The short answer
Keep the group's YouTube channel on a Brand Account the group owns, with two owners at the group. Give staff and your agency roles through channel permissions instead of sharing a password.
For most groups, one channel with a playlist per office is easier to keep current than a channel per office. Use separate channels only for offices that kept their own name.
Link every office video to its office page, caption it, and put the videos you want found in search on website pages built for them.
Who owns the channel
A YouTube channel can sit on a person's Google Account or on a Brand Account. With a Brand Account, several people manage the channel from their own Google Accounts, and ownership can move from one person to another. YouTube says a channel that is not on a Brand Account can change its managers, but not its owner.
A Brand Account has one primary owner. YouTube warns that deleting the primary owner's Google Account deletes the channel too, and it recommends at least one more owner. To become primary owner, a person must have been an owner for 7 days or more.
Start with an inventory. List every channel that carries an office or group name, including old ones a former owner or front desk made. Note whose account each one sits on today. That list shows which channels the group already controls and which ones it has to bring in.
Roles for your team
YouTube recommends managing access through channel permissions in YouTube Studio, under Settings and Permissions. People get a role tied to their own Google Account, which YouTube describes as safer than sharing a password. A channel on a Brand Account has to move to channel permissions first, and existing Brand Account users are copied over for the owner to set and invite.
Owner
Can do everything, including deleting the channel and managing permissions.
Fits: Group marketing lead
Manager
Can manage permissions, edit channel details, and upload, publish, and delete videos. Cannot delete the channel.
Fits: A backup at the group, or the agency lead
Editor
Can edit and publish videos and see channel data. Cannot manage permissions or delete published videos.
Fits: Agency producers, a central content team
Editor (Limited)
Same as Editor, without revenue data.
Fits: Contractors who upload
Subtitle editor
Can add and edit subtitles on eligible videos only.
Fits: Captioning or translation help
Viewer and Viewer (Limited)
Can see channel details and analytics, without editing.
Fits: Office managers who read reports
Invitations expire after 30 days, so send them when the person is ready to accept. Only the owner and managers can see the names and emails of everyone with access, which makes them the right people to run the quarterly review.
Access for an agency
Invite the agency's people by email in channel permissions. Editor covers uploading, editing, and publishing. Manager adds the ability to manage permissions and delete videos, so keep it to the agency lead if anyone at the agency needs it at all.
When the work ends, remove those people from Permissions. The channel, its videos, and its subscribers stay with the group. The agency switching guide covers the rest of that handoff, and the Facebook and Instagram guide covers the same ownership idea for Meta.
Channel models for a group
There are two common setups. Either works if the group keeps to it.
Model 1
One group channel, a playlist per office
One channel and one handle for the group. Each office gets a playlist with its tour, team, and neighborhood videos, and the office page embeds that playlist.
Fits groups with one name on every sign and one team that films and posts.
Model 2
A channel per patient-facing name
Separate channels for offices that kept their own names after joining the group, each on a Brand Account the group owns.
Fits groups that kept local names. Each channel needs uploads and someone to answer comments.
A handle is the @ name that becomes the channel's address, such as youtube.com/@name. Each channel has one, it runs 3 to 30 characters, and YouTube does not allow handles to be sold or transferred. Match the handle to the name on the sign, and settle the name question first with the rebrand vs co-brand guide.
Office video plan builder
Enter your group name, your website, and one office per line. The builder suggests a handle for each channel, a playlist name per office, and a tagged link for each video description, using the same office tags as your per-office report.
Point each link at the office page, not the home page, once your office pages exist. Check that a handle is free in YouTube Studio before you announce it. Tagged links follow Google Analytics' campaign URL builder, which reads utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, and utm_content.
Videos on your website
Google says that when you embed a YouTube video, it may index the video on your page and on YouTube. It still recommends structured data for your own page. For a video you want found on its own, Google suggests a watch page whose main purpose is that one video, with a title and description unique to it.
An office page that shows a short tour is not a watch page, and that is fine. The page can still appear as a text result. Use a watch page for videos people search for, such as what a first visit at the Oak Park office looks like.
VideoObject markup needs a name, a thumbnail URL, and an upload date. Google recommends a description, a duration, and an embed URL as well. The name, description, and thumbnail have to be unique for each video and match what the video shows.
For key moments on a YouTube video, add timestamps to the YouTube description. YouTube chapters need a first timestamp of 00:00, at least three in order, and chapters of at least 10 seconds. The embed code under Share and Embed on YouTube can use youtube-nocookie.com for privacy-enhanced mode.
