Like most industries, the healthcare marketplace is competitive. Between traditional advertising and ever-evolving online marketing methods, it’s challenging to find the best way to reach your potential clients. That’s where healthcare content marketing comes into play.

As more people go online for answers, it’s essential to optimize your healthcare lead generation strategy for the internet. Digital marketing trends can far outreach your past brick and mortar methods. A robust healthcare content marketing campaign can ensure you reach your target audience consistently and help turn those contacts into profitable leads.

 

The Need For Healthcare Content Marketing

While content marketing is standard practice in most industries, many healthcare providers struggle to implement it in a way that is both effective and caring. Scientific terms, confusing procedures and a long list of preventable measures make the healthcare industry a hard topic to write about.

 

 

According to Greystone.net, healthcare content marketing isn’t up to par compared to most other industries. Online strategies are becoming more effective. As a result, the healthcare industry is falling behind in brand development, traffic and lead generation.

So how can your practice pull forward digitally? With a better understanding of healthcare content marketing, you can start ranking higher on Google. This will not only improve healthcare lead generation but also help you get ahead of competitors.

With a well-organized plan, content marketing and healthcare can be beneficial for both providers and their patients. Here are just a few examples of what a good strategy can do for your company:

• Improve engagement with patients and leads
• Develop brand image and voice
• Educate readers on hard health topics
• Increase traffic and expand online reach

In any digital healthcare marketing plan, it’s essential to start by understanding the overarching goal. You likely want to improve your lead generation and also provide your audience members with tools to manage their health. There are several healthcare content marketing strategies that can support both goals.

 

How Do I Generate Digital Healthcare Marketing Leads?

Healthcare lead generation isn’t as robotic as it sounds. Success requires hard work and genuine care for patients.

 

 

Healthcare marketing leads are people interested in using the services of an advertising practice. With the right amount of effort, they can become patients. Potential customers are looking for practices that fulfill their needs, and ultimately the needs of their friends and family.

So how can you help leads choose your practice over other competing healthcare providers? It comes through trust, dependability and transparency. As you use the SEO tools available to improve your search results, also incorporate sincerity and care with each article, web page and social media post.

Now that you are ready to get started, here are five of the best healthcare content marketing strategies that you can begin to master today.

 

1. Use Local SEO To Find Healthcare Leads

Healthcare lead generation is all about giving potential clients reasons to choose you over competitors. As a healthcare provider, you must ensure patients know which services you offer and understand how you can help them. Before that, though, they need to know where you are. In the majority of cases, potential clients aren’t going to find your practice through a phone book; they are going to open an internet search engine.

 

 

Most people use a search engine to find local businesses, including healthcare providers. Google’s research about consumers’ local search behavior shows that users have requirements in mind when they search, the two most common being location and proximity. Even if your healthcare service is exceptional, potential patients may choose a closer provider for convenience.

It’s crucial to improve healthcare lead generation closer to your brick-and-mortar business. Fortunately, Google has made it even easier for people to find local services. All they need to do is type in the service they need and add “near me” or similar terms, and Google shows local results, including contact information, reviews and directions.

 

 

Local search engine optimization through healthcare content marketing is a golden opportunity for local leads to find your practice. You simply need to get on the local radar.

How To Improve Your Local SEO Search Rankings

Like normal SEO tactics, the biggest way to move up the ranking scale is by optimizing your content, specifically to local searches. This means using location-specific keywords in your blog posts. Not only should you pepper those keywords in your articles, but also focus your content about the area. Talk about your town, mention local news or create a guide that highlights the best features of the area. Although keywords go a long way, quality content includes both local depth and breadth as well.

Don’t forget to update your contact information on Google My Business. Google’s handy promotion tool is a key resource for ranking higher. You can add information, photos and offers to your profile to attract digital healthcare marketing leads. The simplest use of this account is listing your address and contact information clearly on your website and in online directories, such as Google Maps. Garnering online reviews from current patients can also help boost your search engine ranking.

 

2. Post on Social Media To Build Your Brand Image

While you may be hesitant to discuss serious healthcare topics on social media, the fact is that most of your healthcare marketing leads are spending time there, so it’s a great way to reach them. Establishing profiles on the main social media platforms can improve lead generation and make your practice seem legitimate and modern, especially to younger clients.

 

 

And, as said before, healthcare providers struggle to improve their digital strategies. Break the stereotypes now and dive headfirst into social media. This incredible resource can reach patients of all ages and significantly develop your brand image.

How To Share Your Healthcare Content

Healthcare content marketing can take place on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. Get creative with what you share, and don’t be afraid to be personal with your audience.

Different types of media can be a great tool on social media. Here are how you can use some of the most popular media types to engage readers and share information in a unique way:

• Infographics: List statistics and other important information in a colorful way. You could list foods that support the immune system or display data about breast cancer.
• Videos: YouTube is 2^nd of the top 500 most popular websites. Provide tutorials or stay on top of healthcare trends.
• Surveys: Give digital healthcare marketing leads the opportunity to take a survey about something that will help them understand their health needs better.
• Posts: Write something small and catchy that will grab the attention of readers. You can also give an inside scoop by including pictures of team members and courageous patients.

