In this video, I'll be talking to you

about the huge number of potential subscribers you might be missing out on

and how, with just minimal effort

you can tap into YouTube's algorithm to reach them.

I'm Jessica Kellgren-Fozard and I'm a deaf YouTuber.

I make videos about fashion, travel, gayness and disability awareness

all with a very fun and positive vintage style.

What is the number 1 thing that creators don't realise about captions?

Well, stick around, because in this video, I'm going to tell you.

I started to go deaf when I was 15 and I know I don't sound deaf.

I even made a video about it that went viral.

Because I went deaf later in life, I use English as my first language

relying on lip-reading and captions with a smattering of sign language

especially for work stuff

in order to understand the world.

Having hearing aids doesn't actually mean I can hear what's going on in a video

so I always have to click that little CC button.

Captioning is a process of displaying text on a screen.

Be that a video screen, a television or some other kind of visual display

in order to provide additional or interpretative information.

Open captions, like the ones you see in the cinema

cannot be turned on or off by the viewer

but closed captions, which is the ones you'll find in a YouTube video, can be.

Quick note: captions and subtitles are two distinct but overlapping things.

Captions assume that the viewer cannot hear everything

and so provide additional information

and subtitles assume the viewer can hear, but speaks another language.

This is different in the UK, where they're both called subtitles

but just run with it.

Captions contain information about speaker changes

and also background sounds that can enhance the story.

While captions ensure accessibility for people who have hearing loss

they're also useful in a wide range of other situations.

Say you're hearing, but you're in a really noisy environment, like a gym

but you still want to watch your YouTube

or you're in a sound-sensitive environment like a hospital.

The captions will ensure that you can still have the fullest experience.

And, of course, if your viewer has English as a second language.

In my personal experience, I've seen that videos with captions and subtitles

have a great increase in views.

Look, here are my top 10 videos in terms of views.

Now, they all have captions in English

and most of them have subtitle files in at least three other languages.

Indeed, the majority of social media users now choose to keep their phones on silent

and watch auto-playing videos with text on screen on many platforms.

It's important that your videos don't get left behind.

It's my hand-phone.

Even though your ears are capable of picking up on many, many different words

your brain doesn't necessarily process them all.

Most people only remember about 17 to 25% of the things that they hear.

So if you want to get your message across, it's captions that will make the difference.

Reaching new audiences is the cornerstone of social media success.

I mean, let's be honest here, come on, sometimes it really is all about the numbers.

But exactly how large an audience are you actually missing out on?

Well, let's talk demographics.

Straight in with the easy one, hearing loss.

Over 5% of the world's population has hearing loss.

That is 466 million people.

In the United States, the number is 38 million people

with some degree of hearing loss.

That's astounding.

There are also a variety of disabilities

that mean people might struggle to watch a video without captions

from attention disorders to processing difficulties.

Moving on to the next, and arguably largest, group

people learning your language.

Captions in English are easier to follow than just spoken English

and they can help those watching to pick up the language faster.

80% of the views on YouTube come from outside the US.

Over 2 billion of the online population

have a first language that is something other than English.

Two billion.

I mean, you do not want to be missing out on those potential subscribers.

Amazingly, YouTube has an in-built function which will allow the translation

of English caption files into a variety of other languages

opening up your video content to audiences around the world.

In terms of search, discovery and engagement

captions are one of the most powerful pieces of data out there.

The Internet is text-based, so your video is going to stay hidden from search engines

unless the text that is attached to it can be picked up.

It can be hard to get across the essence of your video

in just a title and description, even tags have a character limit.

But a closed-caption file delivers a text-based transcript of your entire video

and opens it up to search engines.

More views will mean more likes, more comments

more people hitting the Subscribe button

plus, text on screen has proven to be so engaging

that it increases the watch-to-completion rate.

These two factors lead to a monumental gain in SEO ranking and engagement.

I hope you now understand just how important captions are

to you as a creator, and your viewers.

Click through to video 2, where I'll be showing you

exactly how to make those captions.

And if you have more questions about captions and how to use them

check out the playlist on my channel.