Day: June 7, 2020

Software development is the term used for the process of creating software or applications in computer coded and specific programming language. It is a process of developing software by writing maintainable code. Software development means creating, planning, reusing, research and development, making things simple, broader usage, etc. Web development is the term used for the process of creating web applications or websites that needs to get hosted. Web development means developing a complex web-based application as well as the development of simple and single-page applications. Web development mainly is done as client-side scripting, Server-side scripting, and database scripting.

Software Development

• Software development gives the product with features that have been planned and required for the computer software. Software development mainly referred to as a desktop application. While developing software, developers should have specific knowledge of client requirements, programming language, and end user’s usage.
• Software development based on the software development life cycle (SDLC).SDLC consists of many phases or stages that are: 1. Requirement Analysis and Planning. 2. Requirement defining. 3. Designing Requirements. 4. The building of Application or Coding 5. Testing of Application 5. Implementation. 6. Deployment and Maintenance.
• Software Development follows different methodologies for building the software or for a development process that are Waterfall model, Iterative model, Spiral Model, Agile methodology, prototype model, rapid application development, DevOps, etc.

Web Development

• The web development includes other work also like content management, web designing, security, etc. The engineers who develop web applications referred to as a web developer, full-stack web developer, front-end developer, UI developer, back-end developer.
• Web development based on the web development life cycle which is similar to SDLC only. In this, the phases are 1. Requirement gathering (Purpose, Goal, and audience) 2. Planning (Workflow creation) 3. Designing (Site page designing) 4. Content Management or writing 5. Coding (building website) 6. Testing 7. Deployment, hosting, and maintainability.
• Web development also follows different methodologies to build or develop applications like Agile methodology. The process of breaking big tasks into small and checking the continuous progress from beginning to end to design the web application that is web development.

Head to Head Comparisons Between Software Development and Web Development (Infographics)

Below is the Top 8 Comparisons between Software Development and Web Development:

Key Differences between Software Development and Web Development

Below are the lists of points, describe the key differences between Software Development and Web Development:

1. Software developed applications mainly perform better in gaming, file-handling. Web developed applications perform better in data centralization or multi-user.
2. The key difference between the both Software Development and Web Development is a change of Interface.
3. In software development applications, customisation has limitations. Web developed applications have a wider range of customisation.
4. In software development, screens are developed with static content. In web development, static pages as well as dynamic web content can be managed.
5. Software developed applications can be used in specific machine in which it has been installed. Web developed application can be accessed from any system as it has been deployed to server and easily accessible with help of domain.
6. Software developed application does not need more security. Web developed application requires more security from virus, malware and data hackers.
7. Software developed applications are not stateless. Web developed applications are mainly stateless.
8. In software development, there are certain limitations on using technologies

Software Development and Web Development Comparison Table

Following are the list of points that shows the comparison between Software Development and Web Development.

BASIS FOR COMPARISON	Software Development	Web Development
Architecture	Software developed applications are client based only.	Web developed applications are client-server based.
Designing	Software design is generally simple and straight.	Web design is mostly graphic design of web content.
Programming	In Software development, coding can be done without script language.	In web development, scripting is mainly used for developing apps.
Hosting	Developed software does not require to host.	Web Application needs to get hosted via internet or intranet.
Robust	Software applications mostly robust.	Web developed applications are not much robust.
Applications	Software developed application mainly refers to a desktop application.	Web developed application refers to web application or websites.
Platform	In Software development, Applications are developed for the specific platform.	In web development, web applications developed for cross-platform.
	Software applications are mainly static.	Web applications mainly developed with dynamic pages.

 Conclusion

Software development and Web development both are used for developing applications. Software development means developing windows based application and Web development means developing web-based applications. Software development and Web development has used a standard set of rules for software and web designing to create applications more secure, reliable and with better performance.

Web development vs Software development is using different methodologies to check or keep the track of the progress of development of software and web application. In software development, the main focus is on logic written for the screen rather than UI, data loading to controls. In web development, front-end development is the topmost priority as to make the web application more attractive or interesting.

Web development can be considered as lightweight programming as it gives the ready result even with the small change. It is a process of creating a full fledge or featured application rather than just web designing only. Web applications can be used in mobile browsers or computer browser. Some web apps are similar to software only like executing logic on button click or on an event occurring by displaying the feasible results.

Web development is more in demand in a market with continuously increasing use of Internet and availability of resources at every place through mobile and personal laptops. With help of mobile, we can easily access the Internet and use the web applications anywhere in the world through Internet connectivity. In our daily routine, we are using social media sites, e-commerce sites for selling and buying products, traveling sites to book tickets; which are having user-friendly interfaces, security features like validating login and reliability.

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Answers to commonly asked questions from the experts on Thumbtack.

Why should you hire a web designer?

Your website is often the first thing your customers see when they’re searching for a business or service on the web. As the face of your organization, your website needs to be attractive and functional, offering the latest features that users now expect. To plan and design a site that both reflects your company’s mission and values and appeals to customers takes a professional web designer. While free online services can help people set up websites, web designers can provide a unique solution made specifically to meet customers’ personal or business needs.

Most web designers offer a wide variety of services to make your website aesthetically pleasing and easy to use. Modern web design must be mobile-friendly and scalable, capable of expanding to include a blog, social media sites, and even video streaming; web designers are experts at integrating various web technologies. They can build the site, add functionality, test it, launch it on a live server, and track and maintain its performance.

In addition to web design and graphic design, some web design providers also offer development and security services, including search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing and management, logo design, site maintenance, domain registration and hosting, protection against malware, and digital marketing and content services.

What do you look for in a web design company?

The web design company you choose must be able to interpret your company’s mission and identity and turn it into an appealing website that connects with potential customers. They must help you reach your target audience and meet your business goals. A web design agency should have on staff both talented web designers, with fresh ideas and extensive technical and creative skills, and a marketing team that knows how to drive traffic to your site, encourage visitor engagement, and convert visitors into customers. Web designers should be able to build in search optimization and integrate your site with a content management system and e-commerce tools. Look, too, for a website design company that understands responsive design and can optimize your website for mobile devices and desktop browsers. The right web design company understand current design and website trends, has experience building sites in a variety of industries (not just yours), and has an expansive portfolio of live websites. Finally, don’t simply hire the cheapest bidder — in web design, as in all things, you get what you pay for.

How do you hire a web designer?

You’ve determined that the best way to create a professional, modern, mobile-friendly new website is to hire a professional web designer to build it. To hire the best person for the job — and to get the web design that best fits your company’s identity — it’s important to ask a few key questions:

• What’s the scope of the work? Will the website be basic with just a few pages about your company, its services, and contact information? Or will it also have an e-commerce section for online shopping, a blog, or content for visitors to download? Before you hire a web designer, make sure you have a thorough, specific list of the components you must have the designer include in the web design.
• What do you want your website to look like? Consider websites that are similar to the one you’d like to build, ideally in the same industry or serving similar types of customers. Build a set of examples of types of pages, design aspects, and website features that you can hand off to the web designer — the person you hire should have experience creating websites with the features you want. If they don’t have the right skill set, they’re not the right pro for you.
• What’s the web designer’s start-to-finish process? What will the final deliverable be? Before you hire someone, make sure their availability works with your timeline and that their process meets your expectations. Most important is finding a web designer who will work collaboratively with you to create a successful online presence.

What should you look for in a website designer?

A professional web designer creates the look and feel of your website, collaborating with you to choose colors, creating logos and other branding materials, establishing page layouts, and creating sample pages. An important part of web design is making sure the site is functional, meets your goals, and is easy for users to navigate. When you’re looking to hire a web designer, start by reviewing the person’s portfolio. Look for samples of work that match what you envision for your website, including experience building the types of pages or features you want. Make sure the web designer is familiar with your industry and understands both industry trends and web design trends — an old-fashioned or out-of-touch site will turn customers away rather than intrigue them.

Because web designers tend to work as freelancers on a project basis, they must be excellent communicators, willing to manage their own work, and available on your schedule. Some critical skills, such as working collaboratively and responding enthusiastically to feedback, aren’t core to good web design, but make working with a web designer much easier. Finally, look for a web designer who has cross-functional knowledge, such as understanding marketing and conversion rate optimization in addition to web design.

How much do web designers charge?

The average cost for hiring a web designer varies greatly depending on the scope of the work, which may range from building a site from scratch to rebranding an existing one, as well as the amount of content and graphics the designer will create. In general, the more complex the project, the more time the design agency will have to spend. Because web designers often work on an hourly basis, the longer the project, the higher the costs; you can count on the web designer spending at minimum 10 hours to create a very basic website with just a handful of pages with few elements. Prices also depend on the designer’s skill set, the process, and the company’s rates. In general, the national average cost for a basic website package starts at $500, but a customized website can cost as much as $2,000 or more. Here are typical average hourly rates, broken out by the complexity of the work:

• Basic layout and user interface: $15-$40 per hour
• Content management system design: $20-$50 per hour
• Custom website design with custom code: $45-$75 per hour

Source

Web design is tricky. One has to take a lot of things into account when designing a website, from visual appearance (how the website looks) to functional design (how the website works). To simplify the task, we’ve prepared this guide.

In this article, we’ll focus on the main principles, heuristics, and approaches that will help you to create a great user experience for your website. We’ll start with global things, like the user journey (how to define the “skeleton” of the website) and then work down to the individual page (what should be considered during web page design). We’ll also cover other essential aspects of design, such as mobile considerations and testing.

Designing the user journey

Information architecture

People often use the term “information architecture” (IA) to mean the menus on a website. But that’s not correct. While menus are a part of IA, they are only one aspect of it.

