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goldkirk · 5 years ago

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It’s the end of the week. Let’s talk about the coronavirus.

As of the time of this writing, it’s Saturday, March 14, 2020, and I’m writing focused on the United States.

Okay, people! Another week down. Let’s talk a bit about what’s changed, where we are right now, and what we can maybe expect in the next week to month, since that seems to be what most of you really want to hear!

IN THIS POST:

Resources

U.S. info from this week

Where we stand now

What to know and do

Symptoms and when to worry

What is social distancing?

Who should be most concerned?

What can I do?

What is the biggest problem facing us?

Why toilet paper?

Will our whole country get locked down like Italy?

A reminder for people who have important prescriptions

A few resources, first, because those are handy and also the map I linked you all to a couple weeks ago straight up broke from such a heavy visitor load:

The most reliable, most frequently updated case map for SARS-CoV-2 in the US and also in Canada that currently exists, because the previous one died and all the others including the WHO are constantly way out of date for most of every day, and this one has a beautifully dedicated team of five people managing it: https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en

A great handy-dandy graphic (take the numbers with a grain of salt, because they are still constantly fluctuating for the next several months!) comparing SARS-CoV-2 with Influenza, SARS, and MERS: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ES_v3sMUEAA4uKk?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

An explanation of why “flattening the curve” is a nice dream and a very good goal to still work towards, but very, very hard to achieve at this point and a LOT more complicated than the nice little graphics floating around make it seem: https://medium.com/@joschabach/flattening-the-curve-is-a-deadly-delusion-eea324fe9727

A guide to what emergency supplies it’s good to ALWAYS have when a pandemic or natural disaster is looming, but also please don’t panic and try to buy all of these bc you don’t even need them ALL: http://femalefaust.blogspot.com/2020/03/be-prepared-quarantineshelter-in-place.html

A little look at what Italian healthcare workers are going through at the moment, just for some perspective: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/coronavirus-viral-photo-of-nurse-highlights-plight-of-italys-exhausted-health-workers

GOOD NEWS!!! Only 11 new cases in China today and they closed the last temporary hospital: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/coronavirus-wuhan-masks-video-doctors-nurses-hospital-a9402631.html

Okay. Now onto the U.S. info:

Major points this week: 16 states have canceled in-person school entirely, lots and lots of colleges have shifted to online for the rest of the month or semester, multiple cities, counties, and states have started placing limits on the sizes of gatherings, some cities and states have declared states of emergency, and President Trump declared a national emergency and all the stuff that goes along with it, as well as a travel ban on all of Europe (as of today--the UK and Ireland were previously omitted).

We also were (quietly) told for a fact that some deaths previously attributed to influenza were actually COVID-19 deaths caused by SARS-CoV-2 that lead people to develop ARD and suffocate LIKE pneumonia, but NOT actually pneumonia. I haven’t found any solid number from the CDC or anyone on HOW MANY cases we’re talking about, here, but if I do, I’ll let you know. What this does tell us is that the virus was going around before we were checking people for COVID-19 seriously, which means that there were already some chains of transmission going we didn’t know about, and we’re not sure how long they were going on for, but some deaths are going to be officially reassigned from influenza to COVID-19 eventually.

The US, as of me writing this post, is up to 2,970 confirmed cases and 58 deaths. If you want a breakdown of cases by state AND county/city, AND by date and time of confirmation, AND references for EACH ONE, this site is your best friend: https://coronavirus.1point3acres.com/en

Where we stand now:

The U.S. response to the pandemic has been...not excellent, to say the least. A LOT of time was lost, a lot of covering-up and downplaying was done, and we are so far behind with testing that it’s majorly embarrassing. As of yesterday, we hadn’t even tested 20,000 people yet, and we were massively set back in the beginning by a) refusing the offer of test kits from the WHO and opting to make our own instead, and b) having the first batch of those be faulty and losing even more time, and c) having the kits that HAVE gone out be facing the issue of a shortage of important reagent. In addition, the pandemic has been downplayed a LOT in past weeks, and places around the country have been making decisions on their own, without coordinated leadership. It’s great that things are closing and people are taking precautions now, but it would have been better for it to be sooner. But now is better than later! That’s a good thing!

Our testing rate needs to be a lot higher than it is. Like. In the 100k+ per day range, if possible. At LEAST, say, 15-20k per day. We’re going to get there, but it’s VERY late. And because we’ve tested so few people so far, it LOOKS like our rates are very low and also we have very little clue where chains of transmission are happening under the radar, aside from in, say, Washington and New York.

