How to Turn YouTube Videos Into Blog Posts in 5 Minutes (Free AI Automation)

If you're a content creator, agency owner, or marketer, you already know the content repurposing game: one piece of content should become ten. But here's the problem—manually transcribing YouTube videos and rewriting them into blog posts takes hours. Hours you don't have.

What if you could automate the entire process? Feed in a YouTube URL, and five minutes later, get a polished, SEO-ready blog post automatically saved to Google Docs—no copy-pasting, no manual formatting, no headaches.

Even better: This automation is completely free to set up, takes under 30 minutes to build, and you can package it and sell it to other creators or agencies for $300-1,500.

In this guide, I'll show you exactly how to build a YouTube-to-blog automation using Apify, OpenAI, and Make.com. By the end, you'll have a system that scrapes video transcripts, converts them to blog-style content using AI, and publishes them directly to Google Docs—all while you're working on something else.

Why Content Repurposing Matters (and Why Manual Methods Fail)

According to HubSpot's 2024 Content Marketing Report, companies that repurpose content see 5x more traffic than those creating from scratch. Yet 63% of marketers say they struggle to produce enough content consistently.

Here's what typically happens when you try to repurpose YouTube content manually:

• Time sink: Watching a 20-minute video, transcribing key points, and rewriting takes 2-3 hours

• Format hell: YouTube auto-captions are messy and require heavy editing

• Inconsistent voice: Manual rewrites rarely match your brand tone

• Bottleneck: You can only process 1-2 videos per week max

The solution? A fully automated workflow that handles everything from transcript extraction to blog publishing in minutes, not hours.

The Automation Stack: Tools You'll Need

Before we dive in, here's your tech stack (all have generous free tiers):

1. Apify – Web scraping platform with YouTube extractors (free tier: $5 credit/month)

2. OpenAI API – GPT-4 for transcript-to-blog conversion (pay-as-you-go, ~$0.10-0.30 per video)

3. Make.com – Automation platform connecting everything (free: 1,000 operations/month)

4. Google Docs – Document storage and editing (free with Google account)

Total monthly cost for 10-20 videos: $3-8

Compare that to hiring a content writer at $50-150 per blog post, and the ROI is massive. Plus, you can scale to 100+ videos per month without hiring.

The Complete Workflow: What Happens Behind the Scenes

Here's the end-to-end automation flow we're building:

1. Trigger: You provide a YouTube video URL or search keyword

2. Apify scrapes: Extracts video transcript, metadata, and subtitles

3. AI converts: GPT-4 transforms the transcript into a blog post

4. Markdown compiles: Formats the content with proper headings and structure

5. Google Docs publishes: Creates a new document ready for SEO optimization

Total processing time: 3-5 minutes per video (completely hands-off)

Step 1: Set Up Apify for YouTube Scraping

Apify is a web scraping and automation platform with pre-built "actors" (scrapers) for popular websites. For this workflow, we'll use the YouTube Scraper actor.

What the YouTube Scraper extracts:

• Full video transcripts (auto-generated or manual captions)

• Video metadata (title, description, views, upload date)

• Subtitle files in multiple formats (plaintext, SRT, VTT)

• Channel information

Configuration options:

{ "downloadSubtitles": true, "preferAutoGeneratedSubtitles": true, "subtitlesFormat": "plaintext", "subtitlesLanguage": "any", "maxResults": 1, "searchKeywords": "Consulting"
}

You can either:

• Search by keyword (e.g., "Consulting") and grab the top result

• Provide direct URLs in the startUrls array for specific videos

According to Apify's documentation, their YouTube scraper can process up to 100 videos in a single run without hitting rate limits—perfect for bulk content operations.

Pro tip: Set preferAutoGeneratedSubtitles to true. YouTube's auto-captions are now 95%+ accurate for English content, thanks to Google's speech recognition improvements.

Step 2: Build the Make.com Automation

Make.com is where everything connects. Think of it as the conductor orchestrating your content repurposing symphony.

Here's the complete 5-module workflow:

Module 1: Run Apify YouTube Scraper

First module triggers the Apify actor and waits for results (runs synchronously).

Key settings:

• Actor ID: h7sDV53CddomktSi5 (YouTube Scraper)

• Run Sync: Enabled (wait for completion before proceeding)

• Input JSON: Your scraper configuration from Step 1

The module outputs a defaultDatasetId—this is where Apify stores your scraped data.

Module 2: Fetch Dataset Items

This module retrieves the actual transcript and metadata from Apify's dataset.

Configuration:

• Dataset ID: {{10.defaultDatasetId}} (from previous module)

• Format: JSON

• Type: Clean (removes unnecessary fields)

• Limit: 100 videos max per run

The output includes a subtitles[] array containing the plaintext transcript. This is what we'll feed to AI.