IA is all about the organization of information in a clear and logical way. Such organization follows a clear purpose: helping users to navigate a complex set of information. Good IA creates a hierarchy that aligns with user’s expectations. But good hierarchy and intuitive navigation don’t happen by chance. They are a result of proper user research and testing.

There are a number of ways to research user needs. Often, an information architect will take an active part in user interviews or card sorting, where the architect would hear of user expectations directly or see how prospective users would categorize a variety of information groups. Information architects also need access to the results of usability tests to see whether users are able to navigate efficiently.

Card sorting is a simple way to figure out how best to group and organize content based on user input. One of the reasons why information architects like card sorting is because of the clarity of patterns that typically emerges. Image Source: FosterMilo)

A menu structure would be created based on the results of user interviews, and card sorting would be tested for whether it satisfies the user’s mental model. UX researchers use a technique called “tree testing” to prove that it will work. This happens before designing the actual interface.

Tree testing is a reliable method of finding whether users can work with the proposed menu structure. Image Source: Nielsen Norman Group

Global navigation

Navigation is a cornerstone of usability. It doesn’t matter how good your website is if users can’t find their way around it. That’s why navigation on your website should adhere to a few principles:

• Simplicity. Navigation should be designed in a way that gets visitors where they want to go with the fewest clicks possible.
• Clarity. There shouldn’t be any guessing about what each navigation option means. Every navigation option should be self-evident to visitors.
• Consistency. The navigation system should be the same for all pages on the website.

Consider a few things when designing navigation:

• Select a navigation pattern based on the user’s needs. Navigation should accommodate the needs of the majority of your website’s users. A given target group expects a particular type of interaction with your website, so make these expectations work in your favor. For example, avoid hamburger-menu navigation if the majority of your users aren’t familiar with the meaning of the icon itself.
• Prioritize navigation options. One simple way to prioritize navigation options is to assign different priority levels (high, medium, low) to common user tasks, and then give prominence in the layout to paths and destinations with high priority levels and frequent use.
• Make it visible. As Jakob Nielsen says, recognizing something is easier than remembering it. Minimize the user’s memory load by making all important navigation options permanently visible. The most important navigation options should be available at all times, not just when we anticipate that the user will need them.
• Communicate the current location. “Where am I?” is a fundamental question to which users need an answer in order to effectively navigate. Failing to indicate the current location is a common problem on many websites. Think about location indicators.

Links and navigation options

Links and navigation options are key factors in the navigation process and have a direct effect on the user journey. Follow a few rules with these interactive elements:

• Recognize the difference between internal and external links. Users expect different behavior for internal and external links. All internal links should open in the same tab (this way, you’ll allow users to use the “Back” button). If you decide to open external links in a new window, you should provide an advance warning before automatically opening a new window or tab. This might take the form of text added to the link text stating, for example, “(opens in a new window).”
• Change the color of visited links. When visited links don’t change color, users could unintentionally revisit the same pages.

Knowing which pages they’ve visited keeps the user from unintentionally revisiting the same pages.

• Double-check all links. A user can easily get frustrated by clicking a link and getting a  404 error page in response. When a visitor is searching for content, they expect every link to take them where it says it will, not to a 404 error page or another place they weren’t expecting.

“Back” button in browser

The “Back” button is perhaps the second-most popular UI control in the browser (after the URL input field). Make sure the “back” button works according to user expectations. When a user follows a link on a page and then clicks the “back” button, they expect to return to the same spot on the original page. Avoid situations in which clicking “back” brings the user to the top of the initial page, instead of where they left off, especially on pages. Losing their spot forces the user to scroll through content they have already seen. It’s no surprise that users get frustrated quickly with no proper “back-to-position” functionality.

Breadcrumbs

Breadcrumbs are a set of contextual links that function as a navigation aid on websites. It’s a secondary navigation scheme that usually shows the user’s location on a website.

While this element doesn’t require a lot of explanation, a few things are worth mentioning:

• Don’t use breadcrumbs as a substitute for primary navigation. The main navigation should be the element that leads the user, whereas breadcrumbs should only support the user. Relying on breadcrumbs as a primary method of navigation, rather than an extra feature, is usually an indication of poor navigation design.
• Use arrowheads, not slashes, as separators. Separate each level clearly. A greater-than sign (>) or right-pointing arrow (→) is recommended, because these symbols signal direction. A forward slash (/) isn’t recommended as a separator for e- commerce websites. If you’re going to use it, be certain that no product category will ever use a slash:

Distinguishing between different levels of this breadcrumb trail is hard.

Search

Some users come to a website looking for one particular item. They don’t want to use the navigation options. They want to type text in a search box, submit their search query, and find the page they’re looking for.

Take these few basic rules into account when designing the search box:

• Put the search box where users expect to find it. The chart below was created based on a study by A. Dawn Shaikh and Keisi Lenz. It shows the expected location of the search field, according to a survey of 142 participants. The study found that the most convenient spot is the top left or top right of every page on a website. Users can easily find it using the common “F-shaped scanning pattern.”

• Display search prominently on content-rich websites. If search is an important function on your website, display it prominently, because it can be the fastest route to discovery for users.
• Size the input box appropriately. Making the input field too short is a common mistake among designers. Of course, users can type a long query into a short field, but only a portion of the text will be visible, which is bad for usability because seeing the entire query at once won’t be possible. In fact, when a search box is too short, users are forced to use short, imprecise queries, because longer queries would be hard and inconvenient to read. Nielsen Norman Group recommends a 27-character input field, which would accommodate 90 percent of queries.

• Put the search box on every page. Show the search box on every page, because if users cannot navigate to the content they are looking for, they will try to use search regardless of where they are on the website.

Designing individual pages

Content strategy

Perhaps the most important thing about content strategy is to focus the design on page objectives. Understand the goal of the page and write content according to the goal.

Here are a few practical tips to improve content comprehension:

• Prevent information overload. Information overload is a serious problem. It prevents users from making decisions or taking action because they feel they have too much information to consume. There are some simple ways to minimize information overload. One common technique is chunking — breaking content into smaller chunks to help users understand and process it better. A checkout form is a perfect example. Display, at most, five to seven input fields at a time and break down the checkout into pages — progressively disclosing fields as necessary.

Image Source: Witteia

• Avoid jargon and industry-specific terms. Each unknown term or phrase that appears on the page will increase the cognitive load on users. A safe bet is to write for all levels of readers and pick words that are clearly and easily understandable to all groups of users.
• Minimize long content sections that have a lot of detail. In line with the point about information overload, try to avoid long blocks of text if the website isn’t geared to major information consumption. For example, if you need to provide details about a service or product, try to reveal details step- by- step. Write in small, scannable segments to facilitate discovery. According to Robert Gunning’s book “How to Take the Fog Out of Business Writing,” for comfortable reading, most sentences should be 20 words or less.

Image Source: The Daily Rind

• Avoid capitalizing all letters. All-caps text — that is, text with all letters cap­i­tal­ized — is fine in tiny doses, such as for acronyms and logos. However, avoid all caps for anything longer (such as paragraphs, form labels, errors, and notifications). As mentioned by Miles Tinker in his book Legibility of Print, all caps dramatically reduces the speed of reading. Also, most readers find all capitals to be less legible.

Text in all caps is hard for users to read.

Page structure

A properly-structured page makes it clear where each user interface element is located in the layout. While there are no one-size-fits-all rules, there are a few guidelines that will help you create a solid structure:

• Make the structure predictable. Align your design to user expectations. Consider websites from a similar category to find out which elements to use on the page and where. Use patterns that your target audience is familiar with.
• Use a layout grid. A layout grid divides a page into major regions, and defines the relationships between elements in terms of size and position. With the help of a grid, combining different parts of a page together in a cohesive layout becomes much easier.

Grids and layout systems are part of the heritage of design and are still relevant in a multi-screen world. Adobe XD’s layout grids enable designers to achieve consistent, organized designs for different screen sizes and to manage the proportionsbetween elements by customizing the grids.

• Use a low-fidelity wireframe to cut out clutter. Clutter overloads an interface and reduces comprehension. Every added button, image and line of text makes the screen more complicated. Before building the page with real elements, create a wireframe, analyze it, and get rid of anything that isn’t absolutely necessary.

A low-fidelity wireframe created in Adobe XD. Image Source: Tim Hykes

Visual hierarchy

People are more likely to quickly scan a web page than to read everything there. Therefore, if a visitor wants to find content or complete a task, they are going to scan until they find where they need to go. You, as a designer, can help them with that by designing a good visual hierarchy. Visual hierarchy refers to the arrangement or presentation of elements in a way that indicates importance (that is, where visitor’s eyes should focus first, second, etc.). A proper visual hierarchy makes it easy to scan the page.

• Use natural scanning patterns. As designers, we have a lot of control over where people look when they’re viewing a page. To set the right path for the visitor’s eyes to follow, we can use two natural scanning patterns: the F-shaped pattern and the Z-shaped pattern. For text-heavy pages, such as articles and search results, the F pattern is better, whereas the Z pattern is good for pages that aren’t text-oriented.

An F-shaped pattern is used by CNN. A Z-scanning pattern is used by Basecamp.

• Visually prioritize important elements. Make focal points of screen titles, login forms, navigation options, and other important content so that visitors see them right away.

The “Learn More About Brains” call to action stands out.

• Create mockups to clarify the visual hierarchy. Mockups enable designers to see what a layout will look like when it’ll have real data. Rearranging elements in a mockup is much easier than doing it when the developer is building the web page.

Scrolling behavior

A persistent myth among web designers is that people don’t scroll. To be clear: Today, everybody scrolls!