You may want to use healthcare marketing trends specifically for social media platforms, but you can also use your profile to create links to your website. Make sure your contact information and operating hours are correct on all your social media profiles.

 

3. Answer Questions That Healthcare Leads Ask

The Pew Research Center states that 35% of people have used the internet to look up medical symptoms or try to find a diagnosis. Additionally, over 70% of people have used the internet to look up health information. This means that providing answers to common health questions on your website could be an excellent source of lead generation.

 

There are several healthcare content marketing methods you could use to cater to these common questions. The first option is to have a section of your website where you discuss common health concerns. Call it Health FAQs or have a catchy title for this section so people can find it easily. You could post about a new topic every week or month. As you share it on social media, it can pick up a large following.

You can also branch out to other types of healthcare content marketing beyond text-based posts. Use your YouTube account to make short videos discussing health issues or symptoms. Video format is often the easiest way to describe certain topics. Keep in mind that you are targeting regular people who aren’t familiar with big medical terms or theories.

A podcast is another great option to engage your audience. You could discuss topics focused on your local community, such as health fair events or flu outbreaks in neighborhood schools. If you want to reach a slightly different audience, consider hosting experts to discuss healthcare topics or current medical news.

Ask the Right Questions

If you don’t know what questions are being asked about your healthcare specialty, this should be top priority. Consider using SEO tools like Serpstat or SEMrush to find popular questions in your niche. You can play with keywords to see what questions pop up, and then use those in your healthcare content marketing strategy.

Perhaps the easiest way is to ask your followers what questions they have. Ask former patients, readers and healthcare marketing leads about their search inquiries, and how they would search. Don’t forget to monitor your social media accounts for potential FAQs you can highlight.

 

4. Build a Healthcare Blog

There’s a reason why best healthcare content marketing strategies include blogging: it’s where you put most of your content. Creating a blog on your website, like this example of Mount Sinai, can have countless benefits, from increased lead generation to improved search engine rankings.

 

 

Posting well-written, useful content can help you establish your healthcare practice as a reliable, caring resource people can trust. Regular blogging also gives you the chance to address healthcare issues that are important to you and your staff.

How To Use Blogging in Your Healthcare Content Marketing Plan

One of the main keys to a successful healthcare blog is consistency. Before you post your first article, decide how often you want to create new posts. In most cases, you should aim for at least once a week. Regularly posting new content can improve lead generation in healthcare and encourage your target audience to make return visits to your website. You can also use blog posts in an email campaign and link to them on your social media accounts.

Another important key is relevancy. Blogging is much more than an opportunity to share knowledge, it’s all about SEO. Optimized blog posts should be relevant to your practice and include keywords that will rank highly on your readers’ search queries.

Format helps your rankings and reader retention. When there’s too much to read, poor grammar or unattractive design, you might lose viewers faster than you find them. As a healthcare marketing writer, keep in mind these three formatting tips:

Create White Space

The space between your text and pictures does a lot more than you may think.

 

 

UX Planet found that using white space promotes both elegance and balance in all kinds of situations, especially as part of your healthcare content marketing plan. It gives enough space for readers to enjoy the post and adds to the design. Make sure to leave enough space between text blocks and make your paragraphs shorter and more concise.

Use Headers

Health care blog posts are a popular type of reading material, which means it’s important to format the text in a way that the readers can follow along naturally. A great way to organize your writing is with headers. Headers help define what is most important, both to the reader and to Google. Throw some keywords in your headers and make them catchy to attract more visitors.

Find Relevant Images

White space and headers do a great job to break up the text, but images bring a whole new level to healthcare content marketing. The pop of color and change of media can do a lot for your article. In fact, BuzzSumo found that an image every 100 words doubled the number of shares. Sounds like a powerful tool, doesn’t it?

Another benefit of blogging on a regular basis is having the ability to quickly build up a library of articles. This gives visitors to your site ample content to read, encouraging them to stay longer. Archived posts can also generate healthcare leads; in fact, optimizing “older” posts can drive traffic and garner high click-through rates. Consistently updating your blog can also lead to a good search engine ranking.

 

5. Develop and Market a Healthcare Website

Along with a quality blog, there are other parts of your website that can benefit from healthcare content marketing trends. In fact, your entire website can use a little optimization.

 

 

As a healthcare provider, you need to be as trustworthy as possible. You can do this by portraying your brand identity clearly on your website.

How To Improve Your Brand Identity

The qualities, values and experiences that make up your brand identity can create an impression on healthcare marketing leads. You can begin to form your brand from the very beginning by making your specialties and ideals visible from the moment a visitor lands on the page.

Start by making your website look and feel like your practice. As a healthcare provider, you can help readers understand your mission through your healthcare content marketing. Use pictures of your team and include a strong mission statement that helps potential leads know what to expect from you.