Over the next one to three weeks, we’ll be seeing a surge in testing and a surge in cases, and that’s going to be the real beginning. We’re anywhere from 1.5 to 3 weeks behind Italy, most likely, but our nation’s response has more closely followed what Iran has done, so we’ll see what our specific timeline ends up being. It’s a question mark right now, but we are currently on the very very early beginnings of the exponential growth curve.

What to know and do:

SARS-CoV-2 SYMPTOMS, AND WHEN TO WORRY:

We all know how colds work--runny nose, sneezes sometimes, cough, blah blah blah, not so severe you can’t keep working. Influenza is worse, more intense, and way more exhausting, and has more intense respiratory symptoms; IF it gets bad enough, you can end up with bacterial pneumonia.

SARS-CoV-2 has so far had a range of symptoms covering almost everything an influenza virus can cause, but the very, very important main indicators are a high fever and a usually dry cough. That’s a big distinction. Influenza is an UPPER RESPIRATORY virus, and attacks sinuses, etc. SARS-CoV-2 goes straight for your lungs. Do not pass GO, do not collect 200 bucks, it wants to attack your lung tissue and it’s going to do it. If you have milder symptoms, that’s fine, you’ll feel under the weather like you have a cold or flu, and you might have a dry, annoying cough, and you might spike a fever constantly or on and off that can get up to 103ish. If you’re having lower respiratory symptoms, keep an eye on it and check your temp 3-4 times a day or more often.

The thing with SARS-CoV-2 is that it doesn’t always (or necessarily even OFTEN) get bad immediately--you can go days with more mild symptoms and suddenly deteriorate after, say, a week. You’ll go in one day from being like “eh” to having shortness of breath and end up freaked out at a hospital, and the faster you notice a change, the better.

IF YOU GET A SEVERE CASE OF COVID-19, YOU DO NOT HAVE NORMAL PNEUMONIA. Yes, lungs fill up with fluid, but no, it’s not from bacterial pneumonia. It’s from ARD, Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome, and it’s because your lung tissue is damaged by the virus itself. This can’t be treated by antibiotics. It’s got to be beaten by your body, and it has to be monitored carefully and treated with respiratory support and fluid draining. The pattern of lung damage shows up so distinctly on scans that that alone is enough for a diagnosis.

MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT GET COVID-19 EVEN IF THEY GET SICK FROM SARS-CoV-2. The people who are MOST likely to get it are:

people over 60, ESPECIALLY people over 80;

people with cardiovascular disease

people with asthma

people with diabetes

people with hypertension

If you have any of those conditions, this is the time to stay home and self-isolate, and make sure your family members do too. Talk with your doctor(s) to get a clear plan of when they want YOU to go to a hospital if necessary, and make sure you’re taking as many measures as possible to avoid getting sick. If you have a FAMILY MEMBER with these conditions or within that age range or both, either stop visiting them or take a lot of precautions yourself with social distancing and hand washing and everything so that you don’t carry the virus to them.

IF YOU HAVE SYMPTOMS, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CALL BEFORE EVER GOING TO A DOCTOR. They will likely not want you to even come in if you have a mild case, but they DO want to know about it. And if you have to go to the hospital, call ahead, call ahead, CALL AHEAD. Let them know so they can be prepared.

WHAT IS SOCIAL DISTANCING?

Social distancing is exactly what it sounds like. If you have the option, work from home, do school from home. Stop going to public gatherings. Go to as few public places as possible. Stop visiting people, stop letting people come over. Stop eating out. If you DO go out to a grocery store or something, or if you choose to go to smaller gatherings or someone’s house who you trust isn’t sick, keep a MINIMUM of 3 ft between you and anyone else, and preferably maybe 6 ft or more.

However, feel free to go for walks now that it’s warmer, so long as you’re not in close proximity with people. Smile, nod, talk, just keep distance. Go to state parks. Go for walks in your yard. Take the dog out. Go to the beach. Open air with large spaces are GREAT right now. Don’t stay cooped up just because you’re avoiding people. And use things like Discord to stay in touch with people and keep collaborating and hanging out and watching things and just generally not going stir-crazy while you miss friends and family.

WHO SHOULD BE MOST CONCERNED?