Improving scrolling behavior is possible with a few tips:

• Encourage users to scroll. Despite the fact that people usually start scrolling as soon as the page loads, content at the top of the page is still very important. What appears at the top sets the impression and expectation of quality for visitors. People do scroll, but only if what’s above the fold is promising enough. Thus, put your most compelling content at the top of the page:
  • Offer a good introduction. An excellent introduction sets the context for the content and answers the user’s question, “What’s this page about?”
  • Use engaging imagery. Users pay close attention to images that contain relevant information.
• Persist navigation options. When you create lengthy pages, keep in mind that users still require a sense of orientation (of their current location) and a sense of navigation (other possible paths). Long pages can make navigation problematic for users — if the top navigation bar loses visibility when the user scrolls down, they will have to scroll all the way back up when they’re deep within the page. The obvious solution to this is a sticky menu that shows the current location and that remains on screen in a consistent area at all times.

Scroll-activated sticky navigation. Image Source: Zenman

Provide visual feedback when loading new content. This is especially important for web pages where content loads dynamically (such as news feeds). Because content-loading during scrolling is supposed to be fast (it shouldn’t take longer than 2 to 10 seconds), you can use looped animation to indicate that the system is working.

Subtle animation (such as Tumblr’s loading indicator) tells the user that more content is being loaded.

• Don’t hijack scrolling. Hijacked scrolling is one of the most annoying things because it takes control away from the user and makes the scrolling behavior completely unpredictable. When you design a website, let the user control their browsing and movement through the website.

Tumbler’s signup page uses scroll hijacking.

Content loading

Content loading is worth additional clarification. While an instant response is best, there are occasions when your website will need more time to deliver content to visitors. A bad internet connection could cause a slow reaction, or an operation could take a bit more time to complete. But no matter the cause of such behavior, your website should appear fast and responsive.

• Make sure regular loading doesn’t take long. The attention span and patience of web users is very low. According to Nielsen Norman Group research, 10 seconds is about the limit for keeping the user’s attention on a task. When visitors have to wait for a website to load, they will become frustrated and likely leave if the website doesn’t load quickly enough for them. Even with the most beautifully-designed loading indicator, users will still leave if loading takes too long.
• Use skeleton screens during loading. Many websites use progress indicators to show  that data is loading. While the intention behind a progress indicator is good (providing visual feedback), the result can be negative. As Luke Wroblewski mentions, “Progress indicators, by definition, call attention to the fact that someone needs to wait. It’s like watching the clock tick down — when you do, time seems to go slower.” There is an excellent alternative to progress indicators: skeleton screens. These containers are essentially a temporarily blank version of the page, into which information is gradually loaded. Rather than showing a loading indicator, designers can use a skeleton screen to focus users’ attention on actual progress and create anticipation for what’s to come. This creates a sense that things are happening immediately, as information is incrementally displayed on the screen and people see that the website is acting while they wait.

Facebook uses skeleton screens to fill out the UI as content is loaded incrementally.

Buttons

Buttons are vital to creating a smooth conversational flow. It’s worth paying attention to these basic best practices for buttons:

• Ensure that clickable elements look like ones. With buttons and other interactive elements, think about how the design communicates affordance. How do users understand the element as a button? Form should follow the function: the way an object looks tells users how to use it. Visual elements that look like links or buttons but aren’t clickable (such as underlined words that aren’t links or elements that have a rectangular background but aren’t buttons) can easily confuse users.

Is the orange box in the top-left corner of the screen a button? No, but the shape and label make the element look like one.

• Label buttons according to what they do. The label on any actionable interface element should always tie back to what it will do for the user. Users will feel more comfortable if they understand the action a button initiates. Vague labels such as “Submit” and abstract labels (such as in the following) don’t provide enough information about the action.

Don’t make people wonder what an interface element does. Source Image: UX Matters

• Design buttons consistently.  Whether consciously or not, users remember details. When browsing a website, they’ll ass
  ociate a particular element’s shape with button functionality. Therefore, consistency will not only contribute to a great-looking design, but will also make the experience more familiar to users. The image below illustrates this point perfectly. Using three different shapes in one part of a website (such as the system toolbar) is not only confusing, but sloppy.

Strive for consistency.

Imagery

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Human beings are highly visual creatures, able to process visual information almost instantly; 90 percent of all information that we perceive and that gets transmitted to our brains is visual. Images are a powerful way to capture the user’s attention and to differentiate a product. A single image can convey more to the viewer than an elaborately-designed block of text. Furthermore, images cross language barriers in a way that text simply can’t.

The following principles will help you integrate imagery in your web design:

• Make sure images are relevant. One of the biggest dangers in design is imagery that conveys the wrong message. Select images that strongly support your product goals and ensure that the images are relevant to the context.

Images that aren’t related to the topic will cause confusion.

• Avoid generic photos of people. Using human faces in design is an effective way to engage users. Seeing faces of other humans makes viewers feel like they are connecting with them, and not just being sold a product. However, many corporate websites are notorious for using generic stock photos to build a sense of trust. Usability tests show that such photos rarely add value to the design and more often impair rather than improve the user experience.

Inauthentic images leave the user with a sense of shallow, false pretense.

• Use high-quality assets with no distortion. The quality of assets of your website will have a tremendous impact on the user’s impression and expectations of your service. Make sure images are appropriately sized for displays across all platforms. Images shouldn’t appear pixelated, so test resolution sizes for various ratios and devices. Display photos and graphics in their original aspect ratio.

A degraded image versus a properly sized image. Image Source: Adobe

Video

With increasing internet speeds, videos are becoming more popular, especially considering that they extend time spent on site. Today, video is everywhere. We’re watching it on our desktops, tablets, and phones. When used effectively, video is one of the most powerful tools available for engaging an audience  —  it conveys more emotion and really gives people a feel for a product or service.

• Set audio off by default, with the option to turn it on.    When users arrive on a page, they don’t expect that it will play any sound. Most users don’t use headphones and will be stressed because they’ll need to figure out how to turn the sound off. In most cases, users will leave the website as soon as it plays.

Facebook videos play automatically as soon as the user reaches them, but no sound plays unless the user enables it.

• Keep promo video as short as possible. According to the research by D-Mak Productions, short videos are more appealing to the majority of users. Keep business videos in the range of two to three minutes.

Image Source: Dmakproductions

• Provide an alternative way to access content. If a video is the only way to consume content, access to the information becomes limited for anyone who cannot see or hear the content. For accessibility, include captions and a full transcript of the video.

Subtitles and transcript will make video content more accessible. Image Source: TED

Call-to-Action Buttons

Calls to action (CTA) are buttons that guide users towards your conversion goal. The whole point of a CTA is to direct visitors to a desired course of action. Some common examples of CTAs are:

• “Start a trial”
• “Download the book”
• “Sign up for updates”
• “Get a consultation”

Take a few things into account when designing CTA buttons:

• Size. The CTA should be large enough to see from a distance, but not so large as to detract attention from other content on the page. To confirm that your CTA is the most prominent element on the page, try the five-second test: View a web page for five seconds and then write down what you remember. If the CTA is on your list, then congrats! It’s sized appropriately.
• Visual prominence. The color you choose for CTAs has a tremendous impact on whether it will be noticeable. With color, you can make certain buttons stand out more than others by giving them more visual prominence. Contrasting colors work best for CTAs and make for striking buttons.

The green of the CTA on Firefox’s page jumps off the page and immediately gets the user’s attention.

• Negative space. The amount of space around a CTA is important, too. White (or negative) space creates essential breathing room and separates a button from other elements in the interface.

The previous version of Dropbox’s home page has a good example of using negative space to make the primary CTA pop. The blue “Sign up for free” CTA stands out against the light blue of the background.

• Action-oriented text. Write text for the button that will compel visitors to take action. Begin with a verb like “Start,” “Get” or “Join.”

Evernote has one of the most common yet still effective action-oriented texts for its CTA.

Tip: You can quickly test a CTA using a blur effect. A blur test is a quick technique to determine whether the user’s eye will go where you want it to go. Take a screenshot of your page and apply a blur effect in Adobe XD (see the example on charity: water below). Looking at the blurred version of your page, which elements stand out? If you don’t like what’s being projected, revise.

A blur test is a technique to reveal a design’s focal point and visual hierarchy.

Web Forms

Filling a form remains one of the most important types of interaction for users on the web. In fact, a form is often considered the final step in the completion of a goal. Users should be able to complete forms quickly and without confusion.

• Ask only what’s required. Ask for only what you really need. Every extra field you add to a form will affect its conversion rate. Always think about why you’re requesting certain information from users and how you will be using it.
• Order the form logically. Questions should be asked logically from the user’s perspective, not from the application or database’s perspective. For example, asking for someone’s address before their name would be incorrect.
• Group related fields together. Group related information into logical blocks or sets. The flow from one set of questions to the next will better resemble a conversation. Grouping related fields together also helps the user make sense of the information.

Group related fields together. Image Source: Nielsen Norman Group

Animation

More and more designers are incorporating animation as a functional element to enhance the user experience. Animation is no longer just for delight — it is one of the most important tools for effective interaction. However, animation in design can enhance the user experience only if it’s incorporated at the right time and place. Good UI animation has a purpose — it is meaningful and functional.

Here are a few cases in which animation can enhance the experience:

• Visual feedback on user action. Good interaction design provides feedback. Visual feedback is helpful when you need to inform users about the result of an operation. In case an operation isn’t performed successfully, functional animation can provide information about the problem in a fast and easy way. For example, a shake animation can be used when a wrong password is entered. It’s easy to understand why the shake is a fairly universal gesture to communicate “no,” because a simple head shake is so prevalent in interpersonal communication.

