Creating high quality content for medical websites can be tricky. You have to walk the fine line between being conversational (putting your current patients and potential patients at ease) and informational (providing scholarly, accurate medical information).
In fact, many feel that these two ideas cannot be blended together without contradicting each other. We say otherwise.
For those wanting to blend scientific medical information into a conversational format, here are some tips:
Develop personas
No, this doesn’t mean develop a persona for the person writing the content, but rather break your content down into target groups and develop a persona for each type of person. Get detailed. Try to include information on everything, from what they do for a living and where they live to hobbies.
Remember, even if you’re gearing your content to specific patients, make sure that the content you write for other targets can still be understood by a general audience.
Pick your keywords
Regardless of what you’re developing content for, keywords are always important. Chances are your potential patients are not searching for “headache [city, state]”. They’re more likely to use questions about their symptoms (“Why do I have a headache?”) and Google will infer their location.
This means you’ll have to blend what Google looks for in keywords with words/phrases that humans actually use.
Embrace conversational tone
Some people perceive conversational writing as less professional; however, when it comes to writing for the medical community, it can also be vital for allowing your patients to comprehend what’s being told to them and feel comfortable enough to engage.
Medical terminology and jargon can be difficult to understand without an M.D., and making your content sound like there’s a real person behind can help to cut through the fog.