As I mentioned above, anyone who is over the age of 60, especially the 80+ crowd, anyone who is immunosuppressed (chemo patients, transplant recipients, some autoimmune disease patients, anyone taking certain drugs, anyone with certain genetic conditions), anyone who has a history of respiratory disease (asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, etc.), and also any kids and adults who, say, got RSV as an infant and always have a harder time with ANY respiratory virus in general.

AND ALSO EVERYONE WHO LIVES WITH ANYONE IN ONE OF THE ABOVE GROUPS. If you are in close proximity with someone at higher risk, you need to be more careful. Self-isolate as much as possible, disinfect everything, keep a lookout for your vulnerable family or roomates or whoever, and do your best to not bring any germs home. DO NOT VISIT VULNERABLE PEOPLE IF YOU CAN AVOID IT, and if you’re a vulnerable person yourself, try to just not go out at all until the worst of this is over.

WHAT CAN I DO?

WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP AND WATER FOR 20 SECONDS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE AND DON’T RE-INFECT THEM AFTERWARDS. This is an ENVELOPED VIRUS, which means that soap KICKS ITS ASS bc it’s a WEAK LITTLE FOOL. Regular soap just devastates the envelope protecting the virus itself, and a) the virus can’t really survive outside of it, and b) the water will then wash the virus off your hands anyway as long as you rinse well enough. Hand sanitizer is good too, but not as good as soap--use it if you’re out and about and can’t get to a sink with soap. In that case, it’s better than nothing.

Don’t. Touch. Your face. Don’t touch your mouth, your cheeks, your nose, your eyes, nothing. I know how hard it is. We do it ALL the time. Put stickers on your face or tape over your fingers if that will help you feel the weird thing and then remember. Sit on your hands when they’re twitchy, if that helps. Just avoid touching your face. That’s the #1 way anyone gets infected.

Eat as balanced as you can. Do NOT try to superdose any vitamins or anything, at best your wasting money and at worst you’re gonna overload and damage your liver or something. Do not use essential oils, they’re NOT for ingestion and usually not good for being put on skin.

Stay hydrated. Drink, drink, drink. Water, tea, juice, whatever. Alcohol will not kill germs in your body, you can’t keep from getting sick by throwing back tequila or whiskey, sorry. Drink water.

GET. SLEEP. I know sometimes you can’t help it, but as MUCH as you can get at least 6-9 hours of sleep. Sleep is one of the #1 things that keeps your immune system strong, and lack of sleep and hydration make you so much more vulnerable. Give your body a boost.

Keep your stress levels down. If things are making you anxious, avoid them at least part of every day. Do things that help you relax--go for a hike, play animal crossing, work out (not in a crowded gym, please), read, write, play Legos, tinker with your car, whatever. Avoid social media and the news except for the minimum necessary. It’s okay. The world is not about to end, we will get through this, it is going to calm down eventually, and we will make things work out.

If you have extra supplies like alcohol wipes, face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer, please please please check with local disability/chronic illness groups AND local nursing homes and hospitals to see if they can use any of them. If you have some to spare, that’s the best thing you can do with the supplies.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM FACING US?

The potential for cases to spike quickly enough to overload our hospital system. There is a limited number of doctors/nurses, beds, and most importantly, ventilators in this country. As we’re seeing in Italy, if there are more people sick than there are supplies and people to treat them well enough, serious triage decisions have to start being made about who can get the one remaining ventilator when there are three people who need it. That’s a bad, bad situation.

AND if the system is overloaded with COVID-19 patients, other people with heart attacks, strokes, etc., who need intensive care and sometimes ventilation too aren’t able to get the treatment they need. You start having to choose between COVID-19 patients and other critically ill people, and the rate of death for ALL serious conditions will go up.

We don’t want that. That’s the big issue here. Most people won’t get severe illness that leads to COVID-19, but if too many people get it too quickly, enough WILL end up with COVID-19 all at the same time that it overwhelms our medical system’s ability to manage it. We’re hoping that that doesn’t happen here, and we need everyone to follow the guidelines so we have our best shot at avoiding that.

WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE PANIC-BUYING SO MUCH GODDAMN TOILET PAPER OH MY GOD?

