The secret to making high-quality health content that stands out in a crowded market
Data shows that over 70% of adults use the internet as their first source for health information. And as this percentage rises with each passing year, it presents a big opportunity for anyone interested in creating digital health content for a living.
People are hungry for answers to their pressing health questions, and with so much misinformation and “fake news” circulating online, they’re even hungrier for health information that’s created by experts they can trust.
That’s why creating digital health content can be a great career or business opportunity for health professionals looking to diversify their resumes or make a career change. But keep one thing in mind: Having a background in health doesn’t guarantee success in this industry.
Whether you want to take on a content creation role at a digital company or you want to go it alone and launch a business in this field, you’ll need to keep three things in mind.
One: The health content market is saturated.
Two: You’ll need to capture and hold people’s ever-dwindling attention to succeed.
Three: You can’t rely solely on algorithm-based search engine optimization (SEO) and app store optimization (ASO) tactics to make an impact — if you do, you’ll notice that users and readers leave as quickly as they come.
So how can you stand out in a saturated market that’s full of anxious consumers with short attention spans?
By producing health content that’s easy to understand, accurate, and trustworthy.
It’s a winning formula that’s so obvious, it’s often overlooked. Yet, these three factors are key to retaining readers and encouraging them to recommend your platform to their friends and family.
As a doctor who has worked in digital health content production for more than a decade, and now as Flo’s Director of Medical Accuracy, I’ve been fortunate enough to pick up some pearls of wisdom about how to create content that people understand, trust, and recommend. Here are a few to bear in mind if you want to make a real impact with your health content.
Three ways to make sure your target audience understands your content
1. Use simple language and check the reading level
Too often, health information is presented in a way that’s too complex for the average adult reader to understand. And it’s often doctors and others with the deepest levels of health knowledge that are guilty of creating health information that’s hard to understand. This is mainly because doctors become so used to talking about health using complex jargon, they often forget that the terms that are obvious to them mean absolutely nothing to anyone who hasn’t been to medical school.
A case in point? A 2016 piece of research found that top health sites like WebMD and Mayo Clinic use a reading level that’s too advanced for their target audience. Because the average American reads at a 7th to 8th grade level (that’s 12 to 14 years old), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that medical information is written at a 6th to 7th grade level (10 to 12 years old).
Avoid making your content too complex by checking it with one of the many readability tools available online.
2. Keep the reader’s health literacy level in mind
Hitting the right reading level isn’t the only thing to keep in mind before publishing your content. You’ll also need to tailor it to match your audience’s health literacy level. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others.” And this means that people with low health literacy levels don’t have the skills needed to manage their health and prevent disease. According to the CDC, about 9 out of 10 Americans have low health literacy. And a 2015 study found that almost half of Europeans have limited health literacy.
You can cater to your audience’s health literacy level by:
- Using plain English — keep the language you use as simple as possible
- Using visual aids like infographics, videos, and images (65% of the population are visual learners)
- Structuring your content clearly so it’s easy to navigate
- Giving clear, actionable takeaways
This goes for all content types, from blog articles to videos and social media posts. Doing so will help your audience remember the information you share and take steps to protect their health.
3. Get feedback from your audience
Just because you think your content is easy to understand doesn’t mean your audience agrees.
Sorry.
And making assumptions like this can quickly put you out of business and/or a job — if it turns out you’re wrong. At Flo, we regularly conduct surveys with our users to check how our content comes across, and then we make adjustments as needed. And because users are often guilty of saying one thing but meaning something else, it’s important to also look at your platform’s analytics to see the types of content your audience spends the most time consuming, sharing, and revisiting. This can provide interesting insights.
Four ways to win your target audience’s trust
1. Stick to scientific, peer-reviewed sources
The quality of the sources you base your health content on is key to gaining your audience’s trust. Focus on peer-reviewed scientific studies (instead of random blogs, Wikipedia, and entertainment sites) and when possible, use large reviews that cover dozens or even hundreds of studies on a certain topic. It can be tempting to create content based on your personal opinion or the opinion of others you respect, but this can quickly lead to trouble if your audience acts on an opinion with the belief that it’s a proven fact. Avoid this risk by sticking to facts. And if your content calls for an opinion or anecdotal evidence, make it clear that’s what it is.
2. Use qualified content creators
Would you rather have your hair cut by an experienced and fully-trained hairdresser or by a dentist who’s thinking about a career change?
Exactly.
The same thought process applies to those looking for health advice online. Readers more readily trust information when it comes from an expert rather than a hobbyist, so make sure whoever is creating your health content (that includes you) is suitably qualified to give that information. And display the creator’s and/or reviewer’s qualifications so readers can do their due diligence and see that the person has the expertise to give advice on the topic.
3. Avoid cherry-picking evidence
When creating content, it’s infinitely easier to decide on the angle you want to cover and then look for evidence to back it up — discounting anything that contradicts your point. But where health content is concerned, this approach is best avoided. The truth is, there are so many scientific studies out there that you can find research to back up almost any claim if you look hard enough, which means you can end up creating very biased content that doesn’t give your audience the balanced information they need to make an informed decision. So avoid the temptation to cherry-pick the information you want when creating content. Instead, stay objective throughout the process and paint a full picture of the topic.
4. Regularly review and update content as information changes
The field of health is fast-moving. New discoveries are made, guidelines change, and best practice gets revised. Don’t fall into the trap of creating content, patting yourself on the back, and moving on to the next project. Make sure you revisit the content you produce and update it as needed to reflect changes as they happen.
And that’s it
Creating health content is very rewarding — especially when you see its impact on those who need the information you’re sharing. But when poorly executed, it can cause more harm than good — leaving readers or viewers feeling confused about their health and what to do next. So if you’re just starting out in health content creation or looking for ways to make a bigger impact, start by following the tips shared above. They’ll help you produce credible health information that’s truly useful to your readers, while empowering them to take charge of their well-being, and improving health on a large scale.
References
“Creating better content for users with low health literacy.” NHS Digital, 13 Feb 2019, https://digital.nhs.uk/blog/transformation-blog/2019/creating-better-content-for-users-with-low-health-literacy
“Examining the Reading Level of Internet Medical Information for Common Internal Medicine Diagnoses.” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 129, no. 6, Jun 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2016.01.008
Guo, Daibao, et al. “Did You Get the Picture? A Meta-Analysis of the Effect of Graphics on Reading Comprehension.” SAGE Journals, vol. 6, no. 1, https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420901696
“Health Literacy: Understanding Health Literacy.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 Mar 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/Understanding.html
“Health Literacy: Talking Points About Health Literacy.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 May 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/shareinteract/TellOthers.html
“Health Literacy in Europe: comparative results of the European health literacy survey (HLS-EU).” The European Journal of Public Health, vol. 25, no. 6, Dec 2015, doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckv043
Jawed, Soyiba et al. “Classification of Visual and Non-visual Learners Using Electroencephalographic Alpha and Gamma Activities.” Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, vol. 13, no. 86, May 2019, doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2019.00086
Prestin, Abby et al. “Is Online Health Activity Alive and Well or Flatlining? Findings From 10 Years of the Health Information National Trends Survey.” Journal of Health Communication, vol. 20, no. 7, Jun 2015, doi: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018590