Users will see this animation and immediately understand the problem. Image Source: The Kinetic UI

• Visibility of system status. One of Jakob Nielsen’s 10 heuristics for usability, visibility of system status remains among the most important principles in user interface design. Users want to know their current context in a system at any given time, and an app shouldn’t keep them guessing — it should tell the user what’s happening via appropriate visual feedback. Data uploading and downloading operations are great opportunities for functional animation. For example, an animated loading bar shows how fast a process is going and sets an expectation for how fast the action will be processed.

Image Source: xjw

• Navigational transitions. Navigational transitions are movements between states on a website — for example, from a high-level view to a detailed view. By default, state changes often involve hard cuts, which can make them difficult to follow. Functional animation eases users through these moments of change, smoothly transporting them between navigational contexts and explaining changes on the screen by creating visual connections between states.

Image Source: Ramotion

• Branding animation. Suppose you have dozens of websites that have the same exact features and help users to accomplish the same tasks. They might all offer a good user experience, but the one that people really love offers something more than just a good user experience. It establishes an emotional connection with users. Branding animation plays a key role in engaging users. It can support a company’s brand values, highlight a product’s strengths and make the user experience truly delightful and memorable.

Image Source: Heco

Mobile considerations

Today, almost 50 percent of users access the web from mobile devices. What does this mean for us web designers? It means that we must have a mobile strategy for every website we design.

Practice responsive web design

It’s essential to optimize your website for the vast landscape of desktop and mobile browsers, each of which has a different screen resolution, set of supported technologies, and user base.

• Aim for a single-column layout. Single-column layouts usually work best on mobile screens. Not only does a single column help with managing the limited space on a small screen, it also easily scales between different device resolutions and between “portrait” and “landscape” modes.
• Use the “Priority+” pattern to prioritize navigation across breakpoints. Priority+ is a term coined by Michael Scharnagl to describe navigation that exposes what’s deemed to be the most important elements and hides away less-important items behind a “more” button. It makes use of available screen space. As space increases, the number of exposed navigation options increases as well, which can result in better visibility and more engagement. This pattern is especially good for content-heavy websites with many different sections and pages (such as a news website or a large retailer’s store). The Guardian makes use of the Priority+ pattern for its section navigation. Less important items are revealed when the user hits the “All” button.

The Guardian employs the Priority+ pattern for its section navigation. Image Source: Brad Frost

• Make sure images are sized appropriately for displays and platforms. A website must adapt to look perfect on all devices and in all resolutions, pixel densities, and orientations. Managing, manipulating and delivering images is one of the main challenges web designers face when building responsive websites. To simplify this task, you can use tools such as Responsive Image Breakpoints Generator to generate breakpoints for images interactively.

Responsive Image Breakpoints Generator helps you to manage multiple sizes of images, enabling you to generate responsive image breakpoints interactively.

Going from “clickable” to “tappable”

On the mobile web, interaction is done via finger taps, not mouse clicks. This means that different rules apply when you’re designing touch targets and interactions.

• Properly sized touch targets. All interactive elements (such as links, buttons and menus) should be tappable. While the desktop web lends itself well to links whose active (i.e. clickable) area is small and precise, the mobile web require
  s larger buttons that can be easily pressed with a thumb. When a tap is used as a primary input method for your website, refer to the MIT Touch Lab’s study to choose a proper size for your buttons. The study found that the average size of finger pads are between 10 and 14 millimeters and that fingertips range from 8 to 10, making 10 × 10 millimeters a good minimum-touch target size.

Smaller touch targets are harder for users to tap than larger ones. Image Source: Apple

• Stronger visual signifiers of interactivity. On the mobile web, there is no hover state. While on a desktop, it’s possible to provide additional visual feedback when a user hovers the mouse over an element (for example, revealing a drop-down menu), a mobile user would have to tap to see that response. Thus, users should be able to correctly predict how an interface element will behave just by looking at it.

Accessibility

Today’s products must be accessible to everyone, regardless of a person’s abilities. Designing for users with impairments is one way that designers can practice empathy and learn to experience the world from someone else’s perspective.

Users with poor eyesight

A lot of websites use low contrast for text copy. While low-contrast text may be trendy, it’s also illegible and inaccessible. Low contrast is especially problematic for users with low vision and who struggle with contrast sensitivity.

Gray text on a light-gray background is hard to read. The experience will be far from good, and the design simply won’t work.

Low-contrast text is hard to read on a desktop, but it becomes even more difficult on mobile. Imagine trying to read low-contrast text on a mobile device while walking in bright sunlight. This is a good reminder that accessible visual design is better visual design for all users.

Never sacrifice usability for beauty. The most important characteristic of text and other vital elements on a website is readability. Readability requires sufficient contrast between text and background. To ensure that text is readable by people with visual impairments, the W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) has a contrast-ratio recommendation. The following contrast ratios are recommended for body text and image text:

• Small text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background. A ratio of 7:1 is preferable.
• Large text (at 14-point bold and 18-point regular and up) should have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against its background.

Bad: These lines of text do not meet the color-contrast ratio recommendations and are difficult to read against their background. Good: These lines of text follow the color-contrast ratio recommendations and are legible against their background.

You can use WebAIM’s Color Contrast Checker to quickly find out whether you’re within the optimal range.

Color blind users

It’s estimated that 4.5 percent of the global population experience color blindness (that’s 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women), 4 percent% suffer from low vision (1 in 30 people), and 0.6 percent% are blind (1 in 188 people). It’s easy to forget that we must also design for this group of users, because most designers don’t experience such problems.

To make design accessible for these users, avoid using color alone to convey meaning. As the W3C states, color shouldn’t be used as “the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.”

One common example where color is used as the sole means of conveying information is alerts in forms. Success and error messages are often colored green and red, respectively. But red and green are the colors most affected by color-vision deficiency — these colors can be difficult to distinguish for people with deuteranopia or protanopia. Most probably, you’ve seen error messages like, “The fields marked in red are required.” While it might not seem like a big deal, this error message appearing in a form like the one below can be extremely frustrating for people with a color-vision deficiency. Designers should use color to highlight or complement what is already visible.

Bad: This form relies only on red and green to indicate fields with and without errors. Color blind users wouldn’t be able to identify the fields in red.

In the form above, the designer should give more specific instruction, like, “The email address you entered is not valid.” or at least display an icon near the field that requires attention.

Good: Icons and labels show which fields are invalid, better communicating the information to a color-blind user.

Blind users

Images and illustrations are a significant part of the web experience. Blind people use assistive technologies such as screen readers to interpret websites. Screen readers “read” images by relying on alternative text attributed to the image. If that text is not present or is not descriptive enough, blind users won’t be able to get the information as intended.

Consider two examples — first, Threadless, a popular t-shirt store. This page doesn’t say much about the item being sold. The only text information available is a combination of price and size.

The second example is from ASOS. This page, selling a similar shirt, provides accurate alternative text for the item. This helps people who use screen readers to envision what the item looks like.

When creating text alternatives for images, follow this guideline:

• All “meaningful” images require descriptive alternative text. (A “meaningful” photo adds context to the information being conveyed.)
• A text alternative isn’t needed if an image is purely decorative and provides no useful information to the user to aid them in understanding the content of the page.

Keyboard-friendly experience

Certain users navigate the internet using their keyboard, rather than a mouse. For example, people with motor impairments have difficulty with the fine motor movements required for using a mouse. Make the interactive and navigation elements easily accessible to this group of users by enabling interactive elements to be focused with the Tab key and by displaying a keyboard-focus indicator.

Here are the most basic rules for keyb
oard navigation:

• Check that keyboard focus is visible and obvious. Some web designers remove the keyboard focus indicator because they think it’s an eyesore. This hinders keyboard users from properly interacting with the website. If you don’t like the default indicator provided by the browser, don’t remove it altogether; instead, design it to satisfy your taste.
• All interactive elements should be accessible. Keyboard users must be able to access all interactive elements, not just the main navigation options or primary calls to action.

You can find detailed requirements for keyboard interaction in the “Design Patterns and Widgets” section of the W3C’s “WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices” document.

Testing

Iterative testing

Testing is an essential part of the UX design process. And like any other part of the design cycle, it is an iterative process. Gather feedback early on in the design process, and iterate throughout.

Image Source: Extreme Uncertainty

Test page-loading time

Users hate slow-loading web pages. That’s why response time is a critical factor on modern websites. According to Nielsen Norman Group, there are three response-time limits:

• 0.1 second: Feels instant for users.
• 1 second: Keeps the user’s flow of thought seamless, but the user will sense a slight delay.
• 10 seconds: Pushes the limit for keeping the user’s attention focused on the operation. A 10-second delay will often make users leave the website immediately.

Obviously, we shouldn’t make users wait 10 seconds for anything on our websites. But even a few seconds of delay — which happens regularly — makes an experience unpleasant. Users will be annoyed with having to wait for the operation.

What usually causes slow loading time?

• Heavy-content objects (such as embedded video and slideshow widgets)
• Unoptimized back-end code
• Hardware-related issues (infrastructure that doesn’t allow for fast operations)

Tools like PageSpeed Insights will help you to find the causes of slow times.

A/B testing

An A/B test is ideal when you’re struggling to choose between two versions of a design (such as an existing version and a redesigned version of a page). This testing method consists of showing one of two versions randomly to an equal number of users and then reviewing analytics to see which version accomplished your goal more effectively.

Image Source: VWO

Developer handoff

UX design process has two important steps: prototyping the design and developing a working solution. The step that connects the two is called a handoff. As soon as the design is finalized and ready to be moved to development, designers prepare a specification, which is a document that describes how the design should be coded. A specification ensures that the design will be implemented according to the original intention. Precision in the specification is critical, because with an inaccurate specification, the developers will have to either rely on guesswork when building the website or go back to the designer to get answers to their questions. But assembling a specification manually can be a headache and usually takes significant time, depending on the complexity of the design.