Focus on creating a site that loads quickly, looks professional, and provides visitors with a positive experience. After optimizing your website, you may want to include an online contact form or allow patients to request appointment times through the website. Offer to let patients sign up for texts to remind them of appointments.

The blog section of your website isn’t the only place where you need engaging, error-free copy. Your site’s landing page often creates the first impression visitors have of your practice. An eye-catching and interesting landing page can also encourage visitors to access other parts of your site and fill out a contact form. Strong headlines and concise writing are keys to an effective landing page. It’s also a good idea to incorporate some images or other visual elements.

 

Get Started With Your Healthcare Content Marketing Plan

A well-defined healthcare content marketing strategy can help ensure your practice remains relevant and successful in the internet age. Reaching out to potential patients and providing helpful content can result in consistent lead generation. You may find the most efficient way to update your landing pages and maintain your blog is to outsource the writing. Check out our content shop and get customized, professional articles for your healthcare site.

 

Maybe you’re a health care provider looking to expand beyond the realm of clinical work. Maybe you’re a fitness expert looking to reach a wider audience. Or maybe you’re someone with a talent for writing and an interest in health and wellness looking to apply your skills. Whatever the case, you may be interested in a new venture as a health writer.

 

What Health Writer Jobs Exist?

Whether you are approaching health writing as a clinician or a layperson, the steps to becoming a health writer are more similar than you might expect. You may look at it as a side hustle, particularly if you are a provider satisfied with your clinical position or a layperson just starting out. However, health writing can turn into a lucrative career. Projected earnings vary depending on a number of factors:

• Whether you are an employee or a freelancer
• The type of work you do
• Your experience
• Where you live

Nevertheless, according to the American Medical Writers Association, even a beginning or junior-level medical writer can earn between $52,000 and $80,000 per year.

 

What Is Health Writing?

“Health writing” is a broad term with different connotations for various situations. It can include a freelance health and fitness writer who writes light lifestyle pieces for consumption by the general public as well as a scientist who writes research-heavy tomes for use in the medical community. According to one definition, medical fiction also counts as health writing, so authors such as Robin Cook and Michael Crichton could also be considered health writers, although I wouldn’t look to their books for guidance on how to live well.

When I use the term “health writing” in this article, I’m looking at it as a large category of writing related to general health and well-being that’s divided into three main subcategories:

• Medical Writing: Work related specifically to the science of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, which can be either professional-facing or public-facing
• Wellness Writing: Work that is usually public-facing and devoted to promoting a general state of well-being as it relates to intrapersonal matters, such as lifestyle and diet, as well as socio-economic factors
• Fitness Writing: Similar to wellness writing in audience and scope, but focused specifically on maintaining a healthy weight and muscle mass through sports and exercise

If you want to be a health writer, then regardless of what subcategory you choose to specialize in, make sure that the content you put out is accurate and factual. It must also draw from reputable sources. Both your audience and the people who hire you to write the content expect and demand reliable information based on scientific data.

 

What Does a Health Writer Do?

The answer to this question depends partly on what subcategory of health writing most interests you. For example, a magazine may advertise “fitness writers needed” to create how-to articles about effective exercise techniques. Because medical writing may be either public-facing or professional-facing, there are many different types of content that you may write when working in this specific subcategory.

 

Professional-Facing Content

Professional-facing content is written for an audience of health care professionals, including doctors, researchers, nurses, physical therapists, lab technicians, etc. It may include manuscripts and articles intended for publication in a medical journal or presentations for scientific conferences. It may also include research proposals, clinical trial protocols, or study reports. Textbooks for medical students or educational content for Continuing Medical Education programs are additional examples.

 

Public-Facing Content

Public-facing content is intended to be read by the general public on sites like WebMD for patients with particular health conditions and their families, as well as people who are conducting basic research or seeking information generally. The health writer needs to make such content comprehensible to an audience of laypeople, which means using plain language for the most part and keeping medical terms and jargon to a minimum. If you are writing public-facing content, you should be prepared to explain any medical terminology that you end up using in the text.

Medical journalism is one of the most common types of public-facing health writing. When a new medical development or breakthrough occurs, a medical journalist explains it to the public in the form of a magazine or newspaper article. Medical journalists may also write press releases for university research facilities, private pharmaceutical companies, etc.

Another opportunity for a health writer interested in public-facing content is patient education. When a patient is diagnosed with a disease, he or she will likely turn to other sources to find out as much as possible about his or her condition. Patient education writers perform a valuable service by interpreting clinical information about the disease into plain language that those affected can understand clearly.

 

Are Health Writers in Demand?

As you enter into your new venture, you may encounter multiple pleas of “health writers wanted.” There are several reasons why health writers are currently in high demand and likely to stay that way.

