Creating a great user experience on your website is a huge marketing trend that’s not likely to go away anytime soon. Consumers love to know more about and engage with the people they do business with. This is especially true when it comes to choosing a doctor, dentist or other health care provider. Patients want to trust and feel a connection with you, and your website is one of the first opportunities they have to do this.

An excellent way to connect with your patients and provide a great user experience is to use video content on your website. A video speaks directly to your patients and informs them about your services while also allowing them to know you a little better.

Here are some helpful tips to help you take advantage of this significant marketing trend.

#1: Getting Started: Plan Ahead

When you decide to film videos for your practice or business, spend some time planning these things:

• Scripts – Introduce yourself. Plan out the information you want to share, stay on topic, and don’t include clinical terms. Instead, speak as you would to a patient.
• Appearance – Choose natural-looking hair and makeup and wear solid colours.
• Location – Are you filming in your clinic or on location? Where’s the best lighting? Where is it quiet without much background noise? Do you need props?

Prepare Your Lighting

Great lighting is going to make you look better and stand out in your video. So use natural lighting if you can. For example, you may be able to position yourself or your subject by a window; however, be sure not to sit directly in front of the window, so you’re not silhouetted and appear darker. 

If you’re filming by a window for natural light, be sure to leave the lights in the room on as well to round out your lighting. You may also want to purchase some additional lights to brighten and add to the natural light. 

Consider Your Composition

Composition is essential when you film your video. Consider your background, and make it enjoyable with colourful objects with fun shapes; however, be sure it’s not too cluttered or distracting. 

If a flat wall is your only option, consider changing the angle you use to film your subject to make it more interesting. 

Shoot your video horizontally and on an even, stable surface for the best results. Using a tripod can help you add depth to your video and improve your composition. 

Think About Sound

Once you’re ready to film your video, be sure you have a relatively quiet environment. Eliminate background noises and keep conversations to a minimum during filming. 

You might also consider investing in a microphone to enhance your sound further and cut background noise. 

Investing in some equipment may be a good idea if you’re pursuing making regular video content for your website. 

#2: What to Include?

Think about the types of videos you want to create. For example, they may be about products or services you offer, or maybe a tour of your clinic, or both.

Consider these types of topics:

• An introduction to your business. This is your chance to share with potential patients what your business is all about.
• An answer to common questions. Be sure to talk as if you were speaking directly with your patient and addressing their concerns.
• An instructional video. Is there something helpful you can quickly teach others how to do? Film a tutorial video.

Things to Avoid When Making Your Video

• Be brief. Keep each video short. One to two minutes should be sufficient to discuss your topic and keep your viewer’s attention.
• Don’t be boring. Your video needs to be exciting, engaging, and entertaining to keep your viewer’s attention.
• Don’t over-promote yourself. Keep your focus on providing value to your viewer rather than talking about yourself. However, do include a call to action and multiple ways that your patient can reach you in your video information and on your website.

#3: Editing and Optimising Your Videos

Editing

Once you film your video, several tools can help you with editing for both Macs and PCs. Here are some suggestions for free video editing:

• YouTube Studio (Based on your browser)
• iMovie/Final Cut (Mac)
• Filmora (Mac and PC)
• Shotcut (Mac and PC)

Optimising

Optimising your videos is all about providing the best user experience for your viewers. Here are some things to keep in mind when optimising:

• Don’t use autoplay: Let your viewers decide when they want to watch your videos.
• Resize the video for mobile viewing: If your video is not sized correctly for mobile devices, it will be slow to load and may pause during playback. This could cause viewers to abandon your video.
• Don’t allow pop-ups: Pop-ups or other ads that take up the screen space during a video might diminish your viewer’s experience.
• Include a colourful and attention-grabbing thumbnail. The thumbnail is the photo that viewers see when scrolling through videos. Yours needs to grab their attention.

Do You Need Help With Your Video Content Strategy?

Making quality videos for your website does take some time and attention. Still, it can yield excellent results in increasing your website traffic and ultimately converting more visitors to patients. 

If you don’t have the time or equipment to create high-quality, optimised video content for your website, you might consider hiring a professional to do the production for you. Whether it’s video, social media,  website content, SEO strategies, or Pay-Per-Click marketing (PPC), our team at PractiPro would love to help you reach your marketing goals.