With Design Specs (Beta) feature in Adobe XD, designers can publish a public URL for developers to inspect flows, grab measurements and copy styles. Designers no longer have to spend time authoring specifications to communicate positioning, colors, character styles or fonts to the developer.

Adobe XD’s design specs feature (in beta).

Conclusion

As with any aspect of design, the tips shared here are just a start. Mix and match these ideas with your own for best results. Treat your website as a continually-evolving project, and use analytics and user feedback to constantly improve the experience. And remember that design isn’t just for designers — it’s for users.

For regular UX insights sent straight to your inbox, sign up for Adobe’s experience design newsletter!

Source

Editor’s note: For the latest updates on the 2020 coronavirus outbreak, see our news coverage.

What Is COVID-19?

A coronavirus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in your nose, sinuses, or upper throat. Most coronaviruses aren’t dangerous.

In early 2020, after a December 2019 outbreak in China, the World Health Organization identified SARS-CoV-2 as a new type of coronavirus. The outbreak quickly spread around the world.

COVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that can trigger what doctors call a respiratory tract infection. It can affect your upper respiratory tract (sinuses, nose, and throat) or lower respiratory tract (windpipe and lungs).

It spreads the same way other coronaviruses do, mainly through person-to-person contact. Infections range from mild to deadly.

SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven types of coronavirus, including the ones that cause severe diseases like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The other coronaviruses cause most of the colds that affect us during the year but aren’t a serious threat for otherwise healthy people.

Is there more than one strain of SARS-CoV-2?

It’s normal for a virus to change, or mutate, as it infects people. A Chinese study of 103 COVID-19 cases suggests the virus that causes it has done just that. They found two strains, which they named L and S. The S type is older, but the L type was more common in early stages of the outbreak. They think one may cause more cases of the disease than the other, but they’re still working on what it all means.

How long will the coronavirus last?

It’s too soon to tell how long the pandemic will continue. It depends on many things, including researchers’ work to learn more about the virus, their search for a treatment and a vaccine, and the public’s efforts to slow the spread.

More than 100 vaccine candidates are in various stages of development and testing. This process usually takes years. Researchers are speeding it up as much as they can, but it still might take 12 to 18 months to find a vaccine that works and is safe.

Symptoms of COVID-19

The main symptoms include:

• Fever
• Coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Trouble breathing
• Fatigue
• Chills, sometimes with shaking
• Body aches
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Loss of smell or taste
• Nausea
• Diarrhea

The virus can lead to pneumonia, respiratory failure, septic shock, and death. Many COVID-19 complications may be caused by a condition known as cytokine release syndrome or a cytokine storm. This is when an infection triggers your immune system to flood your bloodstream with inflammatory proteins called cytokines. They can kill tissue and damage your organs.

If you notice the following severe symptoms in yourself or a loved one, get medical help right away:

• Trouble breathing or shortness of breath
• Ongoing chest pain or pressure
• New confusion
• Can’t wake up fully
• Bluish lips or face

Strokes have also been reported in some people who have COVID-19. Remember FAST:

• Face. Is one side of the person’s face numb or drooping? Is their smile lopsided?
• Arms. Is one arm weak or numb? If they try to raise both arms, does one arm sag?
• Speech. Can they speak clearly? Ask them to repeat a sentence.
• Time. Every minute counts when someone shows signs of a stroke. Call 911 right away.

If you’re infected, symptoms can show up in as few as 2 days or as many as 14. It varies from person to person.

According to researchers in China, these were the most common symptoms among people who had COVID-19:

• Fever 99%
• Fatigue 70%
• Cough 59%
• Lack of appetite 40%
• Body aches 35%
• Shortness of breath 31%
• Mucus/phlegm 27%

Some people who are hospitalized for COVID-19 have also have dangerous blood clots, including in their legs, lungs, and arteries.

What to do if you think you have it

If you live in or have traveled to an area where COVID-19 is spreading:

• If you don’t feel well, stay home. Even if you have mild symptoms like a headache and runny nose, stay in until you’re better. This lets doctors focus on people who are more seriously ill and protects health care workers and people you might meet along the way. You might hear this called self-quarantine. Try to stay in a separate room away from other people in your home. Use a separate bathroom if you can.
• Call the doctor if you have trouble breathing. You need to get medical help as soon as possible. Calling ahead (rather than showing up) will let the doctor direct you to the proper place, which may not be your doctor’s office. If you don’t have a regular doctor, call your local board of health. They can tell you where to go for testing and treatment.
• Follow your doctor’s advice and keep up with the news on COVID-19. Between your doctor and health care authorities, you’ll get the care you need and information on how to prevent the virus from spreading.

For more information about COVID-19, see our FAQ.

How do I know if it’s COVID-19, a cold, or the flu?

Symptoms of COVID-19 can be similar to a bad cold or the flu. Your doctor will suspect COVID-19 if:

• You have a fever and a cough.
• You live in an area with the virus or have traveled to places where it has spread.

 

Cold vs. Flu vs. Allergies vs. COVID-19
Symptoms	Cold	Flu	Allergies	COVID-19 (can range from moderate to severe)
Fever	Rare	High (100-102 F), Can last 3-4 days	Never	Common
Headache	Rare	Intense	Uncommon	Can be present
General aches, pains	Slight	Usual, often severe	Never	Can be present
Fatigue, weakness	Mild	Intense, can last up to 2-3 weeks	Sometimes	Can be present
Extreme exhaustion	Never	Usual (starts early)	Never	Can be present
Stuffy/runny nose	Common	Sometimes	Common	Has been reported
Sneezing	Usual	Sometimes	Usual	Has been reported
Sore throat	Common	Common	Sometimes	Has been reported
Cough	Mild to moderate	Common, can become severe	Sometimes	Common
Shortness of breath	Rare	Rare	Rare, except for those with allergic asthma	In more serious infections
Loss of smell and taste	Sometimes	Sometimes	Never	Has been reported
Diarrhea	Never	Sometimes in children	Never	Has been reported

 

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Is COVID-19 worse than the flu?

Unlike the flu, a lot of people aren’t immune to the coronavirus because it’s so new. If you do catch it, the virus triggers your body to make things called antibodies. Researchers are looking at whether they give you protection against catching it again.

The coronavirus also appears to cause higher rates of severe illness and death than the flu. But the symptoms themselves can vary widely from person to person.

Is COVID-19 seasonal like the flu?

A few lab studies have found that higher temperatures and humidity levels might help slow the spread of the coronavirus. But experts advise caution and say weather changes won’t matter without thorough public health efforts. Also, past flu pandemics have happened year-round.

Causes of the New Coronavirus

Researchers aren’t sure what caused it. There’s more than one type of coronavirus. They’re common in people and in animals including bats, camels, cats, and cattle. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is similar to MERS and SARS. They all came from bats. 

Coronavirus Risk Factors

Anyone can get COVID-19, and most infections are usually mild, especially in children and young adults. But if you aren’t in an area where COVID-19 is spreading, haven’t traveled from an area where it’s spreading, and haven’t been in contact with someone who has it, your risk of infection is low.

People over 65 are most likely to get a serious illness, as are those who live in nursing homes or long-term care facilities, who have weakened immune systems, or who have medical conditions including:

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Lung disease
• Asthma
• Kidney disease that needs dialysis
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Cancer treatment, especially chemotherapy
• Liver disease
• Cigarette smoking

Some children and teens who are in the hospital with COVID-19 have an inflammatory condition that doctors are callingmultisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C. Doctors think it may be linked to the virus. It causes symptoms similar to those of toxic shock and of Kawasaki disease, a condition that causes inflammation in kids’ blood vessels.

Coronavirus Transmission

How does the coronavirus spread?

SARS-CoV-2, the virus, mainly spreads from person to person.

Most of the time, it spreads when a sick person coughs or sneezes. They can spray droplets as far as 6 feet away. If you breathe them in or swallow them, the virus can get into your body. Some people who have the virus don’t have symptoms, but they can still spread the virus.

You can also get the virus from touching a surface or object the virus is on, then touching your mouth, nose, or possibly your eyes. Most viruses can live for several hours on a surface that they land on. A study shows that SARS-CoV-2 can last for several hours on various types of surfaces:

• Copper: 4 hours
• Cardboard: up to 24 hours
• Plastic or stainless steel: 2 to 3 days

That’s why it’s important to disinfect surfaces to get rid of the virus.

Some dogs and cats have tested positive for the virus. A few have shown signs of illness. But there’s no evidence that humans can catch this coronavirus from an animal.

What is community spread?

Doctors and health officials use this term when they don’t know the source of the infection. With COVID-19, it usually refers to someone who gets the virus even though they haven’t been out of the country or haven’t been exposed to someone who’s traveled abroad or who has COVID-19.

In February 2020, the CDC confirmed a COVID-19 infection in California in a person who had not traveled to an affected area or been exposed to someone with the disease. This marked the first instance of community spread in the U.S. It’s likely that person was exposed to someone who was infected but didn’t know it.

How fast is it spreading?

The number of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 changes every day. See our news story for the latest updates on this developing story.

How contagious is the coronavirus?

The transmission rate is relatively high. Early research has estimated that one person who has it can spread it to between 2 and 2.5 others. One study found that the rate was higher, with one case spreading to between 4.7 and 6.6 other people. By comparison, one person who has the seasonal flu will pass it to between 1.1 and 2.3 others.

We can work to lower the transmission rate by washing hands often, keeping common surfaces clean, limiting contact with other people, and wearing cloth face masks when we can’t stay 6 feet away from others.

