Embedding videos on your business website

The easiest and most reliable way to put a video on your business website is to upload it to YouTube and embed it on the page, rather than uploading the video file to your site. Keep it short, start with the most useful part, add captions, and put it on the page where it answers a question. A thirty-second clip of your crew finishing a driveway, or you explaining what happens at a first visit, can do more than a paragraph of text. A long, slow video at the top of every page can do the opposite.

Which videos are worth putting on your site

A video earns its place when it shows something words cannot. For local businesses that usually means:

The work itself. A time-lapse of a deck going up, a before-and-after pressure washing pass, a groomer finishing a doodle.
You, explaining something. A minute on what a first lesson looks like, how you quote a job, or what to expect on install day.
The place. A short walk through your venue, shop, studio or clinic, so first-time visitors know where to go.
How to. A short clip on how to reset a breaker, how to measure a window, how to care for a new tattoo. People share these.

Videos that rarely help: long company intros with stock footage and music, slideshows of photos set to a soundtrack, and ads made for TV that do not say anything a visitor needs.

How long should it be

Shorter than you think. For most business videos, one to two minutes is plenty, and many good ones are under a minute. People watch on phones, often in a store or at work with the sound off.

Put the most useful part in the first ten seconds. If it is a walk-through of your venue, start inside the main room, not in the parking lot. If it is you explaining a service, start with the answer, not with your name and history.

Why YouTube embeds work best for small sites

You can upload a video file directly to your website, but it is usually the harder road:

Video files are large. Hosting them yourself can slow your site or use up your storage.
Different phones and browsers handle video files differently. YouTube converts your video so it plays well everywhere.
YouTube adjusts the quality to the viewer's connection. Someone on weak mobile signal still gets a picture.

Embedding means the video stays on YouTube, and your page shows a player that plays it right on your page. Visitors do not have to leave your site.

How to embed a YouTube video

Upload the video to your business's YouTube channel. Give it a plain title, like "Paver patio install in Fairfax, start to finish".
Under the video on YouTube, click Share, then Embed.
Copy the embed code, or just copy the video's link. Many website editors only need the link: you paste it into a video block and the editor does the rest.
Paste it into your website editor where you want the video to appear.
Open the page on your phone and play it.

If you would rather viewers not see suggestions for other channels' videos at the end, check the embed options and your editor's settings. YouTube's help pages at support.google.com explain the current options.

Unlisted videos

If you do not want the video to appear on your public YouTube channel, set it to Unlisted. It can still be embedded on your site and watched by anyone with the link, but it will not show up in YouTube search or on your channel page.

Captions are not optional

Many people watch with the sound off. Others are hard of hearing. Captions let both follow along.

YouTube creates automatic captions for many videos, but they make mistakes, especially with trade words, place names and your business name. Open YouTube Studio, find the video, go to Subtitles, and correct the automatic captions or upload your own. It takes a few minutes for a short video and makes it readable for everyone.

Captions also help with accessibility, which matters for your customers and is something more owners are asked about. Website accessibility for small businesses: where to start covers the rest.

Keeping the page fast

A video player is heavy. One or two on a page is fine. Five on the home page will slow it down, especially on phones.

Do not autoplay. Videos that start by themselves, especially with sound, annoy visitors and use their data.
One video per page is usually enough. Put it on the page where it answers a question: the install video on the install service page, the walk-through on the visit page.
Avoid a full-screen video background on the home page. It looks impressive on a big office screen and costs a lot on a phone. A strong photo and a clear heading do the job better.
Use a good thumbnail. The picture shown before the video plays should show what the video is about. YouTube lets you upload a custom one.
Some editors can show a lightweight preview image and only load the full player when someone taps play. If yours offers that, use it.

If you want to check how a page performs after adding video, how to test your website speed for free walks through a simple test.

Where to put the video on the page

Not at the very top. On a phone, the first screen should still show what you do, where, and how to reach you. Put the video right after the first short section that introduces the service or the place, with one line above it saying what it shows: "Watch: how we prepare a driveway before sealing it (one minute)."

Under the video, add a short written summary of what it shows. Visitors who will not play it still get the information, and Google can read the text, which it cannot do with a video's pictures.

Making the video yourself

You do not need a film crew. A recent phone, held sideways for most website uses, is enough. A few basics:

Film in good light, facing a window or outdoors in shade.
Get close to your subject. Phone microphones pick up a lot of background noise.
Keep it steady. Lean against something or use a cheap phone stand.
Speak the way you talk to customers. Scripts read off a card sound stiff.
Cut out the slow parts before you upload. The free editing tools on most phones are enough.

What to do this week

Pick one question customers ask that a short video would answer better than words.
Film it on your phone, under two minutes, with the answer at the start.
Upload it to YouTube, fix the captions, and choose a clear thumbnail.
Embed it on the matching page with one line above and a short summary below.
Open the page on your phone, with the sound off, and watch it like a customer.

If your current site makes even a simple embed hard, you can see your site rebuilt first and drop the video into the editor yourself.