If you’re interested in publishing videos or perhaps already publish videos, it might be worth considering adding subtitles to your content if this is something that you are not doing yet. Subtitles are essentially the little words that come out at the bottom of your screen that match what the individual or speaker is saying in the video. They can also, however, be additional subtitles that you add when you’re doing a voice-over, for example, showcasing that subtitles vary in how they’re used. Also, they vary in terms of languages, as an English subtitle won’t be useful to you if you are a German speaker, for example – but that’s getting too far ahead, it’s time to start with outlining the importance of adding subtitles first.
This article aims to shed light and why adding subtitles to your video is crucial.
Inclusivity and Accessibility with Subtitles
The thing about subtitles is that it’s not just an added feature, for some people it’s paramount as they can’t understand the spoken word. There are a lot of people who are deaf and are not able to hear, meaning that subtitles are the way that they understand the individuals on the screen. Furthermore, there are also a lot of people who struggle with their eyesight or with the brightness of a video and therefore need to dim the screens down quite dramatically. Having subtitles at the bottom that are not as bright, allows them to focus on those and still establish a level of understanding overall.
Search Engine Optimization
Another reason why subtitles are useful for your videos, especially if you’re looking to boost your content and increase user engagement, is that subtitles allow you to rank better on search engines. This means that subtitles can have a direct impact on your search engine optimization. So, if you’re somebody who wants to publish their own video, then you can add subtitles to a video so that a wide range of people and search engines can understand what your content is about and it can rank better.
Search engines essentially rank content based on what they’re able to understand. Therefore, if you have a video where it’s only the spoken word, the search engine will rank you on the captions that you add to the video and perhaps half of what it’s able to understand in your video. However, if you have captions added to your video, then the search engine will be able to understand almost every single word, as it can follow the trace of the written word and therefore rank you better as it understands your content better.
Improved Comprehension
Subtitles also add to general improved comprehension. Have you ever watched a video or a movie where individuals mumble and you can’t really understand what they’re saying? Or you’re in an environment where you can’t set the volume very loud and therefore you need subtitles to understand what’s happening in the video? Of course, you have, as this is normal. Therefore, by adding subtitles, you’re able to improve comprehension quite easily, both in terms of adding the reading value but also just making understanding more accessible.
A More Engaged Audience
Touching on the above, if your audience is better able to understand what is happening in your video through subtitles, then chances are that you’re going to have a more engaged audience.
There’s nothing worse than trying to watch a movie or video and not understanding half of it because you can’t understand what the people are saying. Therefore, by adding subtitles, you’re able to understand every word and you’re also able to play it back and reread the bottom sentences.
Subtitles Come in Different Languages
Furthermore, as mentioned above, you can also change the subtitles’ languages. This means that if you are watching a movie where it is only in English or it’s dubbed in one or two languages but there are a lot of subtitle language options, then you’ll be able to read along with the video in a language that is your native tongue.
Also, the interesting thing about subtitles in different languages is the fact that you can use them to learn. For example, say your mother tongue is Spanish and so you watch things in Spanish, however, you want to learn English. Having the English translation as a subtitle below allows you to slowly start to learn a new language.
Keep Up with the Modern Times
Additionally, adding subtitles to your videos will also allow you to keep up with the times. You’ll have surely noticed that any social media site that you see, nowadays, offers the ability to add subtitles to the app itself. Therefore, people have become more accustomed to actually reading subtitles while they’re listening. Some people even go as far as to say that although they can see properly, adding subtitles gives them a better understanding of the content, as many people are audio learners and visual learners. Therefore, having the audio from the sound and visual from the written word in the subtitle is beneficial.
Well, there you have it, who knew that subtitles made such a big difference to videos? It’s interesting to note that they allow for inclusivity and accessibility, search engine optimization, improved comprehension for users, a more engaged audience and they can even teach you a thing or two about languages.