Can coronavirus be transmitted through groceries, packages, or food?

You’re much more likely to get COVID-19 from another person than from packages, groceries, or food. If you’re in a high-risk group, stay home and use a delivery service or have a friend shop for you. Have them leave the items outside your front door, if you can. If you do your own shopping, try to stay at least 6 feet away from other shoppers. That isn’t always possible, so wear a cloth face mask, too.

Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds before and after bringing things into your home. The coronavirus can linger on hard surfaces, so clean and disinfect countertops and anything else your bags have touched. You can wipe down plastic, metal, or glass packaging with soap and water if you want.

There’s no evidence that anyone has gotten COVID-19 from food or food containers.

Coronavirus Diagnosis

Call your doctor or local health department if you think you’ve been exposed and have symptoms like:

• Fever of 100 F or higher
• Cough
• Trouble breathing

In most states, decisions about who gets tested for COVID-19 are made at the state or local level.

A swab test is the most common method. It looks for signs of the virus in your upper respiratory tract. The person giving the test puts a swab up your nose to get a sample from the back of your nose and throat. That sample usually goes to a lab that looks for viral material, but some areas may have rapid tests that give results in as little as 15 minutes.

If there are signs of the virus, the test is positive. A negative test could mean there is no virus or there wa
sn’t enough to measure. That can happen early in an infection. It usually takes 24 hours to get results, but the tests must be collected, stored, shipped to a lab, and processed.

The FDA is granting emergency use authorizations for tests that don’t have full approval yet. These include a home nasal swab test, a home saliva test, and tests that check your blood for things called antibodies. Your immune system makes antibodies in response to an infection.

A swab test can only tell whether you have the virus in your body at that moment. But an antibody test can show whether you’ve ever been exposed to the virus, even if you didn’t have symptoms. This is important in officials’ efforts to learn how widespread COVID-19 is. In time, it might also help them figure out who’s immune to the virus.

The FDA is working with laboratories across the country to develop more tests.

Coronavirus Prevention

Take these steps:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water or clean them with an alcohol-based sanitizer. This kills viruses on your hands.
• Practice social distancing. Because you can have and spread the virus without knowing it, you should stay home as much as possible. If you do have to go out, stay at least 6 feet away from others.
• Cover your nose and mouth in public. If you have COVID-19, you can spread it even if you don’t feel sick. Wear a cloth face covering to protect others. This isn’t a replacement for social distancing. You still need to keep a 6-foot distance between yourself and those around you. Don’t use a face mask meant for health care workers. And don’t put a face covering on anyone who is:
  • Under 2 years old
  • Having trouble breathing
  • Unconscious or can’t remove the mask on their own for other reasons
• Don’t touch your face. Coronaviruses can live on surfaces you touch for several hours. If they get on your hands and you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, they can get into your body.
• Clean and disinfect. You can clean first with soap and water, but disinfect surfaces you touch often, like tables, doorknobs, light switches, toilets, faucets, and sinks. Use a mix of household bleach and water (1/3 cup bleach per gallon of water, or 4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water) or a household cleaner that’s approved to treat SARS-CoV-2. You can check the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website to see if yours made the list. Wear gloves when you clean and throw them away when you’re done.

There’s no proof that herbal therapies and teas can prevent infection.

COVID-19 preparation tips

In addition to practicing the prevention tips listed above, you can:

• Meet as a household or larger family to talk about who needs what.
• If you have people at a higher risk, ask their doctor what to do.
• Talk to your neighbors about emergency planning. Join your neighborhood chat group or website to stay in touch.
• Find community aid organizations that can help with health care, food delivery, and other supplies.
• Make an emergency contact list. Include family, friends, neighbors, carpool drivers, doctors, teachers, employers, and the local health department.
• Choose a room (or rooms) where you can keep someone who’s sick or who’s been exposed separate from the rest of you.
• Talk to your child’s school about keeping up with assignments.
• Set yourself up to work from home if your office is closed.
• Reach out friends or family if you live alone. Make plans for them to check on you by phone, email, or video chat.

Can a face mask protect you from infection?

The CDC recommends that you wear a cloth face mask if you go out in public. This is an added layer of protection for everyone, on top of social distancing efforts. You can spread the virus when you talk or cough, even if you don’t know that you have it or if you aren’t showing signs of infection.

Surgical masks and N95 masks should be reserved for health care workers and first responders, the CDC says.

Is it safe to travel during a pandemic?

Crowded places can raise your chances of getting COVID-19. The CDC recommends against international or cruise ship travel during the pandemic.

A few questions may help you decide whether it’s safe to travel in the United States:

• Is the coronavirus spreading where you’re going?
• Will you have close contact with other people during the trip?
• Are you at higher risk of severe illness if you catch the virus?
• Do you live with someone who has a serious medical condition?
• Will the place where you’ll be staying be cleaned?
• Will you have access to food and other necessities?

If you choose to travel, stay away from sick people. Wash your hands often, and try not to touch your face. Wear a cloth face mask when you’ll be around other people. Some airlines require all customers to use them.

How can you help stop the spread of the coronavirus?

Some officials are easing restrictions and allowing businesses to reopen. This doesn’t mean the virus is gone. Continue to follow safety practices such as wearing a cloth face mask in public places.

Because the virus spreads from person to person, it’s important to limit your contact with other people as much as possible.

Some people work in “essential businesses” that are vital to daily life, such as health care, law enforcement, and public utilities. Everyone else should stay home as much as you can and wear a cloth face mask when you can’t. You might hear officials use these terms when they talk about staying home:

• Social distancing or physical distancing, keeping space between yourself and other people when you have to go out
• Quarantine, keeping someone home and separated from other people if they might have been exposed to the virus
• Isolation, keeping sick people away from healthy people, including using a separate “sick” bedroom and bathroom when possible

Coronavirus Vaccine

There’s no vaccine, but intense research to create one has been underway around the world since scientists shared the virus’s genetic makeup in January 2020. Vaccine testing in humans started with record speed in March 2020. More than 100 vaccine projects are in various phases of development.

Coronavirus Treatment

There’s no specific treatment for COVID-19. People who get a mild case need care to ease their symptoms, like rest, fluids, and fever control. Take over-the-counter medicine for a sore throat, body aches, and fever. But don’t give aspirin to children or teens younger than 19.

You might have heard that you shouldn’t take ibuprofen to treat COVID-19 symptoms. But the National Institutes of Health says people who have the virus can use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or acetaminophen a
s usual.

Antibiotics won’t help because they treat bacteria, not viruses. If you hear about people with COVID-19 getting antibiotics, it’s for an infection that came along with the disease.

People with severe symptoms need to be cared for in the hospital.

Many clinical trials are under way to explore treatments used for other conditions that could fight COVID-19 and to develop new ones.

Several studies are focused on an antiviral medication called remdesivir, which was created to fight Ebola. An emergency FDA ruling lets doctors use it for people hospitalized with COVID-19 and in clinical trials. Researchers in the U.S. say remdesivir helped patients in one study recover from the disease 31% faster.

The FDA also issued an emergency use ruling for hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. These medications are approved to treat malaria and autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Studies on their use against COVID-19 have had mixed results, and research is ongoing.

Clinical trials are also under way for tocilizumab, another medication used to treat autoimmune conditions. And the FDA is also allowing clinical trials and hospital use of blood plasma from people who’ve had COVID-19 and recovered to help others build immunity. You’ll hear this called convalescent plasma.

Is there a cure for the new coronavirus?

There’s no cure yet, but researchers are working hard to find one.

COVID-19 Outlook

Every case is different. You may have mild flu-like symptoms for a few days after exposure, then get better. But some cases can be severe or fatal.

What is the recovery rate for coronavirus?

Scientists and researchers are constantly tracking COVID-19 infections and recoveries. But they don’t have information about the outcome of every infection. Early estimates predict that the overall COVID-19 recovery rate will be between 97% and 99.75%.

Can you get the coronavirus twice?

Doctors aren’t sure if you can get reinfected after you’ve had it. With other coronaviruses that only cause colds, you have a period that you’re immune, but that goes away over time.

Past Coronaviruses

Are coronaviruses new?

Coronaviruses were first identified in the 1960s. Almost everyone gets a coronavirus infection at least once in their life, most likely as a young child. In the United States, regular coronaviruses are more common in the fall and winter, but anyone can come down with a coronavirus infection at any time.

The symptoms of most coronaviruses are similar to any other upper respiratory infection, including a runny nose, coughing, sore throat, and sometimes a fever. In most cases, you won’t know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus, such as a rhinovirus. You treat this kind of coronavirus infection the same way you treat a cold.

Have there been other serious coronavirus outbreaks?

Coronaviruses have led to two serious outbreaks:

• Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). About 858 people have died from MERS, which first appeared in Saudi Arabia and then in other countries in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Europe. In April 2014, the first American was hospitalized for MERS in Indiana, and another case was reported in Florida. Both had just returned from Saudi Arabia. In May 2015, there was an outbreak of MERS in South Korea, which was the largest outbreak outside of the Arabian Peninsula.
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In 2003, 774 people died from an outbreak. As of 2015, there were no further reports of cases of SARS.

WebMD Medical Reference Reviewed by Michael W. Smith, MD on June 05, 2020

Sources

SOURCES:

UpToDate: “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Management in adults,” “Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Epidemiology, virology, clinical features, diagnosis, and prevention.”

TuftsNow: “How the Body Battles COVID-19.”

Thrombosis Research: “Incidence of thrombotic complications in critically ill ICU patients with COVID-19.”

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control: “Disease background of COVID-19,” “Q&A on COVID-19.”