Module 3: Convert Transcript to Blog Post (GPT-4)

Here's where the magic happens. We use OpenAI's GPT-4 Turbo to transform raw video transcripts into polished blog content.

AI Prompt Structure:

System: You are a helpful writing assistant. User: Below is a transcript from a video we recorded. Convert this into a blog post in markdown (atx) format. Make it comprehensive, and write in a casual, spartan tone of voice. User: [Insert transcript from {{11.subtitles[].plaintext}}]

Why GPT-4 Turbo? According to OpenAI's research, GPT-4 demonstrates advanced reasoning and context retention up to 128,000 tokens—perfect for long-form content transformation.

Model settings:

• Temperature: 1.0 (balanced creativity)

• Max tokens: 4,096 (handles ~3,000-word blog posts)

• Top P: 1.0 (full vocabulary range)

The AI automatically:

• Structures content with H2/H3 headings

• Removes filler words and repetition

• Adds transitions and flow

• Maintains the original message while improving readability

Cost per video: ~$0.10-0.30 depending on transcript length (10-30 minute videos)

Module 4: Compile Markdown to HTML

The Markdown Compile module converts the AI-generated markdown into clean HTML, ready for publishing platforms.

Settings:

• GitHub Flavored Markdown: Enabled (supports tables, task lists, etc.)

• Sanitize: Disabled (preserves all formatting)

This step ensures compatibility with WordPress, Medium, Ghost, and other CMS platforms that accept HTML imports.

Module 5: Create Google Docs Document

Finally, the automation creates a new Google Doc with your blog post content.

Configuration:

• Document name: "Example Blog Post" (customize with video title)

• Content: {{9.data}} (compiled HTML from previous step)

• Location: My Drive root (or specify folder)

• Header/Footer: Disabled

The document appears instantly in your Google Drive, fully formatted and ready for:

• SEO optimization (meta descriptions, keywords)

• Image insertion

• Final editing and polish

• Publishing to your blog or Medium

According to Neil Patel's content marketing research, repurposed content can increase organic traffic by 300%+ when optimized correctly.

Real-World Example: How This Automation Works

Let's say you have a 15-minute YouTube video about "How to Scale a Consulting Business."

Input:

• YouTube URL: https://youtube.com/watch?v=example

• Transcript length: ~2,500 words (typical for 15-min video)

Processing (automated):

1. 0:00 – Make.com triggers Apify scraper

2. 0:45 – Apify downloads transcript and metadata

3. 1:00 – GPT-4 receives 2,500-word transcript

4. 2:30 – AI generates 1,200-word blog post in markdown

5. 3:00 – Markdown compiles to HTML

6. 3:15 – Google Doc created and saved to Drive

Output: A 1,200-word blog post with:

• Catchy introduction

• 5-7 H2 sections with clear takeaways

• Conclusion with CTA

• Casual, engaging tone (not robotic transcript)

Total human time investment: 30 seconds (to paste the URL)

Advanced Customization: Make It Your Own

The beauty of this automation is flexibility. Here are powerful customizations you can add:

1. Batch Processing Multiple Videos

Modify the Apify input to search for keywords and process the top 10 results:

{ "searchKeywords": "agency growth strategies", "maxResults": 10
}

This generates 10 blog posts in one automation run—perfect for content sprints.

2. Custom AI Writing Styles

Change the GPT-4 prompt to match your brand voice:

• Professional/Corporate: "Write in a formal, authoritative tone with data-driven insights"

• Conversational/Fun: "Write like you're explaining this to a friend over coffee"

• Technical/Developer: "Use technical terminology and include code examples where relevant"

3. SEO Optimization Layer

Add another GPT-4 module that:

• Generates meta descriptions (150-160 characters)

• Suggests 5-10 target keywords

• Creates alt text for suggested images

• Writes social media captions

4. Multi-Platform Publishing

Instead of just Google Docs, simultaneously publish to:

• WordPress (via Make.com's WordPress integration)

• Medium (using Medium's API)

• Ghost (self-hosted blog platform)

• Notion (as content database)

5. Quality Control Filter

Add a module that analyzes the transcript before AI processing:

• Check video length (skip videos under 5 minutes)

• Verify transcript quality (skip if auto-captions confidence is low)

• Filter by view count (only process videos with 1,000+ views)

Why This Beats Manual Content Creation

Let's compare traditional content creation vs. this automation:

Manual Method:

• Watch 20-min video: 20 minutes

• Take notes: 15 minutes

• Write blog outline: 20 minutes

• Write full post: 90 minutes

• Edit and format: 30 minutes

• Total: 2 hours 55 minutes per post

Automated Method:

• Paste YouTube URL: 30 seconds

• Wait for automation: 3-5 minutes (hands-off)

• Final polish and SEO: 15 minutes

• Total: 20 minutes of human work

That's an 89% time savings—meaning you can produce 8-9x more content with the same effort.

