How to translate Youtube videos

Willing to reach a global audience? It has never been easier with YouTube. With translated videos, reach a new audience worldwide. We ll explain you the process.

Benefit of translating YouTube videos

You might already have published a video in English, with a pleasant voice-over and meticulous post-production. However, now you would like to reach an international audience. Here are some benefits:

Improved searchability: if nobody can find your video content abroad, it’s like it never existed. Video translation on YouTube can help you get better rankings and make your videos searchable.
Reach a Bigger Audience. It sounds simple, but the world is a vast place. The most widespread language is English, which reaches viewers from all over the world. By translating videos to other languages, such as Spanish or French, you can reach people who understand these languages.
Better engagement: The world is a big place. Engagement with customers needs to be on a global scale to reach them wherever they are.

Translating your Youtube videos can be worthwhile

To find out, start by checking out your “YouTube Analytics.” Under your “Build an Audience” tab, you’ll see a list of where your audience is coming from. If your audience is mostly coming from outside your home country, translation could be a huge help to your video strategy.

Translating Youtube captions

Subtitles and closed captions (CC) are translations of a video in a certain language. As a rule of thumb, yous should always include captions in their videos because it can drastically improve the reach.

There are two types of captions that you can choose to use for your YouTube video: Auto-generated captions ((Automatic captions are available in Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese.) or captions that you write and upload yourself.

If you want to translate your captions, you can use YouTube’s built-in function. YouTube built in function is fully automated and can results in translation errors. You also have the option of outsourcing this step to a company such as LenseUp and uploading files that have been created in an accepted format.

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Accepted subtitles formats on YouTube

Format name	File extension	More info
SubRip	.srt	Only basic versions of these files are supported. No style info (markup) is recognized. The file must be in plain UTF-8.
SubViewer	.sbv or .sub	Only basic versions of these files are supported. No style info (markup) is recognized. The file must be in plain UTF-8.
MPsub (MPlayer subtitle)	.mpsub	“FORMAT=” parameter is supported.
LRC	.lrc	No style info (markup) is recognized, but enhanced format is supported.
Videotron Lambda	.cap	This file type is primarily used for Japanese subtitles.

Adding subtitles to your YouTube video in any language

Click your channel logo and go to creator studio
Click edit on your chosen video
Click Subtitles/
Click on English (or the original language) closed caption file
Click actions, download as .srt
Open in Notepad or your translation software
Edit the text with your new translations keeping the timings in place.
File, Save as, then add .srt after the file name
Go back to the subtitles/closed caption menu
Click add new subtitles or CC, select your language
Choose upload a file and select your .srt subtitle document

Adding a voice-over to a Youtube Video: multi-language audio tracks

Voice is an essential component of translating your video to target foreign markets. If you choose to fully localize your video for Youtube, you will need a voice over. You can either record a voice over, or use the services of a specialized agency such as LenseUp to get high quality voice over in many languages. LenseUp, a leading translation agency specializing in Youtube video translations, has emerged as a game-changer for content creators seeking to connect with a global audience on YouTube.

In the past, creators had limited options, such as adding videos as playlists in multiple languages on one channel, creating separate channels for each language or region, or supporting a main global channel with additional local spin-offs. However, everything transformed with YouTube’s revolutionary introduction of multi-language audio tracks in 2023.

With this groundbreaking feature, creators can now effortlessly upload dubbed speech tracks for various languages within a single video. What sets LenseUp apart is its expertise in providing seamless and accurate translations that enable users from different geographies to automatically access content in their preferred language. As a specialized translation agency, LenseUp empowers content creators to engage with a diverse international audience, breaking down language barriers and expanding their reach like never before.

How to translate Youtube videos

Benefit of translating YouTube videos

Translating your Youtube videos can be worthwhile

Translating Youtube captions

Accepted subtitles formats on YouTube

Adding subtitles to your YouTube video in any language

Adding a voice-over to a Youtube Video: multi-language audio tracks

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