World Health Organization: “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public,” “Coronavirus Infections,” “Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV),” “Naming the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the virus that causes it,” “Novel Coronavirus(2019nCoV) Situation Report – 11,” “Novel Coronavirus(2019-nCoV) Situation Report – 22.” “Q&A on coronaviruses (COVID-19).” “Q&A: Similarities and differences – COVID-19 and influenza,” “Draft landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines – 20 April 2020,” “Tobacco and waterpipe use increases the risk of suffering from COVID-19.”

CDC: “2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV), Wuhan, China,” “CDC Confirms Possible Instance of Community Spread of COVID-19 in U.S.,” “Coronavirus,” “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

The Lancet: “Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study.”

Elsevier: “Novel Coronavirus Information Center.”

University of California, San Francisco: “How the New Coronavirus Spreads and Progresses – And Why One Test May Not Be Enough.”

Harvard Health Publishing: “As coronavirus spreads, many questions and some answers,” “Coronavirus Resource Center.”

Cleveland Clinic: “Frequently Asked Questions about Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

National Institutes of Health: “NIH clinical trial of investigational vaccine for COVID-19 begins,” “COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines.”

News release, National Institutes of Health.

Journal of Virology: “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV); Announcement of the Coronavirus Study Group.”

Journal of the American Medical Association News: “French Researchers: For Now, Middle Eastern Coronavirus Not Likely to Cause a Pandemic.”

Johns Hopkins Medicine: “Upper Respiratory Infection (URI) or Common Cold.”

Occupational Safety and Health Administration: “COVID-19.”

National Science Review: “On the origin and continuing evolution of SARS-CoV-2.”

World Health Organization: “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Myth busters,” “Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

EClinical Medicine: “The coronavirus 2019-nCoV epidemic: Is hindsight 20/20?”

CDC: “CDC Confirms Possible Instance of Community Spread of COVID-19,” “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).”

The New England Journal of Medicine: “Aerosol and Surface Stability of SARS-CoV-2 as Compared with SARS-CoV-1,” “Large-Vessel Stroke as Presenting Feature of Covid-19 in the Young.”

American Stroke Association: “Stroke Symptoms.”

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: “In the News: Coronavirus and ‘Alternative’ Treatments.”

Yale School of Medicine: “The Ins and Outs of COVID-19 Testing. Who is being tested? What are tests looking for?
When might we have a vaccine?”

American Family Physician: “Aspirin Use in Children for Fever or Viral Syndromes.”

European Medicines Agency: “EMA gives advice on the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for COVID-19.”

The BMJ: “Covid-19: ibuprofen should not be used for managing symptoms, say doctors and scientist.”

Medscape: “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment & Management,” “Sudden Loss of Taste and Smell Should Be Part of COVID-19 Screen.”

The Hospitalist: “CDC expert answers top COVID-19 questions.”

FDA: “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup April 1, 2020,” “Emergency Use Authorization,” “Letter of Authorization: Dr. Rick Bright, Ph.D.,” “Understanding Unapproved Use of Approved Drugs ‘Off Label,’” “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Alerts Consumers About Unauthorized Fraudulent COVID-19 Test Kits,” “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions,” “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Serological Tests.”

Nature Reviews: “The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape.”

National Academies Press: “Rapid Expert Consultation on SARS-CoV-2 Survival in Relation to Temperature and Humidity and Potential for Seasonality for the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

MedRxiv: “The Novel Coronavirus, 2019-nCoV, is Highly Contagious and More Infectious Than Initially Estimated.”

Pathogens: “SARS-CoV-2 and Coronavirus Disease 2019: What We Know So Far.”

Hartford HealthCare: “How to Avoid COVID-19 at the Supermarket.”

Commonwealth of Massachusetts: “COVID-19 Essential Services FAQs.”

Emerging Infectious Diseases: “Case-Fatality Risk Estimates for COVID-19 Calculated by Using a Lag Time for Fatality.”

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Health Security: “Serology-based tests for COVID-19.”

Mayo Clinic: “COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine: Get the facts.”

American Society of Clinical Oncology: “Common Questions About COVID-19 and Cancer: Answers for Patients and Survivors.”

News release, Abbott.

News release, AstraZeneca.

Delta News Hub: “Delta expands safety commitment by requiring all customers to wear face coverings across travel.”

News release, FDA.

Intermountain Healthcare: “What’s the difference between a cold, the flu, seasonal allergies and coronavirus?”

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KidsHealth/Nemours: “Kawasaki Disease.”

World Organisation for Animal Health: “Questions and Answers on the COVID-19.”

© 2020 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.

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by Brian Dean · Updated

In this post I’m going to show you EXACTLY how to rank your YouTube videos.

In fact, this is the exact process that I used to grow my channel to 295,347 views per month:

So if you want to get more views, subscribers and traffic from YouTube, then you’ll love this new YouTube SEO tutorial.

Let’s dive right in…

How I Grew My YouTube Channel From “Oh No!” to “Heck Yeah!”

Before we get into today’s video SEO tutorial, a quick backstory:

When I first launched my YouTube channel I struggled to get ANY views.

Fast forward to today, and my videos rank for all sorts of competitive keywords, like “on page SEO”:

“Link building”:

Heck, I even rank in the top 3 for “video SEO”:

And because I know how to rank my videos, my channel now generates 295,347 views and 9,193 subscribers every single month.

Now that you can see that I know what I’m talking about, let’s dive into the steps that I used to get these results.

The YouTube SEO process begins with video keyword research.

Here’s exactly how to find the right keywords for your YouTube videos:

First, generate a list of keywords ideas.

Your first step is to generate a big list of potential keywords. Then, in the next step, I’ll help you find the best keyword from your list.

Here’s how to find keywords for your YouTube Videos:

One of my favorite strategies is to use the YouTube’s Search Suggest feature.

All you need to do is head over to YouTube and pop in a word or phrase…

… and YouTube will hand you a bunch of keywords related to what you typed in:

These suggested keywords are GREAT.

Why?

Because these are terms that people actually type into YouTube. So there’s no need to wonder if they’re popular or not. If YouTube suggests them to you, they 1000% are.

You can also go to a popular video in your niche… and copy the same keywords that video is optimized around.

As you probably know, keyword optimization is a KEY part of YouTube SEO. So if a video has lots and lots of views, chances are, that video is optimized around a popular keyword.

To execute this step, go to another channel in your niche.

Then, sort their videos by “Most Popular”

This will show you their videos that have generated the most views:

Next, choose a video from the list. Obviously, you want to pick a video that you can create an awesome video around (more on that in step #2).

But in general, if the video is in your niche, it’ll work.

Finally, see which keywords that video is optimized around. This is easy.

Just check out the keywords that video uses in its title, description and video tags:

(To see a video’s tags, I recommend the VidIQ Chrome extension. It shows you a video’s tags right on the page)

You can also find some excellent keywords in your YouTube “Traffic Source: YouTube search” report. This report shows you all the keywords that YouTube users have searched for to find your videos.

In many cases, these are keywords that you already know about (because you optimized your videos around them).

But sometimes you’ll find a handful of keywords that you never would have thought of.

For example, here’s an example of a keyword I found in my “Traffic Sources” report:

This is a keyword I would have NEVER found using any other strategy. But I know that people are searching for it in YouTube, so it makes for a great keyword to add to my list.

Second, find the best keyword from your list

Now that you’ve generated a list of keywords, it’s time to choose the best one from your list.

Specifically, you want to target low-competition keywords.

This is ESPECIALLY important if your channel doesn’t have that many subscribers. If you swing for the fences and go after competitive keywords, your video is gonna get buried in the search results.

Instead, you want to find keywords that don’t have a lot of competition.

How do you check?

All you need to do is:

Search for your keyword in Google.

And check out the “About results”:

This number represents the total number of videos in YouTube about that topic. The higher this number, the more competitive a keyword is. So you want to targe
t keywords that have a low “About results” number.

(How low should you go? Every industry is different. So I can’t give you a specific number to shoot for. Just focus on choosing keywords that have low competition for your niche)

For example, when I search for “YouTube SEO”, there are 10,700,000 results:

That’s a lot.

So if I was just starting out, I’d try a few other keywords, like “YouTube ranking factors”.

Bingo! That keyword only has 26,800 results.

And that means that this keyword MUCH less competitive.

Finally, a bonus tip: search for your keyword in Google.

Here’s the deal:

Most views on YouTube come from within YouTube’s platform.

But don’t stop there. Your video can get 2-5x more views if you can ALSO get it to rank in Google.

How?

The trick is to optimize your videos around keywords that already have video results in Google.

You see, Google only includes videos in the search results for certain keywords.

Unlike a “normal” first page with 10 webpage results, for certain keywords Google reserves a good chunk of the first page for video results:

In general, Google tends to use video results for these types of keywords:

• How-to keywords (“how to make cold brew coffee”)
• Reviews (“beats by Dre review”)
• Tutorials (“Setting up WordPress”)
• Anything fitness or sports related (“Cardio kickboxing”)
• Funny videos (“Cute animals”)

Why is this important?

Well, let’s say you optimize your video around a keyword that doesn’t have any video results in Google. In that case, you’ll ONLY get traffic from people searching on YouTube.

But if you optimize for a video keyword, you’ll also get targeted traffic to your video directly from Google’s first page.

The question is:

How do you find these magical keywords?

All you need to do is search for one of the keywords you found in the last step.

Then see if any of the keywords you searched for have YouTube video results, like this:

Simple, right?

Once you’ve found a Video Keyword, it’s time to see if there’s any search volume for that keyword. Otherwise, you might rank in Google for a keyword that only gets 20 searches per month. That’s not worth it.

