Video and SEO is often overlooked, but that is a big mistake. If you have never heard the acronym ‘SEO’ before, it stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’. It usually refers to the various methods webmasters use to optimize their website for searching. The better optimized a website, the more traffic it receives. The same approach can be applied to your video blogs.
You want as many people to see your videos as possible, right? Then read on.
In the early days of video online there was very little searchabilty. The only way that a video was categorized was through its title and perhaps a few keywords. Today, video can include a text layer of information added through the caption function that is available on websites such as YouTube. Captions are not only for deaf people. In fact, they provide a way for web browsers to see your videos as textual entities. This is a good thing. Search engines such as Google, send out what are known as ‘spiders’ to crawl content on the web. The content they find ends up as search results when people search for words that match. However the only content that can be crawled reliably, is text content.
By putting captions into your videos you optimize them so that you will receive the maximum viewers possible. However, there are some ways to achieve this that are easier than others. 
To display subtitles/captions, your video must have a caption file in the form of either a .sub or .srt file. ‘.sub’ stands for ‘subtitle’. ‘.srt’ stands for ‘subrip title’. They are nearly identical in the way in which they function. The files use video timecode combined with text to display the captions in sync with your video. If you aren’t familiar with timecode, it is the data that is measured in hours, minutes, seconds and frames that runs beneath the surface of every video. As you might guess, it can be a pain to match up the timecode of each shot with the captions you want to enter.
That is where a nifty (and free) application called CaptionTube enters the picture. Caption tube offers functionality and ease of use that YouTube’s caption editor does not. It includes a timeline and easy to understand interface that makes adding captions a breeze. The file is exported as an .srt or .sub file and uploaded to YouTube. YouTube reads the timecode along with the captions – and voila – you have captions easily read by web browsers.
You have taken a giant leap toward giving your video blog some SEO benefits. Do not underestimate this. Ninety percent of videos remain either uncaptioned, or poorly captioned by YouTube’s automatic captioning function.