How to Add Captions on YouTube Videos

Adding captions to your YouTube videos not only helps make your content more accessible to a wider audience, but it also improves your video's discoverability and SEO. Captions can be especially useful for viewers who are hearing impaired or prefer to watch videos without sound. In this article, we will guide you through the process of adding captions to your YouTube videos.

Why Should You Add Captions?

Before we dive into the steps, let's quickly discuss why adding captions to your YouTube videos is important:

1. Accessibility: Captions make your content accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

2. Improved SEO: Captions provide additional text that search engines can crawl, helping your videos appear in search results for related keywords.

3. Global Reach: Captions can be translated into different languages, allowing your videos to reach a wider international audience.

Steps to Add Captions on YouTube Videos

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to add captions to your YouTube videos:

1. Sign in to YouTube: Go to YouTube and sign in to your account.

2. Upload Video: Click on the "Upload" button located at the top right corner of the page. Select the video you want to upload from your computer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the upload process.

3. Go to Video Manager: Once the video is uploaded, click on your profile icon at the top right corner, and select "YouTube Studio (Beta)" from the dropdown menu. This will take you to the YouTube Studio dashboard.

4. Access Video Settings: In the YouTube Studio dashboard, click on "Videos" in the left-hand sidebar to view all your uploaded videos. Locate the video you want to add captions to and click on it.

5. Open Subtitles/CC: Within the video details page, click on the "Subtitles/CC" tab located in the top menu bar.

6. Add New Captions: Under the Subtitles/CC tab, click on the "+ Add" button to start adding captions.

7. Choose Language: Select the language for your captions from the dropdown menu. If you want to add captions in multiple languages, repeat the process for each language.

8. Add Captions: You have three options for adding captions: uploading a caption file, transcribing and auto-syncing, or typing them manually. Choose the method that works best for you.

9. Edit Captions: Once you've added the captions, you can edit them by clicking on the caption track and making the necessary changes.

10. Save and Publish: After you have added and edited the captions, click on the "Publish" button to save your changes and make the captions available on your video.

That's it! You have successfully added captions to your YouTube video.

A Recommended Tool: YOU-TLDR

While YouTube provides an in-built captioning feature, there are additional tools that can make the captioning process even easier. One such tool is YOU-TLDR, a web app that allows you to effortlessly summarize, download, search, and interact with YouTube videos in your language.

With YOU-TLDR, you can access professionally generated captions or summaries of YouTube videos, making it an excellent resource for creating accurate and well-timed captions. To learn more about YOU-TLDR and explore its features, visit the website.

Conclusion

Adding captions to your YouTube videos is a simple yet crucial step to improve accessibility, increase reach, and enhance SEO. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can make your content more inclusive and engaging for a wider audience. Consider using tools like YOU-TLDR to further streamline the captioning process and create a more professional viewing experience.