I am just a young human being in this weird, weird world, and I don’t have any super clear answer for you, but smarter people than I have tried to answer that question and I will link you to two of those people’s articles now. 1 || 2

tl;dr - buying toilet paper makes people feel a little more in control? we think? it’s apparently important to us psychologically. and mostly, it’s because once ONE person starts panic-buying, a whole run starts because no one ELSE wants to be left without, and it just escalates from there. (however, it’s interesting to note that panic-buying seems to be more geographic, too--in Italy, for example, it really only happened for a weekend. in other places, it’s been much more enduring. and it’s in scale with how much people normally buy--if you usually buy enough for a few days, you buy for a week or two; if you usually buy enough for one to two weeks, you buy enough for two weeks to a month. cultural differences affect panic buying a LOT)

WILL OUR WHOLE COUNTRY GET LOCKED DOWN LIKE ITALY???

Unlikely. Not because it’s not a good idea, but because the U.S. is very different from a lot of places, and really, the federal government is supposed to be a GUIDE in these kinds of scenarios while leaving real power up to the states and even city/county level authorities. Slamming down a nation-wide quarantine order would make people lose their shit, and HAVE to go through the courts, most likely, so that’s probably not going to happen. Especially since that would pretty much require martial law, and like...that’s just...yeah. Really not likely. HOWEVER, what we WILL almost certainly see more of is regional lockdowns, like has already happened in New York, and a LOT more serious closings of schools, businesses, etc. I also expect that within the next few days or a week or two, we’ll see increasing domestic travel restrictions, all the way up to completely halted travel possibly, aside from totally necessary health/work reasons. So DO expect that you WILL be asked by your local or state authorities to shelter in place or stay home indefinitely at SOME point, for SOME amount of time, and if you can at all, prepare by having enough food and random supplies like deodorant and shampoo and stuff to last two to maybe 4 weeks max.

I want to again remind everyone really quick before I go that if you have really important prescriptions that you need to be SURE you have enough of for at least one to two months, PLEASE contact your local pharmacy and/or your doctor to ask about getting an advance refill or be temporarily bumped up to a 90 day supply. They are HAPPY to do that in times like this, just like when a hurricane is coming. But you have to ask as early as possible, before things get shut down or travel is restricted or there are shortages of things while production in certain regions or nations is scaled down due to the virus. IF YOU HAVE ASTHMA OR ANYTHING ELSE REQUIRING AN INHALER OR NEBULIZED MEDICINE, MAKE SURE YOURS IS UP TO DATE AND NOT EXPIRED RIGHT NOW. Don’t wait, do not put it off, do NOT skip treatments, do not take the chance.

That’s all for today, pals! I hope this helps. Feel free to drop me any questions you have in the replies or in my inbox, I’ll be answering on and off all day and next week.

#coronavirus #covid-19 #long post #katie explains things #politics and current events

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sciencespies · 5 years ago

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How to Avoid Misinformation About COVID-19

https://sciencespies.com/nature/how-to-avoid-misinformation-about-covid-19/

How to Avoid Misinformation About COVID-19

In mid-February, World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told an international security conference: “We’re not just fighting an epidemic. We’re fighting an infodemic.”

As COVID-19 cases have surged across the globe, so has misinformation. According to research by the Bruno Kessler Foundation in Italy, every day in March 2020 an average of 46,000 new posts on Twitter linked to inaccurate or misleading information about the crisis. The rapidly changing situation means that people are naturally grasping for information about the pandemic. So what’s the best way to separate the trustworthy from the fake? Smithsonian asked experts who study science communication and misinformation what readers should keep in mind while watching the news, reading an article or scanning Facebook.

Why COVID-19 Misinformation Spreads

If you’ve found yourself unsure whether a soundbite or headline you saw or shared was true, know that you’re not alone, says Dietram Scheufele, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies science and political communication. Uncertainty and anxiety about the pandemic, combined with the political overtones and partisanship that influence how we respond to new information, create an environment ripe for misinformation. Research on political misinformation suggests emotions like anxiety and anger impact how people process fake news, which itself often goes viral due to its ability to provoke emotion. On top of that, nearly half of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center agreed in 2017 that “[t]he public doesn’t really know enough about science to understand findings in the news.”

Another fact to remember: We are all more gullible than we might think. A 2016 Pew survey found that 23 percent of Americans reported sharing fake news at one point or another. When shown untrue or misleading articles about COVID-19, only 30 percent of people recognized the news to be false, according to research published in the Washington Post by New York University and Stanford researchers.

“When we see something, the first thing we want to do is believe it,” says Reyhaneh Maktoufi, who researches misinformation as a Rita Allen Foundation Civic Science Fellow at NOVA WGBH.

