Video Transcript
The full text of what is said in a video, published on the page alongside it.
A video transcript is the complete text of what is said in a video, published on the page with it. Search engines cannot watch video, so the transcript is what makes its content indexable, and it is also what makes the video accessible to deaf viewers and to anyone who would rather read than watch.
Definition
A transcript is continuous text, distinct from captions, which are timed to the footage. A page can carry both: captions for viewers, a transcript for readers and crawlers.
Published as real text rather than an attachment, a transcript turns a video into a page's worth of indexable content — often several thousand words covering exactly the questions the video answers.
Why It Matters
A video-only page is close to empty as far as a search engine is concerned. The transcript is usually the single largest addition of relevant content available, and it doubles as an accessibility requirement.
Example
A ten-minute tutorial transcribes to roughly 1,500 words of on-topic text, covering phrasings the surrounding copy never uses.
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