Creating engaging and informative blog posts is one of the best ways to establish yourself as a thought leader and encourage more traffic to your website. It's also one of the most time-consuming activities there are. As audio and video continue to grow in popularity, one simple way influencers can do more with less is by using audio transcription. If you don’t already transcribe your video or audio or content, here are eight great reasons to start.

Why Influencers and Podcasters Should Transcribe Audio to Text?

1. Increases Accessibility

Not everyone can access audio or video content. Did you know that there are 35 million hearing-impaired people in the United States alone?  That's a large chunk of the population that depends on reading and writing to enjoy the content influencers create. In addition, people whose first language is not English may not be able to understand the audio version of your content. Having a transcript helps them follow along more easily. Not to mention the fact that people don't always have their headphones with them, and if they are in a public place they may not be able to listen to the audio.

2. Provides Content Variety

If you've heard it once, you've heard it hundreds of times. Content is king. And the more types of content you can provide, the better. In addition to increased visibility and higher search rankings, the beauty of multimedia is that it gives you opportunities to reach a variety of people in different ways. Audio, for example, allows your followers to do other things while they listen. Video can provide a more personalized visual appeal. When you add in transcription, you give readers yet another way to engage with and enjoy your content. Plus, for many, reading is still a preferred way to absorb knowledge. Then there's the fact that transcripts are often much easier to share on social media than audio or video. Plus, many of your followers may not have the time to stop and watch or listen to an entire show.

3. Another Way to Repurpose Content

Speaking of content, transcribing a video or a podcast is a great way to repurpose your content. You could easily turn that transcription into an infographic, a tweetable quote, an email, or even an ebook.

4. Helps with SEO

The number one goal of all influencers is to get their content on the first page of search results. To help with this, you need to include as much unique, relevant and engaging content as you can. The more valuable information you can provide to the search engines, the higher the chances of achieving visibility. One way to do this is by adding a variety of media in each of your posts, whether it be pictures, a podcast recording or video. However, to make that post indexable by search engines, you will still need to include the text of your audio or video. That's where transcription comes in. By transcribing the audio to text, bots will be able to crawl the entire content of your podcast or video, leading to the indexing of the post. As a bonus, you could also use that transcript to help write your blog post. Not only will it be full of keywords, but you will also be providing followers (and bots) with original content.

5. Saves Time

How many times have you been out and about and a brilliant content idea pops in your head? So you pull out your phone and record yourself so you can remember your thoughts later. Using audio to text, you can have the recording transcribed, saving yourself a lot of time from having to type out your thoughts afterward.

6. It Shows You Care About Your Audience

Forming a connection with your followers is paramount in the influencer marketing world. Taking the time to include a text transcript of the audio or video you produce, tells your listeners that you care about their needs.

7. Video and Podcasts Aren't for Everyone

While there is a lot of focus on creating videos and podcasts, not everyone in your audience wants to listen or watch them. I'll be the first to admit that I rarely listen to podcasts. They take too much time, plus I prefer the quiet that comes with reading. Also, reading makes it easier for many people to learn and absorb information.  Plus it can be a lot faster than listening or watching.  There are millions of people out there who love to read, so you need to make sure that your content is available to them as well.

8. Increases Sharability

Everybody wants more traffic to their content, and there is a direct correlation between the sharing of content and an increase in traffic. The more times your content is shared, the more traffic you get. By having a transcript of your video or podcast, you are increasing the chances of getting quoted in a blog, article or tweet. Also, having a text transcription of your content makes it a lot easier for people to find, copy/paste and then share the specific points that resonated with them.

In Conclusion

Having a transcript is a great way to help you get the most out of your hard work. Not only will it improve accessibility and shareability, but it also allows you to repurpose content and reach more people.