 

Medical Industry Growth

One really exciting and rewarding aspect of working in the medical industry in general, and the field of medical communication in particular, is that there is always something new and fascinating to learn. Scientists are constantly conducting research into disease processes, treatment techniques, diagnostic tools, and pharmaceutical therapies. Health writers are a vital link in explaining new medical developments to physicians and patients alike.

 

Patient Education Need

The current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the vital role that a health writer can play in disease management and prevention. The disease is caused by a novel coronavirus that emerged less than a year ago. Because the disease is new, researchers have had to work quickly yet thoroughly to gain an understanding of the virus, its effects and its contagiousness, as well as effective means of preventing the spread.

Medical writers have had a crucial role to play in providing the necessary information to health care professionals and the general public, which is not an easy task for several reasons. As researchers’ understanding of the virus grew, the information changed. Articles about COVID-19 sometimes became out of date almost as quickly as they were written. At the same time, there has been a wave of misinformation disseminated through social media outlets. Part of a health writer’s responsibility is to evaluate sources and reject the unreliable ones to be sure that the information presented is as accurate as possible based on the most recent data available.

The need for accurate and timely patient education is also evident in the aging baby boomer population. Born during the first two decades following World War II, baby boomers are currently the second-largest generation of adults in the United States after millennials. The oldest baby boomers reached retirement age in approximately 2010. By 2030, all of them will be at least 65 years old.

As baby boomers age, they become susceptible to a wider range of health issues, some of which are degenerative in nature. Boomers, their family members, and their caregivers need access to accurate information about specific health problems they may face, as well as thoughtful guidance about health and wellness targeted specifically to older people. At the same time, health care providers need detailed literature about providing effective treatment to a burgeoning elderly population.

 

What Are the Steps To Become a Health Writer?

If you are already a medical professional, the path to becoming a health writer may be slightly different than that which you would take as a journalist or professional writer without specialized health knowledge. Nevertheless, the steps that you take along the path are remarkably similar to that which you would take as a layperson.

While health writers are in demand, your success for becoming one depends on demonstrating that you have the necessary skills, knowledge, and writing ethos to produce quality medical, wellness, or fitness content. Whether you are a health care provider, a professional writer, or a hopeful amateur, you need to take roughly the same steps to establish your qualifications.

 

1. Get the Necessary Education

To be considered for a health writing position or freelance gig, you typically need to have at least a four-year bachelor’s degree. This can be in any area of study, but it is often helpful if it is in the sciences or language arts, as these knowledge bases are directly transferable to health writing.

If you have an associate’s degree in a medical field, that might be sufficient to open the door to health writing, especially if you have practical experience to back it up. If you are a physician or a registered nurse, then you have already met the educational requirement and can skip to the next step.

 

2. Strengthen Your Weak Areas

If you are already a health care professional, you may not have to do as much to establish yourself as a medical writer. However, you may need to refresh yourself on the rules and conventions of writing. This is especially true if you have not produced much since completing your education.

If you’re approaching health writing via the other path, you may already have the necessary writing skills but lack the scientific knowledge required. If this is the case, it is crucial that you give yourself a basic grounding in medicine, particularly medical terminology. Even if you intend to write public-facing content, you still need to understand and correctly interpret the professional language that you will encounter while researching the content that you write. There are training programs available to help you, most available for a reasonable fee.

On a related note, as someone who worked in medical communication for the better part of a decade, I recommend that anyone serious about health writing obtain medical spellcheck software and install it on your computer. It’s not a substitute for understanding medical terminology, but when it comes to the proofreading and editing stages, it saves you so much time.

 

3. Update Your Resume

Your resume should reflect both your knowledge of health care and your skills in writing. If you’re a layperson just starting out in health writing, this can be a little tricky at first. Nevertheless, even if your experience is a little thin, you can list any training that you have gone through in regard to health writing and medical terminology.

On the other hand, if your experience is clinical in nature, you should refresh your resume to showcase any professional or scientific writing that you have already done. For example, if you have written articles that have been published in medical journals or other professional publications, that is something that you want to highlight on your resume when trying to establish yourself as a medical writer.

 

4. Join a Professional Organization and Get Credentialed

Becoming a member of a professional organization, such as the American Medical Writers Association, can open a lot of doors for you. Professional organizations often offer you the opportunity to receive a certification or other credential. This can give you an edge when you are competing against non-credentialed writers for positions and jobs. It shows that you have met or exceeded a baseline set of standards for qualification in your chosen area. Membership in a professional organization may also give you access to exclusive job search resources.

If you are already a health care provider, you are almost certainly a credentialed member of a professional organization. However, if you are serious about medical writing, you may want to consider becoming a member of AMWA or a similar organization to take advantage of the specific benefits it offers.

 

5. Establish Your Online Footprint

Certification and professional organization membership are important ways of establishing your credibility. However, in the Information Age, credibility also comes with a significant online presence. If you do not have much of a footprint on the World Wide Web, you may end up an unknown quantity to those who may be interested in hiring you to create health content for them. Furthermore, if you’re planning on writing content for web publication anyway, it is a good idea to show yourself to be technologically competent at the very least.

