How to Add Subtitles to your Video

Online videos can reach a wide array of audiences. However, there are certain times when you might not be able to attain the results that you actually hope for. It is true that creating great content is always the most important step, but there are a few other things to keep in mind. For example, it could be a good idea to add subtitles to a video. You’re not sure how to add subtitles to a video? Don’t worry, this article will provide you with all the necessary knowledge that you need in order to add subtitles to videos.

Another thing to consider is where to publish your videos. YouTube is one of the most well-known online video platforms, and choosing it for hosting your quality videos can lead to great visibility and engagement rates. Adding subtitles to your YouTube videos can enhance your subscriber base promptly. You will have to take care of the font of subtitles, how it is written, and how well it merges with the overall content. Keep reading, and you will learn about some of the best and easiest ways of adding subtitles to videos. However, before that, let us first look into the importance of adding subtitles.

Importance of Adding Subtitles

In today’s digital world, people tend to spend a great portion of their time on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, often without having the sound on. This is one of the primary reasons why it is so important to add subtitles to videos.

It should never be any creator’s aim to exclude people, right? Subtitles were developed to help people with hearing issues. It will not only be a good thing for the world to be inclusive, it will also be a great thing for your channel or business. With many people all around the world who might want to watch your content but cannot do so because of their hearing impairments you should focus on creating subtitles for this section of the audience as well.

Another great thing about subtitles is that they can help in improving the attention of viewers, besides enhancing video comprehension. It has been found that most people tend to switch on captions whenever they watch something, even when they are well-versed in the language.

Great for Non-Native Speakers

In case you are someone who creates videos for distribution to a global audience, subtitle translation can turn out to be a great tool for attaining all your goals  of expanding to a global reach. It is always important to take into account the language preference of the target audience. At times, people might not like to hear the audio as they watch videos. It could be primarily because of the tendency to scroll through content on social media platforms. People might not find it comfortable to turn up the volume as they try to watch something in public settings. In order to make sure that the content produced by you is more accessible, try adding subtitles.

Improves Video SEO

The caption files that are generally added to videos get indexed by Google. So, it could be a superb way of improving video SEO if you want to rank your channel or page higher on the results page. Also, subtitles can make it easier for your videos to be searchable and more search engine friendly.

Attract More Viewers

Do you know that adding subtitles to videos can help in attracting more viewers? It has been found that videos that come with subtitles have higher chances of being watched compared to the ones that come without subtitles. Videos with higher engagement can be seen online and are a great SEO tactic. There will be more users who will keep browsing your channel or site as they click on a link, which would also enhance the search engine ranking of your channel or website.

Enhances Viewer Comprehension

It has been found that opting for video captions can help in improving the ability of a person to understand videos. Watching videos with proper subtitles can benefit everyone, including adults, children, and students. Moreover, subtitles are well-known for improving the comprehension, memory, and attention of people while watching videos. Here is a quick fact for you – more than 80% of videos on Facebook are not even accompanied by sound. In such cases, going for subtitles can work like magic for reducing the risk of losing viewers and boosting engagement.

How to Add Subtitles to a Video

Now that you are aware of the importance of adding subtitles to your videos, it is now time to start doing so. Keep in mind that there are various kinds of subtitle generators that can be found today on the market. But the one that you go for can make all the difference. Right before you make up your mind regarding a platform or software, ensure to check all the related features besides confirming that the tool matches your requirements. Another thing that you will have to keep in mind here is the ease of use. Opting for a complex tool or a tool that comes with a complicated UI can make things harder for you and might turn out to be an issue in the long run. Here are some of the best tools that you can opt for creating and adding subtitles to your videos.

Happy Scribe

Happy Scribe is an automatic subtitle and transcription generator where all you have to do is upload the audio or video, and you are good to go. The tool can help in saving a lot of time as you can view the subtitles right in the video editor and make any changes if you want to the right at the moment. Happy Scribe can be used by anyone, like researchers, video editors, students, podcasters, and content creators.

