Hot subjects regularly searched for on the Internet concern health, medicine and symptomology. Keywords and keyword phrases such as “cancer treatments”, “why do I feel tired all the time?” and “weight loss advice” are just a few of the millions of health-related topics typed into search engines by people hoping to read something new, interesting and useful. “Useful” is the keyword here when you need to provide clients and readers with exceptionally written health and medical content that provides up-to-date information relevant to the title of the article. Unfortunately, finding solid and knowledgable freelance health writers who know how to differentiate between reputable websites and those websites containing health information that probably came out of an old Farmer’s Almanac can sometimes prove to be difficult.
Writing about health and medicine requires the ability to take highly technical information that is often written by doctors, surgeons or pathologists and re-create an article that can be understood by anyone reading the article. Most good professional freelance health writers have a deep interest in health, disease and medicine which makes it easier for them to write interesting compelling articles rich that contain new insights into health problems ranging from the common cold to what the latest brain imaging scans can tell us about Alzheimer’s disease. Although it is not necessary for talented freelance health writers to possess a Ph.D. in neuroscience, the majority will have some kind of educational or employment background in the health or medical field.
Small business marketing specialists who provide online information concerning the healthcare industry should recognize the distinction between freelance writers who think cancer can be cured by drinking slippery elm tea and health writers who thoroughly understand the medical technology behind the latest cancer treatments involving chemotherapy, anti-carcinogenic drugs and surgical techniques. Asking a freelance writer who claims to specialize in health and medicine to write a factual article about cutting-edge noninvasive skin cancer treatments but receiving a bunch of pseudoscientific gibberish that belongs on a homeopathic blog clearly indicates this person may not be a good choice for the type of content you need. Instead, a good article about noninvasive skin cancer treatments would describe the latest laser techniques such as YAG, argon and CO2 laser therapies.
Additionally, be alert for articles that may use the keyword or keyword phrase appropriately but fail to provide any real, “meaty” content. For example, a bad article using the keyword phrase “reasons for varicose veins” may talk about how jobs like waitressing may cause varicose veins but fail to discuss why varicose veins emerge in the first place. This usually indicates a supposed health writer who is lazy and does not want to do any in-depth research or someone who cannot understand the medical terminology used to describe the formation of varicose veins. Yes, keywords are important but this kind of pointless, trivial fluff will not only alienate customers reading your site’s content but also compromise the integrity of your website.
Kimberly M is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
