Transcription is the art of turning speech into writing. 

A transcription service is a business which provides clients with written documents transcribed from audio material like podcasts, speeches, dictations, interviews, meetings, film, and any other recorded event they may be working with. These services are most necessary in the many fields of arts, academia, marketing, government, business, health, and law, or pretty much anywhere there is a need to transcribe audio information into typewritten documents.

The audio source is usually speech, recorded into any kind of digital format. A transcriptionist or transcriber listens to and types the audio speech, creating a document which can be edited, repurposed, emailed, shared, and searched.

Transcription services must transcribe with pinpoint accuracy, precision, and good speed. This is why a great transcriptionist is skilled in the art of active listening, grammar, spelling, and research. This allows he or she to provide excellent polishing and proofreading skills so that clients receive a clean, correct, and complete final document.

But why would anyone need a transcript of their audio material? 

The reasons are manifold, and they will vary depending on the field someone works in but, generally speaking, transcripts allow for a convenient data management, storage, and sharing solution.

If you need to preserve, share, repurpose, and easily access your audio information, transcription services are a necessary addition to your business or project.

Here are the main reasons why you should consider transcribing your audio material

1. Accurate Document Recording

Maintaining a record of important audio work material is an essential aspect of how professionals from various sectors — creatives, public speakers, journalists, executives, et cetera — conduct successful business. Whether you offer consultations, work with interviews, teach classes, or provide training, transcripts will guarantee an accurate record of all your work-related material.

2. Accessibility and Protection

Professionally transcribed transcripts save you a lot of time and effort from trying to remember or debate over trivial issues. When you can quickly skim through text, as opposed to listening to an audio source, it’s easier to go back to a specific chunk of information you’re looking for.

3. Repurposing

Transcripts are a fantastic basis for any written repurposing. Transcribing your audio material is a brilliant way to produce accurate material to be repurposed in creating books, eBooks, blog posts, and emails, or for letters and reports to be sent to your clients or colleagues. Imagine the time you could save!

4. SEO Boost

Transcripts are the secret weapon to improve your online presence. If you own a website and want to rank high in search engines, your site should contain loads of text. Search engines look for targeted and repeated words, which help them know what your content is about. Transcripts provide engine bots with exactly the information they’re looking for. They help you specify your niche and improve your visibility. You can also add more keywords to transcripts to add value to your already existing content.

5. Wider Reach and Access

If you own an online business and produce great audio and video content, you don’t want to alienate hearing-impaired people or people who, for any given reason, prefer reading to listening. When you provide transcripts of your multimedia content, you are ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to access the information which they are seeking, and you are providing.

6. Wholesome Approach

Audiences love to consume information in a variety of formats, so it’s important to produce content using a variety of mediums. Transcripts provide an immediate and easy reference to your audio and video content, and they help users follow the content better. They are also really useful for many people who come back to your content and want to find a specific piece of information immediately instead of replaying a video or podcast several times to get the details.