LinkedIn is a social media platform focused on professional networking and career development. One of the features available on LinkedIn is the ability to upload videos and add captions or subtitles to them. This can help make video content more accessible and optimize it for search engines.
Why add captions to LinkedIn videos?
There are several benefits to adding captions or subtitles to videos uploaded to LinkedIn:
- Accessibility – Captions make videos accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Search engine optimization (SEO) – Captions allow search engines to index the spoken content in videos, making it more findable in searches.
- Mobile friendliness – Many people watch videos on their phones with the sound off, so captions allow them to follow along.
- International reach – Captions can help expand your audience to different languages and regions.
- Viewability – Captions encourage more people to watch more of your video by making it easier to understand.
By making your videos accessible and easier to find, captions can help increase views and engagement on LinkedIn.
How to add captions to LinkedIn videos
There are a few different options for adding captions to videos on LinkedIn:
LinkedIn auto-captioning
When you upload a video directly to LinkedIn’s platform, it will provide an auto-generated caption option. LinkedIn uses automated speech recognition technology to add machine-generated captions to videos.
While this is the easiest caption option, auto-captions often contain errors and inaccuracies. So it’s best to review and edit the automated captions before publishing.
Upload caption files
For more accurate, high-quality captions, you can upload standalone caption files. This involves creating the captions separately in a program like Camtasia, Rev, orCaptionMax and then uploading the .SRT or .VTT caption file along with your video to LinkedIn.
Caption files allow you to perfectly time and word the captions to match the video. But it does require more specialized software and effort to create the caption files.
Third party closed captioning services
There are many online services like Rev, 3Play Media, and CaptionAccess that provide professional closed captioning and subtitles services. They hire human captioners to transcribe and timecode your videos.
While paid services can be more costly, they ensure high-quality, accurate captions on your LinkedIn videos. This is the best option for long, high-stakes videos.
Caption file formats for LinkedIn
LinkedIn supports the standard caption file formats:
- SRT – This is the most common, simple caption format which displays the timing and text in sequential blocks.
- VTT – The Web Video Text Tracks format has some added features for web video like styling and positioning.
So when creating your caption file externally, save it as an .SRT or .VTT file to upload it to LinkedIn.
Caption style tips for LinkedIn
Follow these best practices when styling your LinkedIn video captions:
- Use simple, easy to read formatting without excessive styles or flashing effects.
- Display captions near the bottom of the video so as not to block important visuals.
- Include speaker identification if there are multiple speakers. For example: [Woman] Thank you for watching.
- Break up long captions into shorter lines for better readability.
- Allow enough time for viewers to read the captions – minimum 3 seconds for short phrases.
Optimizing your captions for SEO
To maximize the SEO benefits of captions, be sure to:
- Include relevant keywords and phrases in your captions, such as your brand name, products, and services.
- Caption the entire video, including intro/outros, dialog, and scene descriptions.
- Use speech recognition or professional captioning for accurate spoken text.
- Revise auto-generated captions for spelling, grammar, and content accuracy.
Captioning your existing LinkedIn videos
For videos you’ve already uploaded to LinkedIn without captions, you can still go back and add captions files later:
- Download your video file from LinkedIn.
- Use a software or service to create a caption file for the video.
- Re-upload the video to LinkedIn, and now you will have the option to attach your caption file.
Adding captions is easy to do even for existing videos, so it’s worth investing the small amount of time to make your LinkedIn videos accessible and discoverable.
Measuring the impact of captions
You can check your LinkedIn video analytics to view metrics on captions:
- Caption clicks – See number of viewers who clicked the CC button to turn captions on.
- Avg caption viewing time – Determine how long viewers spent reading captions.
- Search impressions – Track how many impressions your video got in LinkedIn search results.
This data can help you gauge whether your captions are improving viewership and helping viewers consume your video content.
Conclusion
Adding high-quality captions to LinkedIn videos can go a long way in improving their visibility, accessibility, and impact. The captioning options range from LinkedIn’s automated captions to uploading third-party caption files. With the right captions, your LinkedIn videos can engage wider audiences and get discovered more readily by your target viewers.