Did you know that over 85% of people watch social media videos on mute? It’s a wonder that content creators are getting any information across! So, how are they doing it? One of their aces in the hole is using closed captions and transcriptions. It’s no big surprise, then, that captioning jobs are on the rise. Read on if you want to learn more about this exciting profession.

But wait, captioning? You mean merely transcribing everything that the characters are saying? Isn’t that like subtitling? Well, yes and no: transcribing, subtitling, and captioning are close cousins. They’re so tightly related that they are sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re not exactly the same.

If you’re going to try hiring pros for captioning jobs or applying for one yourself, it’s better to know what you’re getting into beforehand. Then, and only then, can you make informed choices as a consumer or potential fledgling captioner.

Now, here’s some information about the benefits of internet captioning to get you going:

  • It breaks down barriers and promotes accessibility. Not everybody has perfect hearing. Captioning allows hard-of-hearing and hearing-impaired audiences to engage with your material.
  • It grows your viewer-base. Everything competes for our attention. Therefore, it’s best to act in ways that promote engagement. Captions help you do that.
  • They help you grow your SEO. In short, they help you rank better in online searches.

But that’s not all! There are myriad benefits you can obtain from captioning. First, let’s delve into the basics.

What Are Captioning Jobs?

As much as we hate to admit it, we all scroll through social media daily. Sometimes, we even do so blindly, before something finally catches our eye. If there’s one thing that we do not have time for, though, is fully watching — and listening to — every video that pops up in our feed. Captions help give us an idea of what’s going on without us having to go all-in.

Closed captioning and subtitling are processes for displaying text on a screen. Whether it’s simply a transcription of what the characters are saying (subtitles, which can also be translated), or a more thorough, comprehensive explanation of the processes on-screen, such as in captioning. Subtitling and captioning are tightly related, and they could both be said to be forms of transcription.

In Swimming Through the Sea of Subtitling Services, I wrote:

Captions are a service that is commonly used as a way to aid those with hearing impairments. That means that usually entail differences in presentation and content than subtitles. Captions may contain a transcription of the entirety of the spoken dialogue on screen. They can also be displayed differently, usually concerning where the character or person is. This allows the viewer to discern who is talking.

Captions can have even more differences in content to subtitles. What we know as closed captions can include additional visual information other than transcribing speech. They normally can describe sounds, mention music with the appropriate song name or style when it comes on. This aids people with hearing issues, who may need to rely on written cues instead of audio.

But That’s Not All

But captioning jobs are not just about helping the hearing impaired (more on that later). They can also help users by enhancing the clarity of what they’re watching. Even for natives of a particular language, captions can improve understanding in difficult areas, or where audio is muddled. It can also help us avid multitaskers get on with our busy lives without having to turn the volume all the way up. (Hey, I love watching The Midnight Gospel as much as the next guy, but these articles aren’t gonna write themselves.)

Also, in combination with good translations, captions provide entertainment for millions in different languages. Subtitles plus captions are a great accessibility option for people all over the world with hearing impairments.

But that’s not all either. Cisco talks about how 82% of internet traffic will be video by the end of 2022. If you think about it, putting up a few letters on a screen seems like a smarter investment than ever, doesn’t it?

Captioning Jobs and SEO

We all use Google like a bajillion times a day. Yeah, that may not be a real number, by the way, I’m not an engineering major. But what I do know, is that there’s a big number of tips and tricks that come from knowing how to game the system. For instance, when was the last time you saw what was going on in page 2 of a Google search? Even if you do remember, it’s very likely that memory is so old that it’s in black and white. What does this have to do with captioning jobs? Prepare to have your assumptions challenged.

  • Transcripts and Captions Increase Traffic

This is actually a double whammy. Having a video up on your website or social media page helps with SEO, yes. But did you know that having a full transcript/caption of the video’s contents helps with SEO as well?

According to 3PlayMedia:

Search engines can’t watch a video or listen to audio, but they do index text. A transcript enables search engines to ingest your multimedia content and index it accordingly.

Consider the SEO structure of a news article. It has a title, byline, and body of text — all of which get indexed by Google. A video has a title and maybe a description, but the content remains invisible to search bots.

Pretty ingenious, huh? But there’s more about well-done transcription jobs that can give you a hand with SEO.

captioning jobs

  • Increase Revenue

Pages with video transcripts and captions earn approximately 16% more revenue.

  • You Rank Higher in Search Results

In plain English: lazy people who don’t scroll to pages 2 or 3 find you right away. In a world of immediacy, the top search results rule.

  • A Net Increase In Average Views

People watch captioned videos nearly 8% more than those which are not.

  • Competent Captioning Jobs Increase Engagement

How so? YouTube and other streaming platforms index videos by watch time. Closed captions can keep viewers engaged regardless of whether they’re able to listen or not (as in, being stuck on the bus without headphones). And in fact, speaking of mobile, Facebook found that captions increase engagement by around 12%.

  • They Increase Off-Page SEO

If you have several pages of transcript, they can help you even if your website’s visitors can’t see them. Since search engines index these pages, they give you an opportunity to target additional keywords. They also provide internal cross-linking opportunities, thus making your site rank even higher.

So, How ‘Bout Hiring Me Some Pros?

Yeah, I’ve been going on and on about captioning jobs, but I still haven’t pointed you in the right direction. Silly goose. You see, nowadays, the enterprising marketing connoisseur is spoiled for choice. You can either:

Oooh, pretty bold, huh? All of these options have their own pros and tradeoffs. Hiring a freelancer directly can be great, but you have to establish trust first. “Take the money and run” is not just a favorite phrase of Wall Street stockbrokers, after all. Always make sure that you vet each freelancer, check out their portfolio and previous experience.

Freelancing websites, marketing agencies, and specialized websites get over this hurdle. They make it really easy for you to see if the pro you’re thinking about hiring is up to the task or not. Not only that, but they’re generally very safe and reliable. Of course, no site’s perfect, so you assume a certain amount of risk. Don’t worry, though; money’s always kept in escrow, so after a mediation process you get it back if the pro bails or is unable to complete the gig in time.

Of course, even if you check a pro’s portfolio, there’s always a certain degree of faith involved. How can you help get the right people for ’em captioning jobs and avoid second-guessing yourself? How, I wonder…

Bunny Studio to the Rescue!

Need actual vetted pros who are amazing at captioning? We have a dedicated team of experts that live and breathe subtitling, captioning, and transcription. That means that whether your content is in one language or multi-language, we’ve got your back every single time. Other freelancing platforms keep you guessing on whether the pros are actually worth your time or not. You have to go through a lengthy interviewing process for every gig, and then there’s a constant back and forth that never seems to end.

  • We offer captioning made simple:
  • A team of vetted pros. Nothing gets by us. If you’re not good at captioning jobs, you don’t work with our clients.
  • We have a dedicated, around-the-clock QA team overseeing everything. We make sure that every pro does exactly what you need, or they’re asked to revise their work until it’s p e r f e c t.
  • Who is turnaround-focus? We are! It typically takes freelancers weeks to deliver. Depending on the size and scope of your project, we’ll have your back in 24 hours or less. Who else has crazy numbers like that? Don’t worry, we’ll wait.
  • We actually have a satisfaction guarantee. No escrow, no debate, nothing. If you don’t like the results, even if they’re good, we’ll make sure to pay up the freelancer and give you a 100% of your money back.  As a wise man once said, “Everybody wins.”

So, let the second-guessing be over. If you need awesome pros who know their stuff, we’ll be waiting for you to give us a holler. Just let us know, and we’ll take care of it pronto!