diff --git a/services/youtrack/youtrack-helper.js b/services/youtrack/youtrack-helper.js
index 84108f3b0d3c1..deaab538c4488 100644
--- a/services/youtrack/youtrack-helper.js
+++ b/services/youtrack/youtrack-helper.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const description = `
-By default this badge looks for projects on [youtrack.jetbrains.com](https://youtrack.jetbrains.com).
-To specify a self-hosted instance, use the \`youtrack_url\` query param.
+Returns the number of issues for the specified project based on the \`query\` parameter defined.
+
+NOTE: The \`youtrack_url\` query param is required.
 `
 
 export { description }
diff --git a/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.service.js b/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.service.js
index f7a51dc2523ab..216d23817b4bf 100644
--- a/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.service.js
+++ b/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.service.js
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ export default class YoutrackIssues extends YoutrackBase {
           }),
           queryParam({
             name: 'youtrack_url',
-            example: 'https://youtrack.jetbrains.com',
+            example: 'https://shields.youtrack.cloud',
+            required: true,
           }),
           queryParam({
             name: 'query',
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ export default class YoutrackIssues extends YoutrackBase {
     return {
       label: 'issues',
       message: metric(count),
-      color: count > 0 ? 'yellow' : 'brightgreen',
+      color: count < 0 ? 'red' : count > 0 ? 'yellow' : 'brightgreen',
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.tester.js b/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.tester.js
index 6a2df7edb2e92..2a1f65692655d 100644
--- a/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.tester.js
+++ b/services/youtrack/youtrack-issues.tester.js
@@ -10,6 +10,13 @@ t.create('Issues (DEMO) (Cloud)')
     message: isMetricAllowNegative,
   })
 
+t.create('Issues (DEMO) (Empty Query) (Cloud)')
+  .get('/DEMO.json?youtrack_url=https://shields.youtrack.cloud')
+  .expectBadge({
+    label: 'issues',
+    message: isMetricAllowNegative,
+  })
+
 t.create('Issues (DEMO) (Invalid State) (Cloud Hosted)')
   .get('/DEMO.json?https://shields.youtrack.cloud&query=%23ABCDEFG')
   .expectBadge({