But it’s easy to fight misinformation, too: Simply taking a moment to pause and assess the accuracy of the information you’re spreading helps. People are less likely to share COVID-19 misinformation after being “nudged” to consider the accuracy of an unrelated headline, according to a study researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the University of Regina in Canada just published on a preprint (not yet peer-reviewed) server.

Maktoufi advises a three-step process: Check the source, check the author and check the content. Read on for a step-by-step guide explaining the expert-recommended way to vet news, plus guidance for what to do if someone you know shares misinformation.

Table of Contents

How do you know whether a news source is trustworthy?

If the source isn’t one you’re familiar with, then Google it to make sure it is a legitimate news organization, says Emily K. Vraga, an associate professor in mass communication at the University of Minnesota who researches health misinformation on social media. The site “Media Bias/Fact Check” rates various news organizations on “factual reporting” as well as ideological skew. Major health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) are among the most credible sources of information on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Once you’ve made sure that the news source is reliable, Scheufele and Maktoufi recommend checking out the author. Consider whether the writer is a coronavirus or pandemic expert or just a scientist in a related field. If the author is a journalist, check to see what their usual beat is. Is this a health reporter with experience covering scientific topics?

Another rule of thumb: “Don’t just rely on one source,” Scheufele says. Instead, practice what communication scholars call “lateral reading” and gather information from a variety of diverse news sources. If a certain conclusion appears repeatedly in different reliable sources, that should increase your confidence in it.

How do I make sure the information in a report is legitimate? What are red flags to watch out for?

Check when the story was published. “Especially for COVID-19 [news], the date matters so much,” Vraga says, because “a lot of the facts on the ground may have changed,” like case counts.

Try to determine where the information presented is coming from. Is it from a state epidemiologist, the CDC or another trusted organization? If there’s a link to the source, click on that link to double-check the data yourself. The “click the links” rule also applies to scrolling past headlines on social media: Read the article before you share.

“Take a deep breath and be skeptical,” Vraga says, especially when you see the following red flags: too-good-to-be-true headlines or news that plays strongly to emotional cues instead of taking a level-headed approach.

What should I know about how scientific research works? How can I tell strong research from weak research?

In a 2016 National Science Board survey, 77 percent of Americans said they didn’t understand or couldn’t define the concept of a ‘scientific study.’ “Science is always an iterative, ongoing, self-correcting process,” Vraga says. Treat any single study as a blurry data point that needs further research to back it up and put it in sharper detail. The scientific community calls this reproducibility, which a 2015 National Science Foundation report defines as the “ability of a researcher to duplicate the results of a prior study using the same materials and procedures.” If this process reveals a major error in the original team’s work, which happens rarely, the research will be retracted, which signals to the scientific community that the data is flawed or unreliable. Academic journals may withdraw retracted studies from publication, but news of that retraction may not necessarily make it into previous coverage of that research in a more mainstream news outlet.

Studies are typically put through a rigorous vetting process known as peer review during which scientists who were not involved will double check the team’s results before the study is published in a reputable scientific journal. The peer-review process can take up to weeks or months, but in these unprecedented times, researchers around the world have turned away from their usual work to run a full-court press on COVID-19, expediting the pace of science. In February, a Reuters report showed that of 153 studies published on COVID-19 at the time, 92 had not yet been peer reviewed and 3 had been retracted.

Likewise, news about drug and vaccine trials should be approached with caution, since clinical trials involve multiple, time-consuming rounds of testing to ensure treatments are both safe and effective for humans.

Because science is so specialized, it’s unrealistic to expect yourself to vet a scientific study all on your own, Scheufele says. Instead, he suggests asking these questions: “Is the study peer-reviewed? Is it in a reputable journal? Do the authors work at a top-tier university? And if the study is covered by news media, what do other independent experts think of the results?”

If a study runs contrary to current scientific consensus, that warrants extra skepticism, he adds. Vraga suggests checking a study’s sample size (how many people or datapoints were involved) to know whether a study might be too small to be generalizable to the larger population. Finally, Scheufele says, “If a study makes absolute claims without any acknowledgment of uncertainties or caveats, it’s probably too good to be true.”

There are a lot of “my friend who is a healthcare provider at X hospital says,” posts circulating on social media lately. Should I trust these?

“The plural of anecdote is not data,” Scheufele says. In other words: Be wary of treating one person or one healthcare worker’s experience as broadly generalizable.

What should I know when looking at a chart, image or infographic circulating on social media?

