Adding video to your website is one of the most recommended things in digital marketing. But knowing that you should add video and knowing what video to add, for whom, and why are very different questions. Without a clear answer to the "why," even high-quality video content can sit on a website doing very little.
This guide walks through a practical framework for thinking about website video strategically. It draws on Marcus Sheridan's They Ask You Answer philosophy, which is built on a simple but powerful idea: create content that answers the actual questions your customers are asking, and you build the trust that drives conversions.
People remember stories, not statistics. And video is the best storytelling medium available to any business with a website.
Why Include Videos on Your Website?
The case for website video is well-supported by data. Video earns attention in a way text and images simply cannot match. It communicates complex ideas faster, builds emotional connection more readily, and keeps visitors on the page longer. Here is what the research consistently shows.
The numbers are compelling, but they only matter if the video itself is strategic. A video that exists without a clear purpose, audience, or goal contributes very little to these outcomes regardless of how well it is produced.
Defining Your Website Video Strategy
Before producing a single video, a strategy needs to be in place. That strategy should answer four questions.
Who is your audience and what do they need to know?
Understanding your audience goes deeper than demographics. It means knowing the questions they ask before buying, the concerns that make them hesitate, the language they use when describing their problem, and the platform they are on when they encounter your content. A video built around a specific viewer's specific question is always more effective than one built for a general audience.
What are your SMART goals?
Define what you want each video to achieve before production begins. Increasing website traffic by 20% within six months, reducing inbound sales questions by 30%, or improving landing page conversion rate by 15% are all SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Without a goal, you cannot evaluate whether a video is working.
Where does this video fit in the buyer's journey?
A visitor who has never heard of your brand needs a different video from someone who is comparing you against a competitor. Videos at the awareness stage should spark curiosity and establish relevance. At the consideration stage, they should build credibility and address objections. At the decision stage, they should resolve final hesitations and make taking action easy. Matching the video to the stage avoids the common mistake of producing great content for the wrong moment.
What questions are your customers actually asking?
This is the core of the They Ask You Answer philosophy. Identify the most common questions, concerns, and objections your customers raise throughout the buying process. Then create videos that answer those questions directly and transparently. This positions you as the most helpful and credible option in your space, which is a significant competitive advantage that most businesses leave on the table.
The Selling 7: What Website Videos to Create
Marcus Sheridan's Selling 7 framework identifies the seven types of video that most effectively move buyers through the decision-making process. Each type addresses a specific moment or question in the customer journey.
The 80% Video
Most customer queries fall into a predictable set of questions. The 80% video tackles the most common of these directly, functioning as a comprehensive FAQ in video form. By addressing the questions your sales team answers over and over, you build trust at scale and free up time that would otherwise go to repetitive conversations.
Bio Video
A bio video puts a face to the brand. It introduces team members, their personalities, and their expertise, humanising the business in a way that a headshot and a paragraph of copy rarely achieves. People buy from people they trust. A bio video is one of the most direct ways to build that trust before the first conversation.
Product and Service Fit Video
This video demonstrates how your offering solves a specific problem and fits into your customer's life or workflow. It focuses on benefits and outcomes rather than features, showing the product in context rather than simply describing it. With 91% of people watching an explainer video to learn about a product, this is one of the highest-value video assets a website can carry.
Landing Page Video
A landing page video is a digital elevator pitch. It grabs attention immediately, communicates the value proposition clearly, and guides the visitor toward a specific action before they have a reason to leave. A well-constructed landing page video can significantly lift conversion rates on high-traffic pages by doing in 60 seconds what a full page of copy might not.
Cost and Pricing Video
Pricing is one of the most-searched topics in any buyer's journey and one of the least-addressed topics in most businesses' content. A cost and pricing video tackles this directly, explaining the value behind your pricing structure, what influences cost, and what a realistic budget looks like. Transparency here builds trust faster than almost any other content type.
Customer Journey Video
A customer journey video features real clients describing their experience: the challenge they faced, how they found and evaluated the business, what the process was like, and what the outcome delivered. Because nine out of ten people trust other customers' assessments more than a brand's own claims, a well-produced customer journey video is one of the most conversion-effective assets on any website.
