How To Transcribe Your Own Podcast

Podcast transcription is extremely important especially for those still starting out and needing that extra marketing boost. The thing about audio and video recordings is that the search engine can’t view them, which means that there is no way to optimize them aside from the text on the description or the title itself.

The thing about SEO or search engine optimization is that it uses words in order to help interested individuals search for a certain thing in an easier way. The more a podcast is able to utilize those texts, the easier it will be for people to stumble on the podcast. Podcast transcription would let search engines like Google or Bing direct people to a podcast should it be what people are searching for.

Let’s say someone searches up “what’s the best food at McDonald's” and within the podcast, there is a segment that tackles this topic, there would be a bigger chance that search engines would redirect these searches to the podcast. Podcast transcription is basically very beneficial for the podcast, but it might require a little work.

Manual vs. automated transcription

There is a difference between manually transcribing a podcast and using a transcription tool to get automated transcription for the podcast. Although getting automated transcription through a transcription tool might look out of reach, it is actually very doable and only requires little investment.

Manual transcription

Manual transcription is the art of transcribing everything word-for-word until the complete transcription is finished. This could be very time-consuming; however, it is still an economic choice for beginner podcasters. There is always an option to get a transcriptionist to transcribe the podcast for the podcaster, but this could be quite expensive.

For professional podcasters in need of podcast transcription, this is the best decision since this would also take the stress off of their shoulders instead of having to do everything by themselves.

Automated transcription

Automated transcription can be done by using a transcription tool. Although there are a lot of transcription tools out there, not all of them provide the type of quality that the podcaster is looking for. However, there are a few transcription tools that do exactly what is needed and more.

The right transcription tool would not only allow the podcaster or transcriptionist to come up with faster transcription, but it would also decrease the overall pressure of having to transcribe the entire podcast, which could sometimes be quite lengthy.

Step by step process to podcast transcription

Step 1: Save podcast in a high-quality format

It is very important to use a high-quality format for the podcast audio or video. For videos, it would be a good decision to also make an audio version that would load faster and won’t take up much space.

Step 2: Break the podcast into parts

For really long podcasts, breaking them down and labeling them accordingly is very important so that the transcriptionist or podcaster doing the transcription does not get lost when making the transcription.

Step 3: Improve audio quality

Use an audio editing software or audio editing tool to bring out the best of the given audio. Since a podcast needs good audio anyway, this would serve both purposes of making the podcast transcription easier as well as improve the overall quality of the podcast.

Step 4. Transcribe

Now it’s time to transcribe the podcast. Either through manual transcription or automated transcription, the podcaster has to choose whichever works better to transcribe the podcast. For those that would opt to use a transcription tool, it’s time to input the audio in the transcription tool and let it work by itself.

Step 5. Edit

The podcaster then has to edit the transcription to make sure that it was transcribed properly. A transcription tool that allows editing within the platform itself would be very beneficial for the transcriptionist or the podcaster. Some transcription tools also offer a number of other features that help the transcriptionist or podcaster transcribe and fix the transcription, polishing it to make the transcription better.

Step 6: Put timestamps

It is important to have timestamps every once in a while especially with a really long podcast. If it is a conversational podcast, timestamps can be placed when a certain person says something. This way, it would be easier to understand and also give readers more indicators as to when somebody said what.

Step 7: Use it as subtitles or upload the transcript

Either the podcast transcription would be used as subtitles or uploaded as a transcript, either way, this would add to the total SEO value. Optimization through transcription would allow the podcaster to benefit greatly.

Using a transcription tool

Using a transcription tool is very important to have the podcast transcription done while saving time. Since the podcast in itself is already very complicated, there are still a lot of other things that the podcaster has to focus on. If the podcaster opts not to get a transcriptionist to transcribe the transcription, it would be better to get a little more aid through a transcription tool.

While there are a lot of transcription tools out there, not a lot of them are actually that beneficial for getting a quality podcast transcription. Some transcription tools end up with very faulty transcription, which would then mean that the podcaster or transcriptionist would have to do everything again.

The right transcription tool, on the other hand, offers more than just automated transcription but also other features that could greatly benefit the transcriptionist or podcaster. Podcast transcription doesn’t have to be that complicated or time-consuming with the right transcription tool. What’s important is that the podcaster has more time to do other things when it comes to transcription instead of having to stress over the transcription itself.

Are you ready to get your podcast transcribed? Let Izitext.io do the job for you. Timestamps are automated. Each word of the transcript matches the part of the audio file. Transcribe without stress with Izitext!