For an image or video—such as the widely circulated video falsely claiming a dolphin had been spotted in Venetian canals when the video was actually from the southern Italian island of Sardinia—try running the photo or a video frame through a reverse image search tool like Google Images.

Both Bang Wong, who leads the Broad Institute’s data visualization group Pattern, and Alberto Cuadra, Science magazine’s lead graphics editor, encourage readers to seek out context for charts or infographics. Look for an explanation of the graphic from a reputable source, read the axis labels carefully, see where the data depicted came from and pay attention to the units of measurement. For example, cases per capita, overall cases and growth rate are three different metrics to understand which areas have severe outbreaks, but recognize that test availability—how many possibly sick people are able to get tested and counted—might skew those numbers.

How do I judge whether an information source is twisting the facts to suit a political narrative?

“Look at the content and see: Who is it benefitting?” Maktoufi says. “Is it benefiting a specific group or partisan group or company?” You can also compare statements you’re unsure about with the coverage at specialized journalistic sources (like Stat News, which focuses on health coverage) and information from career civil servants at the CDC and FDA.

What should I do if someone in my social circle shares information I know is false?

Don’t be condescending or cruel. Your friend, acquaintance or family member is likely well intentioned and anxious about the disease, just like you. Gently correct them and link to an unimpeachably credible source, Maktoufi says.

That last step is critical. A few years ago, Vraga showed hundreds of college students participating in her study simulated Facebook and Twitter feeds containing a misinformed post about the Zika virus. When the made-up commenters linked to a source (Snopes or the CDC) in their corrections, it made the students less likely to agree with the falsehood when asked about it later, whereas unsourced corrections didn’t persuade them.

You might phrase a polite correction like this, Vraga suggests: “I understand that this is scary and we’re all looking for solutions, but the best evidence is…” Go on to state exactly what that best evidence shows in case whoever reads that comment doesn’t click through on your link. Avoid restating the myth—you don’t want bad information circulating any further.

If there’s already another correcting comment, Vraga says, then back up that person, ideally by commenting yourself and linking to a distinct source. Research suggests that if you’re close to someone, your correction has a higher chance 0f sticking.

What should I do if I accidentally share inaccurate information?

If you realize you’ve already shared misinformation, Vraga says you should self-correct, ideally by deleting the original, inaccurate statement and create a new post, email or text—whichever platform you originally shared it on—with the accurate information. Alternatively, you can prominently update your original post with the correction, although people may not see the updated version on their feeds. Plus, thank the friend who tipped you off to the error.

Expert-recommended reliable sources:

Misinformation/Myth-busting pages:

The WHO maintains a “Myth Busters” page debunking COVID-19 misinformation

Researchers from the Ryerson Social Media Lab in Canada are tracking COVID-19 misinformation and matching false claims with fact-checks. As of April 8th, their tracker has 1,714 entries classified as false, misleading, unproven or manipulated.

NewsGuard lists websites that have propagated COVID-19 misinformation

Media Bias/Fact Check

Wikipedia has a fairly thorough list of “fake news” websites

Find trusted fact-checkers on this list of news organizations that part of the International Fact-Checking Network

#Nature

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clarencenicholsonata · 5 years ago

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11 Best Restaurant Landing Page Examples of All Time

A landing page is a single web page that appears in response to clicking on a search engine optimized search result or directed link. It can be a "static" page or series of pages on a website.

Landing pages can be used by brands that are B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to customer), just like your restaurant.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get about landings is “How do I get more customers?”

The answer, with a landing page created to generate sales. When a landing page is designed and optimized properly, it can maximize your online presence, allowing you to educate and convert viewers into customers.

To get started and inspired, here are 11 of the best restaurant landing pages you’ll ever see. Plus learn about the best ways to build or improve your restaurant's landing page with real-life examples.

1. Hawksworth Restaurant

Avoid the Clutter and Keep it Clean

One of the most unstated features of a great landing page is simplicity. Keeping your landing page clear and concise, while simultaneously providing your customers with all the information they need is a skill worth mastering.

A landing page design should be simple and free of clutter. This allows visitors to focus on the most important elements of your page. It also prevents viewers from being distracted by colorful backgrounds, unnecessary information and more focused on making a reservation or call from your page.

As a rule of thumb, follow these four landing page rules follow:

Define what your landing page goal is and stick to it. If you're here to inform people about your restaurant, remove anything that doesn't serve that purpose.

