Hiring a writer to create medical website content is a great way to generate business for your marketing agency and tap into the growing field of healthcare. But before you begin putting together a team of health writers, you need to make sure that you know how to identify experienced writers who can put together content that is accurate and ethically sound.
Experience Counts
When it comes to medical content, experience in the field is a major boon. However, not a lot of nurses and physicians tend to use their degrees by freelance writing! While it would be ideal to have a certified medical professional writing your content, the reality is that you should be looking instead for experienced content writers with a solid track record of producing reliable written material for trustworthy organizations. Most expert health writers are proud to share a brief history of their experience, and a seasoned pro will have experience writing content for hospital websites, healthcare newsletters, home healthcare aid organizations, or other promotional material for a reputable medical website or organization. Be careful hiring writers whose medical experience amounts to product descriptions for strange supplements without FDA approval. These writers may have the skills to describe the effects of a powerful love potion, but they’re probably not the ones you want on the front lines of writing medical copy.
Savvy Source Material
In addition to a good writing background, you’ll also want to make sure that the writers you hire know how to appropriately source and credit their supporting information. Professional medical writers know to rely on trusted sites, typically those with a .gov or .edu domain name. Be cautious with medical writers who source or link to uncredited blogs, commerce sites, or Internet forums in their work. Medical writing should be taken seriously, and a clear trail back to a peer reviewed study is always a good foundation to any medical website content.
Set The Ethical Example
If your goal is to hire strong, experienced, professional healthcare writers, then make sure your content will be up to their standards as well. Experienced industry content writers may turn down an assignment that prioritizes product sales over accurate information, so make sure that the clients you take on are actually worthy of the excellent medical writers you seek. Medical and health related writing is a great industry with plenty of room for growth, but it’s vital to be responsible and careful about providing information to the public on sensitive medical issues.
Caitlin C is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
