What Are How-To Videos? (15 Great Examples And Best Practices)

When someone searches for help resetting a password, using a feature, folding a fitted sheet, or parallel parking, they usually want to see the process. A how to video turns that process into something viewers can watch, pause, and repeat at their own pace.

For businesses, the format can do more than teach a task. It can answer recurring customer questions, support onboarding, explain product features, and create searchable content that keeps working after it is published. One clear tutorial can save a customer from opening a support ticket and save your team from explaining the same process again.

In this guide, I’ll break down what a how to video is, when it makes sense for a business, 15 how to video examples worth studying, and the six steps to plan and produce one.

What Is a How to Video?

A how to video is an instructional video that shows viewers how to complete a task or reach a specific result. The explanation usually follows the task in order, with each action shown on screen as the viewer moves from the starting point to the finished result.

The subject can be almost anything, from resetting a password to cooking a complicated recipe. What matters is that the viewer can see what to do, when to do it, and what the result should look like.

Businesses often use how to videos for product education, customer support, training, and onboarding. A software company might show how to configure a feature, while a physical product brand might demonstrate setup, maintenance, or troubleshooting. These videos can also sit inside a broader training video production program or a library of corporate videos.

Benefits of How to Videos for Businesses

A useful tutorial solves a real problem for the viewer. That makes how to videos especially valuable when a business has products, services, or processes that people need to understand before or after a purchase.

• Answer recurring questions. A tutorial can handle common setup, usage, and troubleshooting questions before they become support requests.
• Show the product in context. Viewers can see how a feature works or how a physical product fits into a real task instead of relying only on a written description.
• Create searchable educational content. People often search YouTube and Google with a specific problem in mind. A video built around that problem can keep attracting viewers long after publication.
• Support sales and onboarding. Sales teams can send a tutorial when a prospect needs a clearer explanation, while customer teams can reuse the same video during onboarding.
• Demonstrate expertise. Teaching something useful gives viewers a chance to judge your knowledge from the explanation itself.

How to Video Ideas for Your Business

The easiest place to find tutorial topics is often inside the questions your customers already ask. Product teams, salespeople, support staff, and account managers usually know which steps cause confusion and which features need the most explanation.

Common how to video ideas include:

• How to use a product or feature
• How to set up or install something
• How to solve a common problem
• How to complete a specific task
• How to get better results from a product or service

For a physical product, you might create videos on how to use it, clean it, assemble it, or solve a common issue. A software company could cover account setup, feature configuration, integrations, or common workflows. A financial service might explain how to create a monthly budget or prepare information before a consultation.

Search data can help too. Type a recurring customer question into YouTube and look at the suggested searches. Those suggestions often reveal the exact language people use when they need help.

15 Best How to Video Examples on YouTube

The examples below use very different production styles, but each one makes the task easier to follow. I would pay particular attention to how they handle pacing, visuals, narration, and the amount of information included in each step.

1. Catan
2. Slack
3. Reef Knots
4. Linen House
5. Apartment Therapy
6. Joshua Weissman
7. Zed Driving School
8. Bon Appétit
9. qkatie
10. Adobe Photoshop
11. Yum Yum Videos
12. Tasty
13. Howfinity
14. TheMakeupChair
15. watchwellcast

1. How to Play Catan

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Board game rules are a good test for instructional video because several actions, conditions, and exceptions have to make sense before the viewer can play. This Catan example uses animation to show those relationships instead of relying on someone talking through the rulebook. The viewer sees the board, pieces, and actions while the explanation happens.

That is a useful lesson for any subject with moving parts. If a process is difficult to understand in words alone, animation can show what changes from one step to the next. An animated video company can be especially useful when the task involves abstract information, hidden processes, or situations that are difficult to film.

2. How to Use Slack

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This Slack tutorial covers the basics in under 90 seconds. It does not try to teach the entire platform. Instead, it gives a new user enough information to understand the interface and start using the product.

That scope is important. A short tutorial works best when it has one clear job. If a product needs a deeper walkthrough, split the material into a series so viewers can find the specific feature they need without sitting through unrelated instructions.

3. How to Tie a Tie

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Reef Knots opens the tutorial inside its store before moving into the demonstration. That small choice gives the viewer brand context without interrupting the lesson or turning the video into a commercial.