The tool supports more than 119 languages. Also, you can choose dialects. For instance, for English, you can select dialects like the United States, the United Kingdom, Ghana, and India. All the changes that you want can be made on an interactive editor. For subtitles, you can also make changes to the time and text. Happy Scribe is also famous for its punctuation feature. It will analyze the audio or video and will add advanced punctuation. Have you ever come across a tool that can identify speakers? Well, Happy Scribe can do so. In case your audio or video has more than one speaker, it will be identified by the tool automatically and start a new paragraph on its own. Keep in mind that the tool might not be accurate all the time. You might have to spend some time fixing the errors.

Movavi Video Editor

Movavi Video Editor is well-known for its seamless and user-friendly UI that can even make a beginner feel like a pro in subtitle editing. With the help of Movavi Video Editor, you will get the option to add and edit all your video subtitles. Want to edit your videos while adding subtitles? This tool has got you covered. The best thing about this tool is the speed of subtitle addition and editing. You can easily change the subtitle position on the video frame besides editing the size, font, and color of the same. If you are not sure where to place your subtitles in the video frame, there is nothing to worry about. The tool comes with an easy sync feature for both video and subtitles. So, it can make your work a lot easier.

Start by downloading the tool from the official website of Movavi. Complete the installation process. Now, click on Add Files after launching the tool and add the video files. Click on Titles and select from options to add to the video Timeline. You can edit the subtitles by double-clicking on the titles. After you are done editing, save the clip and export.

If you want to get started with adding subtitles to your videos, the above-mentioned tools can surely help you out. You can see that none of the tools are weak in functionality. So, in order to find the best tool for your need, you must consider certain factors. In the first place, pay attention to ease of use. The best tool for editing subtitles will be easy to use. It should also align with your level of expertise. If you are a beginner, going for a straightforward and simple tool is the best option. Also, subtitle editors tend to come with plenty of features, like color and font adjustments, automatic sync, and so on. Before you go for a tool, make sure that it comes with the features you want. Too much of unnecessary features will end up making things harder for you.

NOVA A.I. Video Editor

NOVA A.I. is an online video editing platform with one of their most popular tools being their accurate automatic subtitle generator. It can detect and transcribe speech into subtitles in more than 37 different languages and has taken subtitling of videos to the next level by offering an automatic translation of subtitles in more than 75 different languages. With NOVA A.I. subtitling can be done in just a matter of minutes saving lots of time and effort, and you can subtitle short as well as long videos. The first thing is to upload your video to the platform. Most commonly, you would upload from your private video library, but as an extra feature, you can actually upload a video directly from YouTube just by inserting the URL/link which enables you to subtitle any YouTube video. When the video is uploaded enter the subtitle tab and choose ‘Auto subtitle’. You can also subtitle manually, but why use the time when the software can do it for you? You can select the spoken language or let the software auto-detect it for you. When the software has done its magic you can edit the text and the style of the subtitles exactly the way you want, and export the video with the subtitles hardcoded into it, or download the subtitles either as a subtitle file (srt, vvt) or a text file (txt).

Users can also benefit from the platform's essential video editing tools and from other AI-powered tools such as text-to-speech voiceovers, AI clip maker, and more. NOVA A.I. offers a free version for everyone to use and has a number of upgraded paid plans depending on need and use. Last but not least, NOVA A.I. is suitable for both beginners as well as for more advanced video editors thanks to its intuitive interface.

MiniTool MovieMaker

Not sure how to add subtitles to a YouTube video? MiniTool MovieMaker is here to help you out. It is one of the best subtitle editors that you can find today. In fact, this tool is completely free! There will be no watermarks in your videos, despite the tool being a free one. You can easily add and edit your video subtitles. Precise subtitle editing is what makes this tool so famous. If you are new to the world of video subtitles or if you want to make your work easier, you can take advantage of the wide array of subtitle templates that are styled in a great way. For customizing the subtitles, you can adjust text size, font, text color, text position, and many more. The tool comes with a drag-and-drop feature that can make the overall process of editing and adding subtitles a lot easier. The UI is user-friendly and can be used even by beginners. Want to edit your videos while adding subtitles? Worry not, as this tool can do so as well.

Start by downloading the tool from the official website. Launch the program. The next step is to import all the media files, which can be done by clicking on Import Media Files. Now, go to Text, choose the options, and click on + to place the text in the correct place. All you have to do now is enter the text and edit the same in the Text Editor.