So make sure target keyword gets at least 100-1k searches per month in Google (you can find this information using the Google Keyword Planner):

Why 500 searches per month?

If you can get that video to rank in Google, then a lot of those searchers will click on YOUR video in the results.

That means you’ll get more high-quality traffic to your video, and ultimately, your site.

Here’s a real life example:

Because Backlinko is in the SEO niche, I’m going to look for video keywords using searches like “keyword research tips”, “how to build backlinks” and “SEO tutorial”.

Bingo! The keyword “SEO tutorial” brings up 3 YouTube results in Google:

Sure enough, that keyword exceeds our minimum of 500 monthly searches:

So that would be a great keyword to create a video around.

In fact, I already did

Speaking of creating your video…

Step #2: Publish a High-Retention Video

Here’s the truth:

If you want your videos to rank, you need to keep people watching.

The amount of your video that people watch is known as Audience Retention.

And YouTube has gone on the record saying: “Audience Retention” is a HUGE ranking factor. To quote YouTube:

In other words:

If your video keeps people on YouTube, YouTube will rank your video higher in the search results.

(After all, YouTube wants people to stay on the platform so they click on ads. And if you help them with that goal, they’ll promote your video).

The question is:

HOW do you create a video that keeps people engaged?

(Also known as a “High-Retention Video”)

Here are 3 simple steps that work GREAT. I had to learn these 3 steps the hard way. But thanks to this short video, you can start pumping out High-Retention Videos right away.

As you can see, High-Retention Videos DON’T require a fancy camera or microphone. Actually, you don’t really need to sweat production value that much.

As long as your video is valuable and interesting to watch, you’re good to go.

The bottom line?

If your video stinks, it won’t rank…no matter how optimized it is for SEO.

Unlike Google (uses backlinks and other signals to evaluate the quality of a piece of content) YouTube has no such luxury. So they rely on Audience Retention.

That said, Audience Interaction is one of several ranking signals that YouTube uses in its algorithm.

So let me show you the 5 other important YouTube ranking factors:

Video Comments

If someone leaves a comment, it sends a strong message to YouTube that they probably enjoyed the video (or at least engaged with it).

In fact, when I recently analyzed 1.3 million YouTube search results, I found that comments STRONGLY correlated with ranking highly in the search results:

So make sure to encourage your viewers to comment on your video… and reply to comments that you get.

“Subscribes”After Watching a Video

If someone subscribes to your channel after watching your video that sends a HUGE signal that you have an amazing video.

The best way to get more subscribers on YouTube? Ask people to subscribe. Seriously, I’ve found that asking viewers to subscribe at the end of my videos significantly boosts my monthly subscribers numbers:

Video Shares

How many people share your video on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook?

Think about it this way: people don’t share crappy videos, right? So when YouTube sees that people are spreading the word about your video, they think: “This must be an awesome piece of content!”. And they’ll give you a rankings boost.

(Also, social shares bring more people FROM those networks to YouTube… which they like).

Click-Through-Rate (CTR)

When someone searches for your keyword in YouTube, which result do they click on?

Your video… or someone else’s?

As it turns out, YouTube pays VERY close attention to this user behavior. The percentage of people that click on your result is known as “click-through-rate” (CTR). Obviously, the higher your CTR, the better.

In other words, you want YouTube searchers to click on your result.

And YouTube notices that lots of people are clicking on your result, they think: “We need to rank this video higher up in the search results!”.

On the other hand, if people are skipping over your result, they’ll drop your rankings.

The best way to boost your CTR? Create compelling thumbnails and titles.

For example, you can see that my title and thumbnail stand out from the other results for this keyword:

Thumbs up/Thumbs down

Self explanatory

Video Length

Like with text-based articles in Google, longer videos rank better.

I consistently see longer videos outperform shorter videos in YouTube and Google search.

And the data supports this. The YouTube ranking factors study that I mentioned earlier also found that longer videos have an edge over short videos (at least when it comes to YouTube SEO):

For example, if you search in YouTube for the keyword “WordPress”, 2 out of the top 4 videos are an hour long.

How long should your video be?

I wouldn’t sweat this too much. Just focus on creating the best video possible.

If it makes sense for your video to be 20+ minutes, go for it. Don’t worry about your video being too long. If it’s awesome, people WILL watch it.

The coolest part about all of these stats is that you can track all of them in the new YouTube Studio:

That way, you can see how you’re doing… and improve your videos over time.

OK so you’ve created your High-Retention video, it’s time upload and optimize it for SEO.

Step #3: YouTube Video Optimization

Here’s how to extract the most SEO value from your video:

SAY Your Target Keyword

You’ve probably noticed that YouTube now automatically transcribes your videos. And they’re pretty darn accurate:

So if YouTube sees that you mention your target keyword in your video, they’ll “hear” it. And because you’re actually SAYING the keyword that your video is optimized around, YouTube will better understand that your video is about that term.

Video Title

The title of your video should be at least 5 words long. That way, you can include your full keyword without keyword-stuffing.

For example, this video title from my channel is 10 words …only 3 of which are my target keyword (“higher Google rankings”):

Power Tip: Like with a blog post, I’ve found that you get a slight video SEO boost by putting your keyword at the beginning of the title.

So if you were trying to rank for “surfing tutorial” you’d want a title like: “Surfing Tutorial: Learn How to Ride a Wave Today”.

Description

Your video’s description is super important.

Your video description helps YouTube and Google understand the context of your video. And the better they understand your video, the higher you’ll rank (and the more often you’ll show up in the Suggested Video sidebar).

Here are the basic guidelines for the description:

• Include your keyword in the first 25 words
• Make the description at least 250 words
• Include your keyword 2-4 times

This SEO-optimized description helps tell Google and YouTube what your video is about without being spammy.

Here’s an example of a description for a video of mine that’s optimized around the keyword “On-page SEO”:

Notice how I include my keyword a couple of times… without being spammy? That’s what you want to do.

Tags

Tags aren’t super-important…but they help.

Here’s how I use video tags for my videos:

1. My first tag is my exact target keyword (Example: “Google SEO”).
2. I also include a few variations of that word or phrase (Example: “Google search engine optimization”)
3. Finally, I make a few of my tags other topics that my video covers (Example: “Link building”, “Content marketing”)

In short: just include a few keywords to help YouTube and Google learn what your video is about.

Pro Tip: Targeted tags not only help you rank for your target keyword…

…but get you to you show up more often as a related video in the sidebar area of YouTube:

So don’t be afraid to use the same tags that your competitors use. In fact, it’s a YouTube marketing best practice that has worked for YEARS.

When your video’s tags match a video that someone’s watching, you have a good chance of showing up in the Suggested Video section.

And that’s all there is to optimizing your video to rank in YouTube.

With that out of the way, it’s time for a step that many people skip over: video promotion.

We talked a lot about creating videos that maximize Audience Retention and user experience signals. Which is important.

But for YouTube to measure these signals, you need to get views on your video!

Here are some strategies you can use to get targeted views to your video:

Mention Your Video on Quora and Other Q&A Sites

Quora, forums and other Q&A sites are some of the most popular sites on the web (in fact, Quora is one of the most popular sites online).

But if you try to go in there and spam your blog content, you’re going to get banned. That’s why you want to link to YouTube videos.

And not only can you get a high quantity of views… but the views you get from Q&A sites are high-quality too.

(In other words, high-retention views)

Think about it:

You’re posting your video in a place where people are desperate for information on a given topic. So the people that watch your video will watch a good chunk of your video to help them learn more about that topic.

To execute this step, just search for a keyword that describes your video’s topic. Then, find a question that you can answer.

When you find a question that seems like a good fit, answer the person’s question as best you can. Finally, link to your video at the end of your answer.

Here’s an example:

Link To Your Video In Your Email Signature

People that email you (like your mom) generally like you.

And if you’re like me, you get A TON of emails.

So when you add a link to your latest video in your email signature, you just set up a pipeline is high-retention views.

Embed Your Videos in Blog Posts

Whenever you write a blog post (on your site or as a guest post for another site), think to yourself:

“Where can I embed a YouTube video into this post?”

For example, when I mentioned “The Skyscraper Technique” in this guide, I embedded a video to explain how the strategy worked:

This INSTANTLY got my video a few hundred high-quality views.

Use Playlists

Playlists are one of the BEST ways to get more views on your videos. After all, playlists automatically play every video in the playlist… which can lead to thousands of extra views every month.

Here’s how to set them up:

First, look over your videos. And identify 4-5 videos that have a common theme or topic. For example, when I look at the videos I’ve published on my channel, I notice that I have quite a few that cover the topic: “link building”.

Then, create a playlist that includes that set of videos.

Finally, include that playlist on your channel page. Rinse and repeat until you have at least 3 playlists on your channel.

Speaking of your channel page…

Optimize Your Channel Page

An optimized channel can help your videos rank better in two ways:

First, your channel itself can rank in YouTube. Here’s an example:

Second, a great channel page=more subscribers. And getting more subscribers can indirectly improve your rankings.

First and foremost, you want your channel page to look nice and professional. In fact, when I updated my channel page to look like this…

…I noticed an uptick in views and subs.

Also, include keywords in your channel’s about section. Here’s an example:

See how I use terms like “white hat SEO”, “link building” and “search engine optimization” in my channel description?

These are all keyword that I want to rank for in YouTube.

Obviously, you don’t want to use keyword stuffing or any shady stuff like that. Just naturally sprinkle in words and phrases that you want your videos to rank for.

Here’s What To Do Next…

OK so I hope this guide helped show you how to rank your YouTube videos.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

What’s helped you rank your videos in YouTube?

Let me know by leaving a comment below right now.

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Next-level SEO training and link building strategies

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