If you sell a physical product, the setting can do some of the marketing work quietly. A store, workshop, kitchen, lab, or office can show where the product comes from while the tutorial stays focused on the task.

4. How to Fold a Fitted Sheet

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This video works without voice over. Short text instructions appear while the hands demonstrate each fold, so the viewer can understand the process with the sound off.

That makes it a useful example for simple physical tasks. Narration is helpful when it adds context, but you do not need to explain something verbally if the action is already clear on screen.

5. How to Pack a Suitcase

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Apartment Therapy goes beyond the mechanics of packing and adds advice about what is worth bringing. That extra layer makes the video more useful without changing the main task.

The same idea works for business tutorials. Once the required steps are clear, add the tip that saves time, prevents a common mistake, or helps the viewer get a better result. Those details are often what make one tutorial more useful than another.

6. How to Cook a Perfect Steak

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Joshua Weissman brings professional kitchen experience into a task many viewers already know. The value is not just seeing how to cook steak. It is hearing the small choices that an experienced chef makes during the process.

If your team knows shortcuts, checks, or common mistakes that beginners usually miss, include them. A tutorial becomes more useful when it contains knowledge the viewer would not get from reading the basic steps.

7. How to Parallel Park

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Parallel parking depends on position, distance, steering angle, and timing. Animation makes those spatial relationships easier to see than a camera placed inside a car could.

That is where animation earns its place in a tutorial. It can show hidden mechanisms, simplify a crowded scene, isolate one variable, or give the viewer a viewpoint that would be difficult to capture with live action.

8. How to Make 29 Handmade Pasta Shapes

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This Bon Appétit tutorial runs for almost half an hour, which makes sense because the promise is unusually broad: 29 different pasta shapes. Cutting it down to a few minutes would remove the detail the viewer came for.

Video length should follow the task. A 60 second setup guide and a 30 minute craft tutorial can both work if the viewer understands the promise and every section helps deliver it.

9. How to Use a Bidet

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This example uses humor around a subject that some viewers may find awkward. The joke is serving the explanation by reducing tension, rather than interrupting the instructions.

Humor can work in a tutorial when it fits the brand and the subject, but the task still has to remain clear. If the viewer remembers the joke and misses the step, it has gone too far.

10. How to Change Color in Photoshop

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This video is from Adobe’s Photoshop for Beginners series, which Adobe updates regularly. A series is a natural fit for software because each feature can have its own tutorial and viewers can move through the playlist as their skills grow.

The presenter also stays visible alongside the screen recording. That gives the tutorial a human presence while the interface remains large enough to follow.

11. How to Make a Promo Video

We made this tutorial to break a promo video into practical decisions: what the opening needs to do, how to frame the problem, and how to show the product as part of the solution. The video uses the same principle it teaches by keeping the explanation visual and moving quickly from one decision to the next.

For a business tutorial, that is often more useful than listing features. Show the viewer what decision to make, what action follows, and what a good result looks like.

12. How to Make the Best Birthday Cake

This cake tutorial is easy to follow because the structure mirrors the real process. Preparation comes first, then the recipe moves through each stage until the finished cake appears on screen.

That sounds obvious, but instructional videos often become confusing when the script groups information by topic instead of by the order in which the viewer needs it. When possible, let the structure of the task determine the structure of the video.

13. How to Use Grammarly

This Grammarly tutorial uses screen recording to show the software while the instructions are happening. Viewers see where to click, what changes on screen, and how the tool reacts.

For software tutorials, screen recording is usually the clearest starting point. Zoom or crop the interface when necessary so the viewer does not have to search the entire screen for the button or field being discussed.

14. How to Apply Eyeshadow

Makeup tutorials depend on visual detail. This example keeps the camera close enough for viewers to see placement and technique while the pacing leaves time to follow each action.

The production lesson applies beyond beauty content. When a task depends on small movements or visual differences, choose framing that shows those details clearly instead of trying to compensate with more narration.

15. How to Manage Your Time Better

Time management is harder to film than a physical task because many of the ideas are abstract. This video uses animated characters and visual metaphors to give those ideas something the viewer can see.

Animation is useful in a how to video when the process involves concepts, systems, or information that a camera cannot show directly. The goal is not to decorate the explanation. It is to make the next idea easier to understand.

How to Make a How to Video in 6 Steps

A useful how to video usually starts with six decisions: who needs help, what task you are teaching, what the viewer needs to hear, what they need to see, what should be removed in the edit, and where the finished video should live.