How to Monetize This Automation

Here's where it gets really interesting: You can sell this as a service to other creators and agencies.

Service Package Options:

1. Setup Service ($300-500)

• Install automation for client

• Connect their accounts (Apify, OpenAI, Google)

• Customize AI prompts for their brand voice

• Test with 3 sample videos

• Provide documentation

2. Done-For-You Content Repurposing ($200-400/month)

• Client sends you 5-10 YouTube URLs monthly

• You run the automation

• Deliver polished blog posts ready to publish

• Monthly retainer model

3. White-Label Automation License ($1,000-1,500)

• Sell the complete Make.com blueprint

• Provide video training on setup

• Include 6 months of support

• One-time payment

Real client story: I sold this exact automation to a marketing agency for $750. They now repurpose their weekly podcast episodes (uploaded to YouTube) into blog posts, generating an extra 40 blog posts per quarter with zero additional writer costs.

Get the Free Template

Ready to build this automation for your content strategy?

Download the Complete Make.com Blueprint (JSON File) →

This blueprint includes:

• All 5 automation modules pre-configured

• Apify YouTube scraper settings optimized for best results

• GPT-4 prompts for casual, engaging blog style

• Markdown compilation for clean formatting

• Google Docs integration ready to go

Simply import the JSON file into your Make.com account, connect your apps (Apify, OpenAI, Google), and you're live in under 30 minutes.

What You Need to Do Next

1. Sign up for free accounts on Apify, OpenAI (get API key), Make.com, and ensure you have Google Drive access

2. Download the blueprint using the link above

3. Import into Make.com (Scenarios → Create Scenario → Import Blueprint)

4. Connect your accounts by authenticating each module

5. Customize the AI prompt with your preferred writing style

6. Test with a YouTube video and watch the magic happen

Once it's working, consider offering this as a service to YouTubers, podcasters (who upload to YouTube), or agencies drowning in content creation demands.

Cost Breakdown: What You'll Actually Spend

Let's be transparent about costs for running this automation at scale:

For 20 videos per month:

• Apify: $5 (free tier covers this easily)

• OpenAI API: $4-8 (depending on video length)

• Make.com: $0 (under 1,000 operations)

• Google Docs: $0 (free with account)

Total: $9-13/month for 20 blog posts

Compare that to:

• Hiring a writer: $50-150 per post = $1,000-3,000/month

• Freelance transcription + writing: $30-80 per post = $600-1,600/month

• Content agencies: $100-300 per post = $2,000-6,000/month

The automation pays for itself after the first video.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use this for videos without subtitles? Yes! YouTube automatically generates captions for most videos. If a video doesn't have any, you can use Apify's Speech-to-Text actor to create transcripts from audio.

Does this work with non-English videos? Absolutely. Set subtitlesLanguage to your target language (e.g., "es" for Spanish, "fr" for French). GPT-4 supports 50+ languages and can even translate while converting to blog format.

How do I ensure the AI doesn't miss key points? In your GPT-4 prompt, add specific instructions like: "Include all statistics, quotes, and specific examples mentioned in the transcript." You can also increase max_tokens to 8,000+ for longer, more detailed posts.

Can I add images to the blog posts automatically? Not directly in this workflow, but you can extend it by adding an AI image generation module (DALL-E 3) that creates featured images based on the blog title, or use Unsplash API to fetch relevant stock photos.

What if the transcript has errors? GPT-4 is excellent at inferring meaning and correcting obvious transcription errors. For videos with heavy accents or technical jargon, you might want to add a manual review step before publishing.

Bonus: Content Distribution Workflow

Once you have blog posts, don't stop there. Add these modules to automatically distribute content:

1. LinkedIn Post Generator – Extract 3 key takeaways and create a LinkedIn post

2. Twitter Thread Creator – Break blog into 8-10 tweet thread

3. Email Newsletter – Format for Substack or Mailchimp

4. Pinterest Pin – Generate pin description for blog promotion

This turns one YouTube video into 6 content pieces across platforms—true content multiplication.

Final Thoughts: The Future of Content Creation

Content repurposing isn't optional anymore—it's essential. The brands winning in 2025 are those that can produce high-quality content at scale without burning out their teams.

This YouTube-to-blog automation is just the beginning. Once you have it running, you'll wonder how you ever survived without it. Your content library will grow exponentially, your SEO will improve (more indexed pages), and you'll finally break free from the "content hamster wheel."

The best part? You can build this today, for free, and start repurposing videos within the hour.

Get the free Make.com blueprint here → and transform how you create content forever.

Want more no-code automation workflows for agencies? Check out our complete automation library with ready-to-use blueprints for CRM, email marketing, and social media management.