When you start seeking health writing jobs, you usually have to show a portfolio. You can build your portfolio while establishing your online footprint by starting up a blog related to medicine, wellness, or fitness. Once you have a blog, it puts you in a better position to start writing guest posts, which is another way to both demonstrate your writing skills and establish your online presence.

 

6. Build Your Network

Joining a professional organization is one way to start networking. However, you can do more to build your network. It can start with connections you already know. Ask your doctor, dentist, or veterinarian, as well as friends you may have in the health care field, if they know of any health writing opportunities. Read blogs related to health and medicine and get in touch with the authors about the possibility of becoming a guest contributor.

 

Where Can You Find A Health Writer Job?

Because health writing can be highly technical and requires specific qualifications, it can be difficult to find related jobs on ordinary employment sites. Where you go to find work as a health writer may depend on the kind of work you want to do. For example, if you want to write professional-facing content, you should query peer-reviewed medical journals, health care organizations, government agencies, or medical schools. On the other hand, if you want to write public-facing content, consider contacting newspapers, magazines, trade journals, or health care societies and associations.

A content writing agency such as BKA may also offer opportunities in health writing as well as a wide range of other fields. Companies and organizations seeking freelance health and fitness writers may benefit significantly from working with a writing agency as well.

In the United States, the health-care industry is a huge part of the economy. In 2018, spending on health care totaled $3.6 trillion, or 17.7% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. As Americans grow older, the demand for quality medical treatment continues to grow. To reach these potential patients, doctors need excellent health-care marketing services. Can you trust a freelance medical writer to create authoritative online content for your company?

Discovering the answer to this question is especially important in today’s digital world. One survey found that over half of millennials (54%) use online reviews to choose a health professional. There are over 83 million millennials in the U.S., which is a lot of potential patients.

According to the American Hospital Association, the use of telemedicine in hospitals has been growing for some time, increasing from 35% in 2010 to 75% just seven years later. Telehealth visits are booming in 2020, expected to reach over 1 billion by the end of the year. As more people look online for health information and base their health-care decisions on what they find, it’s obvious that trustworthy medical writing services are essential.

---

Did you know that over half of millennials (54%) use online reviews to choose a health professional? #ContentMarketing #MedicalContent #MedicalWriter
Click To Tweet

---

 

Freelance Medical Writers: Physicians No, Professionals Yes

Are medical writers licensed doctors? Not usually. Instead, these experts often have an educational background in journalism, creative writing or marketing, sometimes including a bachelor’s degree in English.

However, to produce content of the highest quality, medical writers base their articles on data from licensed physicians, trustworthy experts and government organizations. For example, when approaching topics such as arthritis, writers may turn to the Arthritis Foundation in search of helpful guidance.

Other valuable resources for well-written articles include the National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Center for Biotechnology Information offers access to published studies for analysis. The best medical writers constantly increase both their writing skills and their repository of scientific knowledge.

 

The Importance of Thorough Research

How can a writer approach in-depth scientific subjects without being a doctor? Just like other journalists, freelance medical writers gain experience by performing thorough investigation. The ability to do careful research is essential for any medical writer.

Not all talented writers choose to venture into health-related topics, of course, but the ones who do frequently have an intense thirst for knowledge. They’re often highly intelligent, excellent at reasoning and able to comprehend abstract topics.

These writing professionals take apart complex subjects piece by piece until they understand each part, how it works and where it fits with the rest of the information. As time goes on, a medical writer accrues years and even decades of experience writing about a wide variety of topics, from general health to specific treatment options.

 

The Basis for Expert Articles: Questions and Answers

What if a freelance medical writer doesn’t have personal experience with psoriatic arthritis? How can they talk about this subject? The key is performing in-depth research. In this case, the writer needs to gather answers to several important questions:

• What is psoriatic arthritis?
• What causes it?
• What are the symptoms?
• Who does it affect?
• What treatments are available?
• How effective are the distinct treatments?

By the end of this research session, medical writers have a solid grasp of the topic. They may not be able to dispense a clinical prescription, but they are equipped to write a high-quality, thorough and helpful article about the problem.

 

Areas Where Trustworthy Freelance Medical Writing Helps

Professional medical writers are experienced in creating high-quality content about health topics. Let’s look at why well-researched medical writing is a perfect fit for digital marketing:

 

Website Development

Web development companies often hire freelance medical writers to build out websites for medical clients. These clients may include dentists, physicians, massage therapists, eye doctors, chiropractors, veterinarians and other health experts.

The goal is to create a detailed website that attracts and motivates visitors. High-quality medical writing achieves this in three ways: capturing interest, answering the questions patients have and providing trustworthy information to help people make a decision.

 

Medical Blog Writing

Blog articles are a valuable link between health-care professionals and their patients. A great blog gives medical practices a human touch, making patients feel more comfortable. Articles such as “The Right Way To Remove Your Dentures at Night” and “10 Healthy Recipes for High Cholesterol” are interesting and helpful. They can act as pillar pieces to attract new clients.

