We do a ton of YouTube SEO for clients.

A great way to add a ranking boost to videos is by adding the video transcript into the description section.

Problem is, typing out a transcript is a pain.

I don’t present problems without offering a solution. In this case, I’m giving you two:

A YouTube hack that will allow you to pull the transcript yourself

How to find someone to transcribe your videos for just $.60 per minute

Sound good? Let’s get into it.

Pull your own YouTube transcripts

Firebug is a lightweight browser plug in that’s a MUST if you’re a web analyst. It allows you to easily perform a number of technical debugging actions on HTML, DOM elements and live editing of CSS properties.

It also helps you get the transcript for your YouTube videos.

Download the free add on here: Firebug

Install Firebug and restart your browser

Head over to YouTube and open the video with the transcript you want to download.

Open Firebug: Tools -> Web Developer -> Firebug -> Open Firebug

Go to “Net” in the Firebug tab

If disabled, click on the button to enable it

Refresh your browser

Press the closed caption [CC] button located in the bottom right hand corner of your video

In the Firebug search bar (top right of the Firebug screen), type ‘timedtext’ (no quotes)

Locate the 2nd instance of ‘get timedtext’

Right click on the ‘get timedtext’ and open in a new window

Your video transcript will be in the new browser. You may have to do some decoding and re scripting, as YouTube voice recognition greatly depends on the quality of your audio. However, this is a huge time saver from writing the whole thing out!

Cheap video transcription services

What I just laid out is a nice hack, but it’s not perfect.

You’ll notice you still have to do significant cleaning in order to get the transcript to appear how you want it.

That’s why I don’t mess with all that – I pay someone to do it.

If you’ve looked around the web for a video transcription service, you’ve probably noticed they range from $1.00 – $4.00 per minute.

That’s insane.

I found a website that does it for $.60 per minute. That’s right buddy, $.60 per minute.

What’s even better, they have an automated platform that allows for easy ordering. Bulk upload your videos or YouTube video URLs and their team transcribes and formats them, perfectly.

GET TRANSCRIPTS