Subtitling videos is something that not all companies consider when developing and implementing their content strategy. But did you know that there are many situations in which this is option is a must?
When do you add subtitles to a video?
Subtitling a video is not always necessary, and you shouldn’t do it "just because." But there are several cases in which it is advisable if you’re looking to achieve specific results.
Here are some practical examples:
1. If your goal is to reach more people
Does your company operate in international markets? If so, subtitling videos is not an option, but a necessity. It's either that, or you produce different videos for each market, which is possible, but at a considerable expense.
It all depends on your business and where you intend to go. Just to give you an idea, these are the most widely spoken languages in the world:
- English
- Chinese
- Hindi
- Spanish
- Arabic
- Bengali
- French
- Russian
- Portuguese
2. If you want your content to be accessible
About 5% of the world's population is hearing-impaired, according to the WHO. If you don’t want your audiovisual content to be "invisible" to them, adding subtitles to your videos is essential. In fact, it’s even a legal requirement in Spain (and in many other countries around the world) in these and other cases:
- Public Administration
- Companies or organizations that offer public services.
- Publicly financed companies.
- Public universities.
3. If you're concerned about the SEO of your videos
Speaking of SEO: Did you know that Google only takes into account subtitles that are manually inserted into videos, and not those that are automatically generated with the help of different software tools? For the search engine par excellence, "manual" subtitles serve to index and better position videos in search results.
4. If you intend to adapt to your users’ habits
Thanks to our smartphones, we can browse the Internet anytime, anywhere. But that doesn’t mean that we always want others to know what we’re looking at and doing. Did you know that most users prefer to watch videos without sound on their smartphones? Even when they’re alone and no one is around! This was revealed in a recent study by Sharethrough.
5. If you want your videos to be better understood
We don’t always pay the same attention to the content we consume online. If you want to make sure that your videos are perfectly understood, even if users don't use their full range of senses when watching them, subtitles are crucial. And not just due to a lack of attention: everyone learns and internalizes concepts differently, so adding subtitles to your videos will increase the chances that your messages will resonate with your audience.
In short, with business objectives and new user habits in mind, adding subtitles to videos is something that more and more companies are considering in order to optimize their results. Are you going to miss out on this opportunity? Improve and extend your reach with your target audience by relying only on specialized translators like the ones at Linguaserve.
