One of the easiest ways to encourage visitors to stay a little longer on your website or blog is to include videos. You don't have to create them yourself.
You can stream relevant videos from sites such as TED.com and Youtube by simply copying the "Embed code" from the share button at the corner of the video, and pasting the code onto your web page (or your web designer can do it - takes just a few seconds).
When your website visitors click to view the video, they will do so without leaving your site. As they view the video, their eyes might wander around the page to take in what else you have to offer.
How to use videos
1. Educating the public on mental health issues
Videos that explain or illustrate mental health conditions are often more engaging that a text-based description. As a licensed mental health professional, you have the expertise to curate content that is high-quality and that will be useful to your web visitors. Here's an exampleof a TED-Ed video from Ted.com, "Debunking the Myths of OCD"
2. Demonstrating self-help techniques
Since people typically try to resolve a problem on their own before consulting a professional, you might as well provide well-curated self-help videos, so that they can view them on your site rather than elsewhere. Some folks who don't find relief may later contact you for professional help. NOTE: Include a disclaimer that these are not intended as a substitute for treatment.
Here's an entertaining video by Dr. Ali Mattu, describing how he is working to overcome his phobia of bees:
Want to provide instruction for a simple calming breathing technique? Here's a video from University of Michigan, demonstrating diaghragmatic breathing:
3. Providing hope and inspiration
People going through a difficult time due to illness or loss may be comforted by stories of others who have gone through similar circumstances. For example, in this brief video from Springboard (a collaboration between NIH’s National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society) a survivor of breast cancer describes her experience of going through chemotherapy,
Where to find high-quality video content
Over the years, TED.com has accumulated a huge, searchable library of talks by experts in mental health, neuroscience and related fields. Stream any of them through your website by copying and pasting the embed code.
More recently, TED launched TED-ed to produce shorter, animated videos aimed to educate students. The OCD video above was gleaned from a search for "mental health" on TED-ed. As you've seen, the content is educational for adults as well as younger folks.
The largest collection of videos is at Youtube. According to a report from Statista, about 500 hours of content are uploaded to Youtube every minute! Of course, much of it is junk, since there is no gatekeeper to screen for accuracy or quality. To search for quality videos from authoritative sources, use domain filters such as the examples below:
your keywords site:edu
your keywords site:gov
The above searches return results from university and government websites, respectively. These sources are likely to be fact-checked and non-commercial.
You can use similar filters in a regular google search, and then click on the "Videos" tab at the top of the search results. An advantage of searching Google rather than within Youtube is that you will get results from other video sites besides Youtube.
Will streaming videos from other websites improve my site's ranking in Google search results?
Using a popular video from Youtube or TED does not directly boost your website's ranking in Google search results. However, the content you write above and below the video can help your ranking on Google.
When posting a video, introduce it in your own words, explaining why people should watch it. Beneath the video, summarize the main points. In your intro and summary, include keywords that you think your target audience will be entering into the search box. These keywords will give you a boost in search engine rankings if your visitors have entered similar terms into the Google search box.
Bonus tip: If you have content related to the video elsewhere on your website, link to it. For example, if you post Dr. Mattu's video on exposure therapy for phobias, and if you have other information on your site about phobias, link to it underneath the video. You can also link to your "Contact me" page for people who might want more information or who want to make an appointment with you.