It takes significant writing experience to give medical blogs a friendly feel that people of all ages can relate to. At the same time, great research skills and accumulated medical knowledge lead to authoritative articles. This increases patient trust, which is equally important.

 

Health-Care Web-Page Writing

If there’s one area where clear, attractive and helpful content is vital, it’s product/treatment pages. Visitors go to these pages in search of information. Professional writers make a huge difference by explaining what each treatment is, why it’s important, what to expect and what the advantages are.

 

Description Writing for Health Products

Whether your company sells nutritional supplements or medical devices, product descriptions that appeal to your clients are essential. Professional medical writing services offer real substance, talking in detail about features and benefits, and explaining why each product is better than alternatives.

Consumer-oriented health products on Amazon need punchy copy to catch the eye of visitors and stand out from similar alternatives. Store pages on company websites need to clearly show the applications and advantages of products.

 

The Medical Writing Process

One way to appreciate the attention to detail that goes into the best medical writing is to understand the content creation process. Here’s what happens from beginning to end when a client requests a medical blog or web page:

 

1. Reading the Client’s Instructions

Before writing a single word, a good medical writer takes the time to understand the purpose of the assignment. This is vital for producing content that motivates. What does capturing the client’s voice involve?

• Target audience: Writers need to know who they’re speaking to. An article for parents uses a different style and vocabulary than one addressed to medical professionals. There’s a significant difference in tone when writing about assisted living facilities to patients versus caregivers.
• Tone: Clients may want a post that feels urgent, compassionate, encouraging or matter of fact. The tone of the piece affects the ideas and expressions used, as well as the flow of paragraphs.
• Objective: What is the goal of the content? Some blogs are designed to drive purchases while others are for building authority. Local search engine optimization and lead generation are also valid strategies so having a freelance medical writer with SEO experience can be advantageous.

It takes time to piece together these details. The more your company and the freelance writer/medical writing team work together, the closer each piece of content reflects your organization’s voice.

 

2. Performing Research

With medical blog writing, the research portion is one of the largest parts of the project. It can be equal to the time invested in writing or even exceed it. The best freelance writers enjoy investigating.

The first step is to get a high-level overview of the subject. Before writing about treatments for a herniated cervical disk, the medical writer would likely perform general research. This may involve learning about the spinal cord, how it operates normally, what causes a herniated disk and what the symptoms are.

After that, the best writers dig deeper. They research the specific topic in depth, in this case looking at all treatment options available for herniated cervical disks. It’s important to find the pros and cons of each treatment in addition to looking at the latest medical articles for promising future options.

The passion for accuracy drives professional writers to consult multiple sources and develop a list of trustworthy references. Medical writers are only ready to go to the next step after they understand the topic so thoroughly that they can explain it in their own words.

 

3. Creating an Outline

After gathering extensive research, the next step in the medical writing process is deciding the best way to combine this information and client guidelines into an amazing article. Many writers start with an outline to organize their thoughts effectively.

A great outline can help lay out topics logically by answering the right questions in the right order. This step is especially important when dealing with complex health or science themes. Following an outline creates medical blog writing that is clear and simple.

 

4. Writing

Finally the time has come to flesh out the medical article by creating accurate and engaging content. Thanks to all of the research done, the writer understands why each topic matters to the audience. That makes it easier to create an attention-grabbing introduction.

A freelance medical writer’s background in content writing makes it possible to convey complicated medical topics using simple-yet-powerful sentences. Rather than being cold or intellectual, this kind of everyday prose feels warm and welcoming, like a friend explaining something.

Virtually all medical writing needs statistics and supporting references to drive the main points home. Writers take this data from what they discovered during research. These are more than random numbers. Writing professionals understand what figures mean and how they apply.

 

5. Editing and Proofreading

It’s critical for medical writing to be current, honest and accurate (and follow legal guidelines, if necesary). This requires extra attention compared to other types of writing. Freelance writers take time to carefully edit the piece, checking all the statistics, links and references to ensure that the information is 100% correct and up to date.

For the maximum quality possible, dedicated medical writing services often have professional editors on staff. These editors may have decades in the industry, often with numerous publication credits to their names. Editors proofread the content, checking the information yet again.

It’s obvious that the medical writing process involves significant time and research. Is the investment worth it? Absolutely, both from the viewpoint of consumers and search engines. Pillar content like this has great value for SEO and marketing purposes.