Have the essentials on your website: a menu, contact, reservation, about, and location. Anything else is just an added bonus or extra. Use your colors wisely, add contrast to elements that you want to stand out, like an CTA button.

2. Red Lobster

Share Your Restaurant's Story

A landing page should always be created with the buyer in mind.

It’s called “buyer psychology.”

One element of buyer psychology you should cover on your landing page to influence visitors to take action on your page is sharing your story.

Sharing your story is crucial when you're explaining your position and credibility to those who have never experienced your restaurant.

The quickest way for visitors to identify with what your restaurant has to offer is through storytelling. But let's not fool ourselves, we live in a time where customers care more about self-interest above anything else.

So your brand’s story needs to connect with customers based on their needs, and wants.

If they want fresh ingredients and food then share that side of the story by skillfully addressing your customers' pain points.

For example: We created this restaurant because we wanted to provide authentic Italian cuisine that offers customers a local experience.

This sentence focuses on both your authentic brand story and pitches to customers looking for a reliable Italian food experience.

Brand storytelling is so essential that we even created a step by step guide on how to do it. Check out “what brand storytelling is & how to do it (With examples!)”

3. The Botanist Restaurant

Use Stunning Professional Images

Did you know that when people hear information, they're likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later?

However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of that information approximately three days later.

You've probably experienced it yourself. The brain loves images far more than it likes text because visuals are processed 60,000 times faster.

Images play a big part in your restaurant's landing page success. You’ve heard the saying "people eat with their eyes,"

The Botanist restaurant landing page has stunning professional images of their food, leaping off the screen and urging visitors to choose them as their next restaurant location. If you want to have the same effect on your landing page, you'll need to invest in an expert photographer to showcase your best meals and plating.

Photos of inside your restaurant are also a plus, allowing viewers to experience what it’s like mentally before they physically visit in your restaurant.

Check out Shopify's article on "Food Photography 101: How to Take Perfect Pictures of Your Food." Get the best tips and tricks to capturing and adding images to your website.

4. Kissatanto

Show Off Your Menu and Specials

A popular mistake amongst restaurant landing pages is that they tend to hide or avoid displaying their menu.

This can be frustrating for new customers who want to plan ahead.

Having your restaurant's menu available on your website is one of the thirteen features all successful websites for restaurants should have, there's no going around it.

People like to be informed; they want to know what they can expect before they go to your restaurant. Some customers don't want to be caught off guard by prices or changes when they visit in person.

If your restaurant menu changes daily, then you can list your refreshments or specials instead. You can also send out daily emails of your menu to your subscribers.

5. Maenam

Offer a Great Sales Pitch

The purpose of your landing page is to pitch your restaurant to potential customers. Next to sharing your brand story,menu and food, you'll need to have a great sales pitch to match.

But it has to be clever.

Customers are so used to being sold to they're unaffected by the "buy, buy, buy" culture. Instead, you'll have to position your landing pages narrative and copy to speak and appeal to them. Smart content talks with your customers rather than to them. It talks about what they want and how it benefits them.

So what kind of Jedi mind trick are you going to use on your landing page?

The answer, focus on one item or feature to sell about your restaurant and connect it to your customer's needs.

You'll have to find and define that feature and use it as a value proposition for your landing page. A value proposition is a secret sauce that whatever gives your brand an edge over your competitors.

You can list thousands of benefits, but when you ask your customers what they love the most about your restaurant, it all boils down to that answer.

6. Le Bernardin

Creating Ways to Collect Leads

If you want to ensure that customers visit your restaurant, you're going to have to find a way to collect their information. Start collecting emails making online reservations accessible.

You can do this by setting up website pop-ups and forms that are triggered when visitors land on a page or a reservation section on your website.

Reservation Online Forms

Reservation Pop Ups

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Ready to create your own reservation pop-ups and forms?

Book a free call to learn how our team of marketing experts can help you collect leads and reservations for your restaurant today!

7. Araxi Restaurant

Add Your Contact Details

A contact page can be the first place that customers go to and the last contact they have with you. So treat it with respect.

Here are five best practices to keep in mind when you're designing your "Contact Us Page:"

1.Ensure that your copy/text is inviting, let customers feel like you want them to contact you. Don't just pitch "Contact us", drive it home with an inviting sentence.

Don't crowd your contact page with unnecessary information. If you want to add more details, create an FAQ page instead.

