Your heart is beating fast. You are searching through results quickly. Your eye lands on one that looks like it might be right. You start scanning anxiously through the information. You keep looking for something that will tell you what to do next.
People feel this way when they are searching for healthcare information online, and we know that. Last year, at Aha Media, we wrote close to 1,000 pages of healthcare information—on topics as varied as heart attacks, diabetes care, surgical products, robotic surgery and labor and delivery. To write great healthcare content, you need to know how to write in 3D—a skill we have honed over years of writing about these subjects.
What is 3D Writing?
To be a 3D writer, you need to:
- Understand how to organize a great healthcare content page
- Perfect your knowledge of complex healthcare subjects
- Master the back end technical elements of the web for search
Writing Great Healthcare Content
We know that people come to healthcare pages in search of the answers to 5 questions:
- What’s wrong with me?
- Who will fix it?
- How will they fix it?
- Who will pay for it?
- Is there free parking? Or free Wi-Fi?
A healthcare content writer’s job is to organize the flow of information to reassure people, and provide them with detailed answers to these questions. Our team of writers is always truthful, while still conveying compassion and empathy. Every healthcare brand has a different voice and personality, and as writers, it’s our job to explain that brand story in a way that compels patients and families to make appointments, ask for more information and so on.
Complex Healthcare Content
Anytime anything is wrong with us—even something minor—we’re in a state of anxiety. Pain is a signal; it tells us something has to change. Searching for healthcare information is different than searching for a pair of shoes or jeans. That’s why we know specifics and details matter. As writers, we must master the technical medical information so we can translate it into everyday language that makes sense for our readers.
Nobody wants to see a doctor who acts and speaks like a robot. People feel the same way about content online. It needs to speak to them in a way they can understand in order to feel comfortable enough to make an appointment. Remember: You’re writing for patients, NOT for other doctors. In fact, doctors themselves are usually proponents of a conversational tone when they see what a huge difference it makes for them when they talk to patients. When we explain complicated themes online for patients, doctors can spend more time answering specific questions. This make their life easier, which in turn makes them advocates for better healthcare web content.
Technical Know-How: How to Write for the Web
In order to be a great digital writer, you MUST understand the back and front ends of the web. The front end is the graphical interface—visual design, menus and content. The back end is the code—the magic that makes the web an interactive, virtual marketplace.
Knowing code is the only way to be effective at search engine optimization (SEO). You must understand the importance of the H1 tag, the page title and the browser title, as well as other meta data to ensure content is findable and ranks high on search engines.
We understand how important sensitive, well-planned healthcare content is and we love writing in 3D. See our work and case studies to understand more about 3D writing.