 

The Benefits of Choosing Skilled Medical Writers

What can you expect when working with a team of knowledgeable medical writers? Professionalism, dedication and expertise are some hallmarks of the best. Here are several other benefits:

• Engaging content: Excellent blog articles provide well-researched tips that really make a difference in the lives of patients. Engaging content answers questions and makes readers feel like they’ve learned something of value.
• Personalized tone: A large hospital may opt for a neutral, authoritative voice while a pediatrician may choose a warm and friendly focus. It takes an experienced medical writer to produce high-quality content while making it sound like the client is doing the speaking.
• Increased page visits: Medical writers are like translators, receiving information from doctors and putting it into language anyone can understand. Satisfying content leads to more click-through rates and page visits.
• Trustworthy reputation: People can tell the difference between empty marketing promises and articles that have a firm scientific foundation. In reality, high-quality content speaks for itself and search engines notice.
• Persuasive writing: The best medical writing is convincing because it offers plenty of details. Instead of vague descriptions such as “helps arthritis,” well-researched web pages mention specific benefits: reduced swelling, relief from joint pain, improved mobility and improved cartilage health.

Talented medical writers can make a huge difference in the quality of your web content. Of course, to get the best, you need to choose carefully.

 

Hiring a Freelance Medical Writer

What should you look for when hiring a freelance medical writer? As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Ask for past writing (sometimes this is prohibited by NDA) or writing samples on an appropriate health topic for your business.

Check for accuracy, clarity, quality and experience. Expert medical writers are comfortable with the subject matter and careful not to make unfounded claims. This mixture of content writing skill and research aptitude results in articles that are instructive and enjoyable to read.

At BKA Content, we have many professional content writers with extensive experience in complex fields, including industrial engineering, software design, law and health care. Our dedicated medical blog writing experts have written articles on a wide variety of health-related topics, from HIPAA compliance to cosmetic dental procedures.

Medical writer needed? Discover our incredible medical content writing team and learn more about our credentials by contacting us today.

Writing medical content often involves presenting complex scientific concepts in precise, understandable language. A medical content writer must produce articles about health care that are factually accurate, research-based, and error-free. A writer who is otherwise competent may not have the necessary professional and academic qualifications to produce quality medical writing. The professional writers for hire you need are out there, but finding them often requires diligence and perseverance on your part.

 

Why Do You Need a Medical Content Writer?

Maybe you are in public relations at a pharmaceutical firm and need to inform both physicians and the public about a new therapeutic you are releasing. Perhaps you manage a small medical clinic and want to encourage new patients to seek treatment there. Or you may be a government official needing to explain a public health hazard and new safety protocols to your constituents. These are all examples of situations in which you might need a medical writer.

But is it really worth the trouble and expense to hire a medical content writer? Perhaps you could write the content yourself. Maybe you should get one of the doctors you work with to do it, since you know that they already have the necessary expertise.

There are several reasons why handling content creation yourself rather than hiring a medical writer may not be a satisfactory solution:

• Time Investment: Even a short article can take about an hour to write. Writing longer or multiple pieces can quickly absorb a majority of your workday.
• Physician Burnout: Doctors, especially clinicians, already have enough demands on their time. They may not be willing or able to take on a writing assignment, especially if it threatens to take time away from seeing patients.
• Lack of Writing Skills: You may not have the writing ability to create effective medical content on your own. Even if you are a good writer, you may not know how to optimize content for online publication so that your audience can find and engage with it.

A professional medical writer has the skills and experience to create well-written, accurate, engaging content for you. By hiring a medical content writer, you free up time to attend to your main duties within your organization.

 

What Type of Medical Content Writer Do You Need?

If a patient comes to see a general practitioner with a condition he or she cannot treat, the general practitioner has an obligation to refer the patient to a specialist with more extensive education in that area. Medical writers are similar to health care providers in that some specialize in a particular area, while others work more generally.

Specialization for a medical writer can relate to areas of medical practice. Even more significant, however, is the type of writing that the content creator is most experienced and comfortable with. There are many different ways to classify medical writing, but most materials fall into one of three broad categories based on rhetorical purpose.

 

1. Educational Writing

Educational medical writing is created to inform an audience about a specific topic. The audience for medical writing may be health care professionals or the general population. Examples of educational medical writing include materials for continuing education, texts for medical students, and newspaper articles about a medical topic relevant to the public.

 

2. Promotional Writing

As with educational writing, promotional medical writing can be created either for patients or physicians. However, the purpose is not only to inform but to advertise something such as a medical service or a new drug. In other words, when you not only want your audience to know more but to take a certain action, you want to look for a medical content writer who can create promotional material for you.

 

3. Regulatory Writing

Perhaps you run a research facility that conducts medical studies and submits the results to the federal government. The highly scientific documents you submit to report the findings are examples of regulatory writing.

 

What Should You Look for in a Medical Content Writer?

The qualities you need in a medical content writer can be expressed through the three E’s: Education, Experience, and Ethos.

 

Education

Not all medical writers are health care providers with advanced medical degrees, and it is not necessary to limit your search to physicians. However, because of the academic nature of the work, a competent medical content writer should hold at least a bachelor’s degree. It is not necessary for this to be in the sciences or language arts, but it may be to your advantage if it is. In addition to a four-year degree, many writers also have a certificate or extra training specifically in medical writing.