Claims We Make Video
When a business makes claims about what makes it different, better, or more reliable, those claims carry little weight without evidence. The claims video uses data, demonstrations, and expert or customer validation to back up your most important differentiators. It addresses the scepticism that every buyer brings to a purchasing decision and gives them a reason to believe what you are saying.
Planning and Production Essentials
Once you know which videos to create and why, the production process needs to deliver on that strategy. Four elements are foundational to every website video regardless of budget or format.
Scripting and Storyboarding
Every effective video starts with a clear script. Hook the viewer in the first few seconds with a question, a statistic, or a relatable problem. Build to the solution. End with a specific call to action. Once the script is solid, storyboard the visual sequence so the entire team is aligned before the camera turns on. This eliminates guesswork on the day and dramatically reduces editing time.
Budget and Production Level
Not every video needs the same investment. DIY tools and a smartphone can produce credible content for internal FAQ videos or casual social content. But videos on your homepage, service pages, or in sales conversations represent your brand at its most visible. For those, working with a professional production team is the right call. The production quality of those videos reflects directly on the perceived quality of your business.
Post-Production
Editing is where raw footage becomes a finished asset. Colour grading, pacing, captions, music, and sound mixing all shape how the video is received. For beginners, tools like Adobe Premiere Rush or iMovie are accessible entry points. For content that carries significant brand weight, professional post-production is worth the investment in the same way professional filming is.
Key Production Principles
Keep videos under two minutes unless the content genuinely earns a longer runtime. Prioritise authenticity over performance, and viewers can tell the difference. Use relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, and tags for SEO. Share every video across your social media, email campaigns, and any other channel where your audience is active. A video only generates value when people see it.
Measuring and Refining Your Video Strategy
Publishing a video is not the end of the process. The data it generates tells you what is working, what is not, and where to focus your next investment.
Views and Completion Rate
A high completion rate (70% or above) indicates the content is genuinely engaging. A high view count with a low completion rate means something is causing viewers to disengage. Find where they drop off and address the cause in future videos.
Click-Through Rate
Are viewers acting on the call to action after watching? CTR reveals whether the video is successfully converting attention into the next step. A compelling video with a weak CTA will underperform a simpler video with a strong one.
Engagement Metrics
Likes, shares, comments, and social engagement provide qualitative signal alongside the quantitative data. High engagement on a video with modest views often indicates content that resonates deeply with the right audience rather than a broad but shallow one.
Leads and Conversions
The ultimate metric for commercial video. Tracking which videos directly contribute to lead generation and sales conversions reveals which content is doing the most work in your buyer's journey and where additional investment would generate the highest return.
Beyond metrics, A/B testing specific elements (video length, thumbnail design, CTA phrasing) lets you systematically identify what resonates best with your specific audience. And audience feedback (comments, survey responses, direct questions during sales calls) provides context that data alone cannot. The most effective video strategies are built on both.
Ready to build a website video strategy that actually converts?
AM Visuals helps businesses plan, produce, and deploy website video that answers the right questions for the right audience at every stage of the buyer's journey.
Book a Free 15-Min CallQuestions about website video strategy
Not necessarily. Many effective videos are created with smartphones and basic editing software. Focus on clear audio, good lighting, and a compelling message. That said, videos in high-visibility positions (homepage, service pages, proposals) represent your brand at its most prominent. For those, professional production is usually the right investment.
Under two minutes is the general rule for homepage and brand videos. Detailed explainer or how-to content can run longer if it consistently delivers value throughout. The right length is the shortest one that says everything that needs to be said and nothing more. When in doubt, cut it shorter.
Consider reviewing and refreshing videos every few months, particularly when there are significant changes to your offerings, team, pricing, or industry context. Evergreen content can stay much longer. Time-sensitive content should be reviewed whenever the underlying information changes. Out-of-date video is worse than no video on most pages.
Absolutely. Clips from longer website videos can be cut into social media posts. Full videos can be included in email campaigns, linked in proposals, and repurposed across multiple channels. Building a repurposing strategy into your production plan from the start maximises the return on every shoot.
They Ask You Answer, developed by Marcus Sheridan, is a content philosophy built around answering the actual questions your customers ask. Applied to video, it means creating content that addresses the most common concerns, pricing questions, comparisons, and objections your audience has before they have to ask. This builds trust and positions your brand as the most helpful and transparent option in your space.