Ask limited questions. Let your contact form be short and concise. Name, email, and a number to help make your customer's journey easier.

Offer customers more than one way to contact you. Not everyone wants to call; some people might prefer to send an email, live chat, or go directly to your restaurant with the help of a map.

Give customers reassure that you'll get back to them. Customers are reaching out to you on good faith that you'll respond to them. Try to send an automated follow-up email or let them know that you'll provide a call back within a specific timeframe.

8. Carisma Restaurant

Add Testimonials and Reviews to Your Site

Don't shy away from showing off your customer testimonials. When it comes to food, people take customer reviews very seriously. Upserve found that 33% of people read other guests' reviews before selecting a place to eat.

Not to mention that 84% of customers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations. What customers have to say and how they rate your business directly affects your restaurant's profits and online presence.

You’ll have to handle online reviews in three ways:

Find and rectify bad reviews about your restaurant. Use social listening tools like Mention to find unsatisfied customers can reach out to them with a discount or apology.

Sometimes our "haters" can tell us what we need to improve in our service or food. So actively listen.

Display your customer testimonials and reviews on your website. Carisma's website uses social media widgets to share reviews in real-time.

For more, check out our article on landing page customer reviews: The how the what and wherefore.

9. Hy's Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar

Add Your Location & Google Maps

A restaurant's location should never be a secret unless you constantly change locations. You should always provide the exact street name and number so customers can pop in and dine.

Adding Google maps to your website is a subtle modern-day marketing feature. Customers can easily find the best route from their current location to your restaurant along with landmarks, so they don't get lost along the way.

Instead of asking customers to leave your site to copy and paste your address in a GPS software, keep them on your website by embedding Google Maps on your website.

Geek Tutorials: How to Insert a Google Map to Your Website

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10. Canoe Restaurant

Make It Mobile Responsive

There isn't a minute that passes by that we aren't using our phones, including searching for places to buy food. So once you've created your restaurant landing page, you'll have to ensure that it's mobile responsive.

About 72% of people want mobile-friendly websites, and 94% of people judge sites solely based on its responsive mobile web design and nothing else.

Here are three things to consider when choosing a mobile friendly design for your landing page:

A Custom Layout: You need to have a custom layout for the mobile version of your landing page. You can't merely have a smaller version of your landing page fit a mobile screen. Navigation and size have to be considered.

Optimize Images: Bigger images take a long time to load via mobile, try to optimize your image for fast loading speed while keeping the quality.

Mobile-Friendly Buttons: Pay close attention to the CTA's and buttons on your site, they have to fit the mobile screen big enough that viewers can touch them to get a response. Remember, the smaller the button, the harder it is to click.

Check out more website creation fundamentals that small business owners often neglect.

11. Wishpond's Restaurant landing Page Template

Test Before Launching

Always test your landing page before launching.

First impressions of your landing page stay with new customers, and customers are more tech-savvy than they have ever been; they expect to find a fully functional landing page when they search for your restaurant.

In fact there are 45 landing page optimization tips to help you decide what to test. For starters you can check these 6 features on your own:

Loading speed

Misspellings and incorrect grammar

Broken links

Buttons and contact forms

Website pop-ups

Loaded or broken image links

A Little Something Extra

Wishpond's landing page templates each come with an integrated marketing automation features like built-in pop, opt-in bars, mobile-responsive design, A/B testing and real-time analytics to monitor and manage your page without the hassle of moving from tool to tool.

Create a landing page from start to finish with ease using a simple drag-and-drop editor or use pre-designed templates made for each niche, with no need for advanced design or programming knowledge.

Summary

Creating a successful landing page for your restaurant doesn't have to feel like a hassle. Following these 11 examples and tips will guide you on your way to create a lead generating and reservation booking landing page:

Avoid the Clutter and Keep it Clean

Share Your Restaurants Story

Use Professional Images

Show Off Your Menu and Specials

Offer a Great Sales Pitch

Creating Ways to Collect Leads

Add Your Contact Details

Add Testimonials and Reviews to Your Site

Add Your Location & Google Maps

Make It Mobile Responsive

Test Before Launching

8 Steps to Master Instagram Restaurant Marketing Like a Pro

29 Restaurant Giveaway Ideas & Examples You Can Use Today

How to Win at Restaurant Email Marketing: 5 Best Practices & 7 Content Ideas

6 Best Facebook Ads for Restaurants

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harrynell001-blog · 6 years ago

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