 

Experience

In addition to education, a qualified medical writer should have first-hand experience in both writing and working in the health care field. This does not necessarily have to be as a physician. Medical writers can gain the necessary experience as a registered nurse, physical therapist, or in other areas of medical communication.

One way to determine whether a medical content writer has the necessary experience is to look for a credential awarded by a professional medical writing organization. One of the largest of these is the American Medical Writers Association, which confers both the AMWA Certificate and the Medical Writer Certified credential. The latter is the more elite of the two and requires that MWC holders meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree
• At least two years of full-time work experience in medical writing or a related occupation
• A passing score on the credentialing exam
• Letters of reference from colleagues, clients, or supervisors

There are qualified medical writers who do not hold any certificate or credential. However, an MWC credential tells you that the candidate has met the rigorous standards for education and experience described above.

 

Ethos

A medical writer who is not a physician probably has not taken the Hippocratic Oath. Nevertheless, anyone who works in health care should demonstrate both a knowledge of and a commitment to applicable ethical standards. A medical writer may demonstrate these by maintaining patient confidentiality in accordance with HIPAA and similar federal laws, and by using only reliable and recent sources of information obtained through careful research. A medical writer should also take care to avoid intentional plagiarism and unintentional duplication when creating content.

There are other desirable qualities to look for in a medical writer, such as a significant online presence and a demonstrated ability to meet deadlines, but these are the essentials.

 

How Do You Find A Medical Content Writer?

While there are a wealth of writers for hire listed on job boards and employment sites, most of these do not have the qualifications and experience you are looking for in a medical content writer. Therefore, you should bypass those and take the following steps instead to find the qualified professional who best suits your organization.

 

1. Decide Whether You Want a Freelancer or an In-House Writer

In-house writers and freelancers each have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you have a consistent volume of work to justify the expense of hiring a full-time in-house writer, that might be the better option. Some organizations find it advantageous to work with freelancers regardless of the volume of work. As opposed to hiring an employee, which involves paying regular wages, benefits, onboarding costs, etc., you only pay freelancers for the specific work they do, which can make it more cost-effective. A disadvantage of hiring a freelancer is that the vetting process can take a long time, 23.8 days on average, but once you have established a professional relationship with the freelancer, you can continue hiring him or her as needed.

There are a lot of factors that go into the decision to hire in-house or work with a freelance medical writer. Nevertheless, it is a decision you should make early on because it may make a difference in where you should look for candidates.

 

2. Search Specialized Sites

In addition to the traditional online job boards, there are also services designed to connect you specifically to qualified professional medical writers. Finding and using these sites first can save you a lot of time and frustration.

In addition to certifying and credentialing medical content writers, the AMWA also offers multiple resources for employers looking to hire qualified candidates. You can browse a directory of freelance medical writers or post an opportunity online and wait for candidates to get in touch with you.

 

3. Verify Credentials

Once you have identified some likely-looking candidates, you should then go over their resumes carefully and verify that they have indeed had the education and work experience that they describe. Contact universities, credentialing organizations, and references to confirm that the information on the resume is complete and correct.

 

4. View Writing Samples

Most professional writers put together a portfolio of some of their representative work. A portfolio may be either a tangible or online document. The latter is more common, and if you are looking for a medical content writer for the web, more relevant. Reviewing samples not only allows you to confirm that the work is accurate and error-free, it also allows you to see how experienced and skilled the writer is at creating the type of content you require.

When you review samples, you should also check that the content is completely original and free from plagiarism. If the content is online, there are multiple online plagiarism checkers that you can use to confirm originality quickly and easily. Many are available to use for free.

 

5. Ask Questions

At this point in the process, you probably have a pretty good idea of which writer(s) you most want to work with. A face-to-face interview can help you confirm your choice and find out more information about the writer’s availability and preferences.

To make sure that you can depend on the writer to complete and return the work on time, you can ask questions such as these:

• What does your work schedule look like?
• How many articles/words are you comfortable writing per day?
• What is your experience working under tight deadlines?

You can also confirm that the writer is willing and able to write the type of pieces that you require by asking about the medical specialties or type of writing that he or she enjoys the most. It is also courteous, and could save both you and the writer a lot of trouble later on, to ask if there are any topics the writer is particularly uncomfortable writing about.

 

What Are the Advantages of Working With a Content Agency?

The process of properly vetting a medical content writer can take some time. Working with a content agency for medical writing is an alternative to seeking and hiring writers yourself. When you work with a content agency such as BKA, most of that work has already been done for you. We check resumes, verify references, and evaluate writing samples. We perform regular checks for plagiarism on the material our writers produce. For more advanced content, such as medical writing, we offer optional editing services as well.

BKA’s writers come from all different backgrounds, professionally and personally. Some are current or former health care professionals with the education, experience, and ethos needed to produce quality medical writing. All medical content writers received thorough training in creating content optimized for search engines. Find out more about our managed services, which allow you to order large volumes of content and create a custom style guide, among other advantages.