Videos on Business Profiles
Each office's Google Business Profile can carry its own videos. Google's help lists videos up to 30 seconds long, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher. Media shows on Google only after the profile is verified, and Google says it can take 24 to 48 hours to appear.
Upload the office's own clip to its own profile, never a tour of a different office. Groups with 10 or more locations can bulk upload photos by spreadsheet. Who may edit each profile is in Business Profile governance for dental groups.
Filming at an office
Plan the same short set at every office: an outside shot people will recognize from the street, the front desk, a treatment room without anyone in the chair, the team, and the parking or transit stop. A shared shot list keeps the playlists consistent and makes gaps easy to see.
Film staff, rooms, and the neighborhood. Show a patient only with written permission under the group's own consent process, keep screens and charts out of frame, and leave treatment details out of titles, descriptions, and comments. Keep the whole routine HIPAA aware, and ask your own counsel about the rules that apply to you.
YouTube can add automatic captions, and its help describes captions as a way to reach viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing and viewers in other languages. Have a person check the captions for names, street names, and treatment terms before you publish.
Channels from acquired offices
An acquired office may arrive with a channel on the seller's account or a former agency's account. If it is on a Brand Account, the current owner invites someone at the group as an owner. After 7 days, that person can make themselves primary owner. YouTube notes that changing the primary owner may require opting out of channel permissions first, then inviting people again.
If the channel is not on a Brand Account, its owner has to move it to one before ownership can change. If the seller will not do that, decide whether the videos are worth the wait. If not, start the office's playlist on the group channel and post a final video on the old channel that points to it.
Plan this before closing, alongside the profile and website handoff in the post-acquisition transition guide. If the office is taking the group name, rename the channel when the sign changes, not before.
Checklist
Video checklist
0 of 12 done
Related guides
For a single practice channel, see creating a YouTube channel for a dental practice and using video to build a practice brand. Paid video is in running YouTube ads.
Listings beyond Google are in Apple Business and Bing Places for groups. The map of the other group jobs is marketing a multi-location practice or DSO.
For a multi-office group
DDS Web Solutions builds websites and runs social media and local search programs for dental practices. Our team has been building websites since 2014, we have served 100+ practices, and our offices are in Sacramento and San Mateo.
For a group, we can take the channel inventory, set up ownership and roles, build office playlists, and put videos on your office pages, with your group owning every channel. We do not promise views, calls, or new patients. See dental social media and DSO and multi-location marketing, or request a quote.
FAQ
Should each office have its own YouTube channel?
Only if the office keeps its own name on the sign and someone will post for it. Most groups under one name do better with one channel and a playlist per office, because a channel needs steady uploads and a person to answer comments.
Should our agency own the YouTube channel?
No. Keep the channel on a Brand Account the group owns, and give the agency a Manager or Editor role through channel permissions. When the agency changes, remove that role and the channel, videos, and subscribers stay with the group.
What happens if the person who created the channel leaves?
YouTube says that deleting the primary owner's Google account also deletes a channel linked to that Brand Account. Add a second owner at the group now, and move the primary owner role to the group's account before the person leaves.
Can we move a handle from an old office channel to the group channel?
No. Each channel has one handle, and YouTube does not allow handles to be sold or transferred. Pick a new handle for the group channel and link to it from the old channel before you retire that one.
Can we post the same video on YouTube and on the office's Business Profile?
Yes, if it fits the profile rules. Google's Business Profile help lists videos up to 30 seconds long, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher. A short office tour clip often works for both.
Does VideoObject markup get our videos into Google results?
It helps Google find and understand a video, but Google says it does not guarantee any video feature. The video also needs a page Google has indexed, a valid thumbnail, and a title and description unique to that video.
How do we add chapters to an office video?
In YouTube Studio, add a list of timestamps and titles to the description. The first timestamp is 00:00, there are at least three in order, and each chapter is at least 10 seconds long.
Sources
- YouTube Help: Change channel owners and managers with a Brand Account
- YouTube Help: Migrate from Brand Account user access to channel permissions
- YouTube Help: Add or remove access to your YouTube channel with channel permissions
- YouTube Help: Learn about YouTube handles
- YouTube Help: Create and manage playlists
- YouTube Help: Video Chapters
- YouTube Help: Embed videos and playlists
- YouTube Help: Add subtitles and captions
- Google Business Profile Help: Manage your Business Profile photos and videos
- Google Analytics Help: Collect campaign data with custom URLs
- Google Search Central: Video SEO best practices
- Google Search Central: Video structured data