a smaller channel if the creator works hard at growing their audience. Remember that this is cumulative – you don’t need to get 10,000 views on a single video.
Say you receive about 100 views per video and post once a week. It would take you about 2 years to reach 10,000 at that rate, except that it wouldn’t because if you’re putting out good content on that reliable a schedule your channel will be growing (even if it’s slow).
If you get 500 views per video and post every week, you’ll reach 10,000 in about 5 months.
2. 10,000 views aren’t worth much money
Earning money from ad revenue has always been tough. This is just a little extra weight.
How much money could you earn off of 10,000 views, anyways? Not much.
You need to earn $50 in ad revenue to be paid out, and 10,000 views wouldn’t have gotten you there. You would have had to have passed this milestone anyways to actually see any money.
It’s too hard to put an exact number on the money you could have earned from your first 10,000 views – there are too many variables – but considering that smaller channels get lower-paying ads we’re probably talking about pocket change.
3. Inappropriate content won’t be monetized
YouTube has been having issues with advertisers lately. A lot of brands have been justifiably miffed that their products are appearing next to some violent, threatening, objectively offensive content. Anyone could monetize, and some pretty bad eggs took advantage of that.
Now that channels will be applying for YouTube’s Partnership Program instead of simply activating the feature, there can be a real screening process. Channels with content that violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines can be barred from monetization.
4. Thieves won’t profit
There are people out there who want views, subscribers, and nice comments but who do not want to put any real work into getting them. It isn’t uncommon for someone like this to download a video they like and post it to their own channel.
This reposted video will steal views and ad revenue away from the real post on the creator’s channel.
Having a review process for the Partnership Program will help ensure that these content thieves are caught before they can make any money.
YouTube also recently made it easier to report users for impersonation, regardless of how many views they have.
TheGamingGuy looked into people who had stolen his logo and found out they had also stolen whole videos from other YouTubers.
There are clear benefits to this new milestone, but there are also some questions remaining.
How does this change stop content thieves from taking views and ad revenue from creators?
It will help stop them from making money themselves, but not from siphoning away views from other channels. The impersonation rules only apply if somebody is pretending to be another creator. You can steal and repost someone’s content without pretending to be them.
This new rule does take away money as an incentive for stealing content, but a lot of people doing this probably aren’t in it for the money. They might just be misguided fans who want to repost videos they enjoy.
Could this affect your CPM?
Competition plays a huge role in how much YouTubers earn from ad revenue. Some genres are bigger on YouTube than others and, the more popular your genre is, the more options advertisers have. The more competition there is for higher-paying ads, the larger your channel has to be to get them.
Could this new milestone decrease competition in some genres?
Leave a comment to let me know what you think. Jayaprakash, one of our members here, also started an active forum thread on this issue so make sure to join that discussion too!
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects in Filmora
You can check our tips and tricks about how to get more views, and here is one thing that need to remember that content is the king. To polish your video content, you can use some YouTube video editing software to remove unwanted clips, add texts and titles, apply filters, create attractive channel arts such as banner and thumbnail. Here, I recommend Wondershare Filmora .
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Navin explains this issue really clearly.
YouTube announced changes to its Partnership Program for some time. For a long time, anybody who had an account in good standing could monetize their videos and start earning ad revenue, but now you need to have 10,000 views to qualify.
My first thought was that this isn’t fair. Small channels shouldn’t be barred from trying to earn money.
I was prepared to go to war over this. Or do an angry blog post. One of those.
However, when you consider YouTube’s reasons for imposing this milestone, it actually starts to make a lot of sense. Here are 4 reasons why this will be a good thing for creators.
1. 10,000 isn’t a crazy number
This is actually a very do-able number for a smaller channel if the creator works hard at growing their audience. Remember that this is cumulative – you don’t need to get 10,000 views on a single video.
Say you receive about 100 views per video and post once a week. It would take you about 2 years to reach 10,000 at that rate, except that it wouldn’t because if you’re putting out good content on that reliable a schedule your channel will be growing (even if it’s slow).
If you get 500 views per video and post every week, you’ll reach 10,000 in about 5 months.
2. 10,000 views aren’t worth much money
Earning money from ad revenue has always been tough. This is just a little extra weight.
How much money could you earn off of 10,000 views, anyways? Not much.
You need to earn $50 in ad revenue to be paid out, and 10,000 views wouldn’t have gotten you there. You would have had to have passed this milestone anyways to actually see any money.
It’s too hard to put an exact number on the money you could have earned from your first 10,000 views – there are too many variables – but considering that smaller channels get lower-paying ads we’re probably talking about pocket change.
3. Inappropriate content won’t be monetized
YouTube has been having issues with advertisers lately. A lot of brands have been justifiably miffed that their products are appearing next to some violent, threatening, objectively offensive content. Anyone could monetize, and some pretty bad eggs took advantage of that.
Now that channels will be applying for YouTube’s Partnership Program instead of simply activating the feature, there can be a real screening process. Channels with content that violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines can be barred from monetization.
4. Thieves won’t profit
There are people out there who want views, subscribers, and nice comments but who do not want to put any real work into getting them. It isn’t uncommon for someone like this to download a video they like and post it to their own channel.
This reposted video will steal views and ad revenue away from the real post on the creator’s channel.
Having a review process for the Partnership Program will help ensure that these content thieves are caught before they can make any money.
