From audio to text: How to extract text from any audio file

What if you could turn that hour-long recording into a comprehensive blog post? Or that 30-second TikTok into a quick, shareable social post? Imagine easily transforming any video into text you can read at your own pace – no rush, no FOMO. And what if your audience could do the same? Being able to transcribe audio to text isn’t just about convenience, though. It can very easily amplify your SEO efforts, and it does wonders for accessibility. Ready to find out all about audio-to-text transcription? Let’s dive into its benefits and show you how easily it can be done with the right tool.

Being able to transcribe audio to text isn’t just about convenience, though. It can very easily amplify your SEO efforts, and it does wonders for accessibility.

Ready to find out all about audio-to-text transcription? Let’s dive into its benefits and show you how easily it can be done with the right tool.

How does it work?

Audio-to-text conversion is powered by speech recognition algorithms and machine learning, which it uses to listen and process an audio file and instantly translate it to text in a readable format. It works best with clean audio, free of background noise and mumbled words, but professional transcription toolscan help creators convert audio to text even when the sound quality isn’t perfect.

Why you should try it

Having the option to transform online audio to text can come in handy for any creator who wants to do more with their content, whether that means boosting your SEO game, making your content more inclusive, or just repurposing it without much hassle.

It helps Google spot your content faster

Search engines like Google have gotten really good at spotting and indexing all kinds of online content – from blog articles to social media posts. But when it comes to videos and audio, they’re still a bit in the dark – they can’t “crawl” this type of content just yet.

By using a tool to extract text from audio, you’re essentially giving Google something to work with, some vital information about your media content, which it can use to categorize and eventually promote your content.

Of course, keywords remain key in this equation – so make sure to utter your target keywords in your video or audio recording to ensure they make it to the transcript or captions and, from there, to Google’s ears.

It makes your content more accessible

Not everyone consumes content in the same way. Some might have trouble hearing, prefer to watch videos on silent mode, or just feel more comfortable reading a transcript instead of watching.

Transcription makes your content accessible to everyone, no matter their personal preferences or limitations. Whether you choose to add synced captions or generate a transcript alongside your video or audio, you’re making it easier for everyone to enjoy and engage with your content in a way that works for them.

It simplifies content recycling

The pressure of having to produce new content on a weekly or even daily basis can be overwhelming for many creators and marketers, especially those who are just starting out or are working on multiple projects at once.

With audio-to-text transcription, any 1-hour podcast episode or 5-minute video can be easily transformed into plain text and reused as a blog article or social media post with little to no adjustments. There’s no reason to start from scratch or try to recreate the same content twice when you have the option to transcribe audio to text and save your work instantly.

How to transcribe videos like a pro

Using a powerful tool is the perfect excuse to make manual transcription a thing of the past. Here’s how you can do audio-to-text conversion in a few simple steps:

Open Up The Tab

To get started, you need nothing more than a good internet connection and a web browser of your choice. Click on Get Started to navigate to the editing dashboard. It’s that easy!

Import your media file(s)

Click the Import/Record button to upload any media you want to transcribe. You’ve got plenty of options: scan a QR code to upload straight from your phone, drag and drop files from your computer, pull them in directly from your cloud storage, and more. Click Import to save it to the timeline.

Transcribe your media

To transcribe your video or audio file to text, right-click on it and select Generate Subtitles. This will instantly create captions that sync perfectly with your audio with no extra effort needed.

Save your transcript

Once your subtitles are generated, click on them in the timeline. Then, open the Subtitle tab from the right-side menu. To download your transcript, select the .TXT No Timestamps format for a clean version without any timestamps.

From audio to text in 10 seconds flat!

Say goodbye to manual transcriptions or having to juggle different tools to properly extract text from your podcasts, videos, or other media content. You can transcribe audio or video files, generate synced captions, and save your work in record time – allowing you to create more SEO-friendly, inclusive, and enjoyable content with less effort.

Author Profile

Adam Regan

Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com