1. Research Your Audience

Start with the person who needs the tutorial. What are they trying to do, what do they already know, and where do they usually get stuck? Support tickets, sales calls, onboarding questions, search queries, and product feedback can all reveal good topics.

The answer also affects distribution. A customer looking for troubleshooting help may find the video through Google or a help center, while a prospect learning a new skill may discover it on YouTube.

2. Choose One Task

Give each tutorial one clear job. A video called How to Set Up Your Account is easier to follow than a long walkthrough that tries to cover setup, billing, integrations, reporting, and troubleshooting at once.

If the product needs more explanation, turn the material into a series and link related tutorials together.

3. Write the Script Around the Steps

List every action the viewer needs to complete, including the small steps your team may take for granted. Then write the narration around that sequence.

A script also helps you identify what must appear on screen. If the narration says click Settings, the viewer should be able to see Settings at that moment.

4. Record the Right Visuals

Choose the visual method that matches the task. Use screen recording for software, live action for physical demonstrations, and animation when the process is abstract, hidden, or difficult to film. Some tutorials combine all three.

If a presenter does not need to appear on camera, a professional voice over can guide the viewer while the demonstration stays on screen.

5. Edit for Clarity

Remove pauses, repeated actions, background noise, and shots that do not help the viewer complete the task. Add labels, captions, close ups, or simple graphics where the action needs more explanation.

Build the thumbnail and opening around the exact task the video solves. A viewer searching for help should understand what the tutorial covers before pressing play.

6. Publish It Where People Need It

YouTube is an obvious home for how to videos because people actively search there for tutorials. The same video can also live in a help center, product page, onboarding email, blog post, or support conversation.

Think about distribution before production is finished. A tutorial made for a mobile help center may need different framing and length from one built primarily for YouTube search.

How to Video Best Practices

• Write a specific title. Describe the task in the language viewers are likely to search. A title such as How to Change Your Account Password is clearer than Account Settings Tips.
• Prioritize clear audio and usable visuals. Viewers need to hear the instruction and see the action. An inexpensive microphone and basic lighting can be enough if the demonstration is easy to follow.
• Show every important action. Do not make the viewer infer where to click, what to move, or what the finished step should look like.
• Add captions. Captions help viewers follow the video without sound and make spoken instructions easier to review.
• Create a custom thumbnail. Show the subject clearly and make the task recognizable at a glance.
• Optimize for YouTube search. Use relevant language in the title and description, especially the wording people use when searching for the task. YouTube SEO helps most when the metadata accurately describes the video rather than repeating keywords unnaturally.

FAQ About How to Videos

1. What Is the Purpose of a How to Video?

The purpose of a how to video is to teach a viewer how to complete a task, use a product, solve a problem, or reach a specific result. The best tutorials make the sequence visible so viewers can follow the process while they watch.

2. What Makes a Good How to Video?

A good how to video is specific, complete, and easy to follow. The viewer should always know what to do next.

1. Keep the scope focused. Cover one task well instead of several unrelated tasks at once.
2. Use plain language. Technical terms are fine when the audience knows them, but explain anything that could block a beginner.
3. Include every necessary step. Small skipped actions are often where viewers get stuck.
4. Make the instruction easy to hear and read. Use clean audio, captions, and readable on screen text.
5. Show the action. Frame the screen, product, or demonstration so the viewer can see exactly what changes at each step.

3. How Do I Make a How to Video?

For most tutorials, the process can be reduced to six steps:

1. Research the audience and the problem.
2. Choose one task for the video.
3. Write the script in the order the task happens.
4. Record the demonstration, screen, presenter, or animation.
5. Edit for clarity and add captions or labels where needed.
6. Publish the video where viewers are most likely to search for help.

A Good How to Video Starts With One Clear Task

The strongest examples in this list share a simple trait: the viewer always knows what to do next. The production style can change completely from one tutorial to another, but the task, sequence, and visuals stay aligned.

Before recording, write the task in one sentence and list every action required to complete it. Then decide what the viewer needs to see for each step. If live footage makes that difficult, use screen recording, close ups, graphics, or animation. That planning work usually has more impact on clarity than adding more production after the fact.

If you need help turning a complex product, process, or training topic into a clear video, contact us and tell us what the viewer needs to understand or do after watching.