YouTube also recently made it easier to report users for impersonation, regardless of how many views they have.
TheGamingGuy looked into people who had stolen his logo and found out they had also stolen whole videos from other YouTubers.
There are clear benefits to this new milestone, but there are also some questions remaining.
How does this change stop content thieves from taking views and ad revenue from creators?
It will help stop them from making money themselves, but not from siphoning away views from other channels. The impersonation rules only apply if somebody is pretending to be another creator. You can steal and repost someone’s content without pretending to be them.
This new rule does take away money as an incentive for stealing content, but a lot of people doing this probably aren’t in it for the money. They might just be misguided fans who want to repost videos they enjoy.
Could this affect your CPM?
Competition plays a huge role in how much YouTubers earn from ad revenue. Some genres are bigger on YouTube than others and, the more popular your genre is, the more options advertisers have. The more competition there is for higher-paying ads, the larger your channel has to be to get them.
Could this new milestone decrease competition in some genres?
Leave a comment to let me know what you think. Jayaprakash, one of our members here, also started an active forum thread on this issue so make sure to join that discussion too!
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects in Filmora
You can check our tips and tricks about how to get more views, and here is one thing that need to remember that content is the king. To polish your video content, you can use some YouTube video editing software to remove unwanted clips, add texts and titles, apply filters, create attractive channel arts such as banner and thumbnail. Here, I recommend Wondershare Filmora .
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Navin explains this issue really clearly.
YouTube announced changes to its Partnership Program for some time. For a long time, anybody who had an account in good standing could monetize their videos and start earning ad revenue, but now you need to have 10,000 views to qualify.
My first thought was that this isn’t fair. Small channels shouldn’t be barred from trying to earn money.
I was prepared to go to war over this. Or do an angry blog post. One of those.
However, when you consider YouTube’s reasons for imposing this milestone, it actually starts to make a lot of sense. Here are 4 reasons why this will be a good thing for creators.
1. 10,000 isn’t a crazy number
This is actually a very do-able number for a smaller channel if the creator works hard at growing their audience. Remember that this is cumulative – you don’t need to get 10,000 views on a single video.
Say you receive about 100 views per video and post once a week. It would take you about 2 years to reach 10,000 at that rate, except that it wouldn’t because if you’re putting out good content on that reliable a schedule your channel will be growing (even if it’s slow).
If you get 500 views per video and post every week, you’ll reach 10,000 in about 5 months.
2. 10,000 views aren’t worth much money
Earning money from ad revenue has always been tough. This is just a little extra weight.
How much money could you earn off of 10,000 views, anyways? Not much.
You need to earn $50 in ad revenue to be paid out, and 10,000 views wouldn’t have gotten you there. You would have had to have passed this milestone anyways to actually see any money.
It’s too hard to put an exact number on the money you could have earned from your first 10,000 views – there are too many variables – but considering that smaller channels get lower-paying ads we’re probably talking about pocket change.
3. Inappropriate content won’t be monetized
YouTube has been having issues with advertisers lately. A lot of brands have been justifiably miffed that their products are appearing next to some violent, threatening, objectively offensive content. Anyone could monetize, and some pretty bad eggs took advantage of that.
Now that channels will be applying for YouTube’s Partnership Program instead of simply activating the feature, there can be a real screening process. Channels with content that violates YouTube’s Community Guidelines can be barred from monetization.
4. Thieves won’t profit
There are people out there who want views, subscribers, and nice comments but who do not want to put any real work into getting them. It isn’t uncommon for someone like this to download a video they like and post it to their own channel.
This reposted video will steal views and ad revenue away from the real post on the creator’s channel.
Having a review process for the Partnership Program will help ensure that these content thieves are caught before they can make any money.
YouTube also recently made it easier to report users for impersonation, regardless of how many views they have.
TheGamingGuy looked into people who had stolen his logo and found out they had also stolen whole videos from other YouTubers.
There are clear benefits to this new milestone, but there are also some questions remaining.
How does this change stop content thieves from taking views and ad revenue from creators?
It will help stop them from making money themselves, but not from siphoning away views from other channels. The impersonation rules only apply if somebody is pretending to be another creator. You can steal and repost someone’s content without pretending to be them.
This new rule does take away money as an incentive for stealing content, but a lot of people doing this probably aren’t in it for the money. They might just be misguided fans who want to repost videos they enjoy.
Could this affect your CPM?
Competition plays a huge role in how much YouTubers earn from ad revenue. Some genres are bigger on YouTube than others and, the more popular your genre is, the more options advertisers have. The more competition there is for higher-paying ads, the larger your channel has to be to get them.
Could this new milestone decrease competition in some genres?
Leave a comment to let me know what you think. Jayaprakash, one of our members here, also started an active forum thread on this issue so make sure to join that discussion too!
Touch Up YouTube Videos with Effects in Filmora
You can check our tips and tricks about how to get more views, and here is one thing that need to remember that content is the king. To polish your video content, you can use some YouTube video editing software to remove unwanted clips, add texts and titles, apply filters, create attractive channel arts such as banner and thumbnail. Here, I recommend Wondershare Filmora .
- Title: Mastering Video Captioning on YouTube for 2024
- Author: Thomas
- Created at : 2024-07-29 19:01:18
- Updated at : 2024-07-30 19:01:18
- Link: https://youtube-help.techidaily.com/mastering-video-captioning-on-youtube-for-2024/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.