How to add a short video to your agency website: a guide with examples

A short video on your website can show how you work in the time it takes to read a few paragraphs. It only helps when it has one clear job and a script built around that job. This guide covers choosing the job, writing the script, planning the seconds and placing the video on the page, with two worked examples you can copy.

Start with one job for the video

Before you plan any scenes, decide what the video must do for a visitor. Pick one job:

• Explain one service in plain words.
• Show how a project runs from the first call to delivery.
• Welcome a new client and say what happens next.
• Answer a question that keeps coming up on sales calls.

A video with two jobs usually does neither well. If you want to explain a service and welcome new clients, make two videos. Each one can be short, and each one can sit on the page where its job belongs.

Then pick the page. A video that explains a service belongs on that service page. A welcome video fits as one step in your client onboarding checklist. A video that answers common questions can sit beside the questions you already ask in a discovery call.

Write the script in five parts

Short videos are easier to finish when the script has a fixed shape. Use five parts:

1. Hook: one sentence that names the visitor's problem.
2. Step one: the first thing you do about it.
3. Step two: the second thing you do.
4. Step three: the result the visitor gets.
5. Next step: one action, such as booking a call.

For each part, write the words on screen and the words you will say, and give the part a number of seconds. Planning the seconds first keeps the video short, because you can see at once when a scene is too long.

To turn seconds into words, choose a speaking pace and keep to it. Say you speak at about two words per second. This is an assumption for the examples below, so read your own script aloud with a timer to find your real pace. At two words per second, 30 seconds holds 60 words.

Worked example: a 30-second "how we work" video

Say a five-person web agency wants a video for its services page. The job is to show a new visitor how a project runs. This is a made-up example to show the method.

• Hook: 4 seconds, room for 8 words. "Not sure what happens after you hire us?"
• Step one: 7 seconds, room for 14 words. "First, we have a call to understand your goals and your budget."
• Step two: 8 seconds, room for 16 words. "Next, we agree the scope and the price in writing, so nothing is a surprise."
• Step three: 7 seconds, room for 14 words. "Then we build, show you progress and hand over the finished work."
• Next step: 4 seconds, room for 8 words. "Book a call and we will plan yours."

Check the totals. The seconds add up to 4 + 7 + 8 + 7 + 4 = 30. The word room adds up to 8 + 14 + 16 + 14 + 8 = 60, which matches 30 seconds at two words per second. If a line runs longer than its room, cut words from the line. Do not speed up your voice.

Worked example: a 20-second service explainer

Say a small bookkeeping practice wants to explain one monthly service. This is also a made-up example. With only 20 seconds, merge steps one and two into a single part, so there are four parts.

• The problem: 4 seconds, 8 words. "Receipts pile up and month end gets stressful."
• What we do: 6 seconds, 12 words. "We collect your receipts, record them and reconcile your accounts each month."
• What you get: 6 seconds, 12 words. "You get a clear report every month and time back for your own work."
• Next step: 4 seconds, 8 words. "Ask for a free first month review."

The seconds add up to 4 + 6 + 6 + 4 = 20. The words add up to 8 + 12 + 12 + 8 = 40, which is 20 seconds at two words per second. Offer only what you can really provide in the last line.

Make it work without sound and on a small screen

Some visitors will watch with the sound off, and some will watch on a phone. Plan for both from the start.

• Put the main words of each scene on screen as short text, large enough to read on a phone.
• Show one idea per scene. If a scene needs a long sentence, split it.
• When you show a screen recording, zoom in on the part that matters. A full screen of small text is unreadable on a phone.
• Add captions, or write a short text version of the script below the video.

Watch the finished video once on a phone with the sound off. If you can still follow it, the on-screen text is doing its job.

Pick a thumbnail that shows the topic

The thumbnail is the picture people see before they press play, so it should tell them what the video is about. Pick a clear frame that shows the topic: the title line, or the main screen from the video.

Avoid a frame from the middle of an animation, a blank frame, or a frame that already contains player buttons or a progress bar. If your page adds its own play button, do not draw another one on the picture. Use the same look for every thumbnail on your site, so the videos read as one set.

Place the video and help search engines read it

Put the video near the top of the page it explains, below the main heading. One video per page is easier to follow than several. Under the video, write two or three sentences that say what it shows, so that search engines, and readers who skip videos, can read the same message.

Keep the page quick. Set the video to show its thumbnail first and to load only when someone presses play. Use the MP4 format, which most browsers can play, and compress the file before you upload it.

If your site builder or developer can add video structured data, use the VideoObject type from schema.org. Fill in the title, a short description, the thumbnail address, the video file address, the duration and the upload date. Write the upload date with a time and a time zone, for example 2026-10-13T00:00:00+00:00.

Google Search Console has a video report. It lists the videos Google found and gives a reason when it did not index one. A reason such as "Video isn't on a watch page" means the video sits on a page that is mostly about something else. That is normal for a short explainer on a service page. If you want a video to appear as its own search result, give it a page where the video is the main content.

Checklist before you publish

• The video has one job, stated in one sentence.
• The script has five parts, with seconds and a word budget for each part.
• The total length is short, and you can say why each scene is there.
• The main words are on screen and readable with the sound off.
• The thumbnail is clear and has no player buttons in it.
• The video sits on the page it explains, with two or three sentences of text near it.
• The file is compressed and loads only when someone presses play.
• The title, description, thumbnail, duration and upload date are filled in.
• You watched it once on a phone.

Next step

Choose one page on your site and one job for a video. Write the five-part script on paper, with the seconds for each part, before you open any video tool. When the script fits the time, record it.