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Importance of subtitles: Top 7 reasons you should know

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The key ingredients for making an ‘impactful video’ are content and subtitles. But many organizations fail to add the second ingredient due to which their video doesn’t appeal to the consumers. 

If you have also made the same mistake and are drowning in your sadness of getting low ROI and poor engagement. Then you are at the right place. In this article, we are going to tell you about the importance of subtitles which will motivate you to add subtitles to your videos. This will ultimately help you to make your online video so charming that it will be liked by everyone. 

First of all, let’s take a brief look at the definition of subtitles. Lines of text at the bottom of the screen are known as subtitles which serve as a translation of the spoken speech into another language. Did you know that 80% of viewers are likely to finish an entire video when subtitles are available? 

They are most frequently used in movies, but they can also be found in television programs and other types of content, including online videos and social media clips. 

Now, talking about the importance of subtitles. We will also talk a bit about the purpose of adding them and their top 5 benefits.

What is the purpose of subtitles? 

1. To transcend one’s national boundary: 

The main purpose of adding subtitles is to go beyond the boundaries of your nation and to expand into foreign countries. Subtitles help to make your video accessible in the native language of your target audience. So that they can understand your video content. 

2. A better understanding of the video content: 

Subtitles improve comprehension of the video. A quick search reveals that many viewers enable subtitles when they watch tv shows, films, or other videos, including those who are native speakers of the original language of the video. In simple words, people understand the written translation better. 

3. Boosts content engagement: 

People prefer to watch videos without sound. Therefore, adding subtitles results in more clicks on a video and thus higher engagement. According to a recent study, 91% of people who watched movies with subtitles finished them to completion, compared to 66% of people who viewed them without subtitles. 

4. Accessibility: 

According to the WHO, 5% of people worldwide have permanent hearing loss. Hence subtitles help a great deal to reach out to this section of the population who are otherwise not able to understand a video without a written text. 

Importance of subtitles: Top 7 reasons 

The importance of subtitles cannot be overstated, particularly in the realm of multimedia content. Subtitle translation services play a pivotal role in making audiovisual material accessible to global audiences, breaking down language barriers and fostering inclusivity. By providing accurate and culturally relevant translations, these services ensure that viewers from diverse linguistic backgrounds can fully engage with movies, TV shows, and online videos.

Here are the 7 reasons which highlight the importance of subtitles. 

1. Improves Search Engine Optimization or SEO: 

Video subtitles can help you rank higher in search results. As mentioned above, people prefer to watch videos with subtitles to completion. Your rankings will improve when viewers will watch the video for longer durations of time, which will boost the ‘dwell time’. This will benefit the online visibility of your video and will attract more viewers. All of this will ultimately help you to rank better in search results. 

2. Expands the social reach of videos: 

Subtitles influence how viewers view, respond to, and interact with your videos. According to Instapage, Facebook videos with captions had a 16% higher reach than those without captions. They had 26% more call-to-action click-throughs, 15% more shares, and 17% higher reactions. Thus, adding subtitles helps to increase the social reach of videos.

3. Increases viewer engagement: 

People like to scroll on the internet. A muted video and that too with subtitles help them to watch videos without any interruptions. Moving subtitles can hold the interest of your viewers and prevent them from scrolling away. All of this ultimately boosts viewer engagement. 

4. Helps to go global: 

How will anyone consume your content if they cannot understand it? Translation of content is necessary if you want to reach out to every corner of the world. Subtitles allow you to serve content in the native language of your target users and thus help you to expand to your target country. 

5. Improves comprehension: 

Everybody has a different learning style. Some prefer to learn by reading, some by watching, and some by listening. Your videos will be more effective if they feature subtitles for those who learn best through reading. In addition to this, many individuals prefer the combo of text and video rather than just the video alone because text and video help in a better understanding of the content. 

6. Take care of those who view videos without audio: 

85% of Facebook videos are reportedly watched on silent. There are a lot of people who don’t want to or don’t need to turn on the audio on their phones or computers. Maybe they don’t want to pause their favorite song because they are listening to it. Or they are in a  public place like the metro or office. Subtitles help that section of people who like watching videos without audio. 

7. Take care of those who have hearing impairments: 

You don’t want to prevent millions of people from watching your video content just because they can’t hear. People who are deaf or hard of hearing are part of your target audience, and they will get excluded if your videos don’t contain subtitles. Adding subtitles helps in increasing accessibility of your content and reaching out to this section of the population. 

Top 5 benefits of using subtitles 

Below are the top 5 benefits of using subtitles in your video. 

1. Affordable: 

The low production cost of subtitles among all other options such as voice-overs and closed captioning is one of its key advantages. Subtitling does not require recording engineers, voice actors, and audio studios making it a more economical choice. 

2. Preservation of original content: 

With the usage of subtitles, the real essence of the video is retained including the voices of the original actors and the style of the content. However, if one goes for voice-over, then the originality of the content is compromised.

3. Makes everything crystal clear: 

The audience has a smooth time watching a movie with subtitles as they provide clarity and a great comprehension of technical terminologies, full names, and brand names. Additionally, subtitles make it easier to read and understand the original dialogue in case one finds it difficult to grasp the accents used in a particular movie. 

4. Speedy output: 

Subtitles are the quickest option to translate the source language of the video into target culture languages. This is so because subtitling can be done comfortably at home. You only require one laptop to perform the task. 

5. Improves a video’s SEO: 

One of the most important web optimizations for improving Google rankings is Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Subtitles aid in increasing your internet presence and attracting new customers. Search engines can read the text in subtitles, which helps them to rank your website higher in search engine results. 

To conclude, subtitles are a blessing for you and your videos. Their importance can’t be questioned. They help to go global, improve SEO, expand the social reach of video, increase viewer engagement, improve comprehension and take care of that section of society that is not able to hear properly. 

If you have also understood the importance of subtitles and are now wondering how to add subtitles to your videos. Then feel free to contact Naarg Data Media Services. We are home to 30+ multinational organizations for their subtitling needs. 

Our affordable rates and high-quality output are the reasons why we are always loved by our customers. 

So what are you waiting for? Contact us. We are only one call away.

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