5 reasons to invest in dental video for your website

Accessible video for patient engagement and education.

1. Introduce yourself and your team to make website users feel welcome

It’s no surprise that new patients are more likely to take up the services of a dentist who has a friendly and engaging website rather than one who’s website is generic and unappealing. One of the best ways to promote the instant attraction needed when web users lands on your page is through the use of dental practice video.

A 45 second clip introducing the practice is far more engaging that a couple of paragraphs of text and it really does encourage users to investigate what you are all about, rather than simply bounce back to Google and check out the next practice on the search listings. So a professionally crafted welcome video, carefully and prominently included on your website homepage, is really worthwhile.

2. Showcase existing patient testimonials

Whilst traditional written testimonials are still valid, you will make much more impact if you present video testimonials from four or five patients where their life really has been changed for the better and where they are keen to tell others what a great job you did for them. This type of third-party validation works extremely well and, as we all know, everybody really appreciates a recommendation when searching for products and services – dentistry included. So try to capture a selection of great video testimonials and let them work for you 24/7 on your website.

3. Differentiate yourself by demonstrating knowledge

Perhaps you’ve invested in training to place implants; to undertake a certain form of orthodontic treatment or some other service and you are keen to showcase and promote it? A few short videos explaining what these treatments are, how they can benefit patients and perhaps used in conjunction with a couple of testimonials, can really help to establish credibility and differentiate you from others offering similar.

4. Produce short dental education videos

It’s accepted to have some explanatory text in the treatments section of your website but why not make it much more appealing by introducing video into the mix? Perhaps a short explanation on brushing technique from the hygienist or perhaps simple after-care tips for brace wearers or similar? You still need the textual description in place for Google and users, however, a few carefully selected videos can really make the difference when it comes to holding the user on your website pages.

5. Google promotes websites which hold a user’s attention

Amongst many other performance metrics, Google is believed to measure how long people stay on a particular web page and uses this as a quality indicator. This is known as “dwell time” in the search engine optimisation business and improving it is actively encouraged if you want to move your website up in the search results. Video is a great way of increasing dwell time simply because a user is held “on page” whilst they view your footage. So video isn’t just about improving the experience for your users; in doing so you are also improving your chances in Google! You can also publish your footage to YouTube and similar channels to gain more traffic that way.

Summary

Video is fast becoming a fundamental component for high-performing websites; both for promoting user engagement and to help with Google ranking. Money wise, it is worth budgeting to have your main overview and patient testimonial videos produced professionally and it’s more cost-effective than you might have imagined. It is also possible to produce decent quality “DIY” videos for use on your blog or on internal pages of your website e.g. for a patient education section. There are a number of options and it’s actually quite straightforward to produce these, edit them and load them to YouTube ready for embedding in your website and blog.

If you are keen to help your website stand out from the crowd by implementing video, please call Dental Media on 01332 672548 for advice. Our video team can help you plan and prepare and then visit the practice to capture your footage. Alternatively, if you already have video and need advice on the best way to use it, please call us and we’ll be happy to assist.