Health Care Copywriting

Attention Health Practitioners

Many of our clients come from the medical or allied health fields, so we have a wealth of experience in health care copywriting and an excellent knowledge of the AHPRA advertising guidelines.

This means that you don’t have to fear a breach notice, fines or penalties, when you choose Front Page SEO to write your website content.

Interpreting Medical Jargon

As a registered health practitioner, you’ve spent many years studying and developing your knowledge. While you could write your own website content, there are a some very good reasons why you probably shouldn’t:

You will most likely use jargon that lay people don’t understand.
Your years at university mean that you will have a more academic writing style, which isn’t appropriate for web content.
Lack of time is extremely common for busy health professionals!
And while you may be an expert in your field, you aren’t an expert in SEO copywriting.

The most successful web content (ie that captures the reader’s attention and persuades them to take action), should be easily read by a 12 year old. So if your website is filled with terms like:

patellar subluxation;
dissociative identity disorder;
hyperopia and hypermetropia;
foraminatomy or laminectomy;

then your content will not be understood by – or hold the interest of – your potential patients or clients.

NB: It’s still okay to use these terms occasionally, IF you include an explanation!

Here are the same terms rephrased in ways that the general public will understand (even if the terminology may not be medically “correct”):

dislocated knee;
“split” personality;
long-sightedness;
types of spine surgery.

Don’t ever be fooled into thinking that simple, easy-to-read text is easy to write. There is a real art to being able to write concise, clear copy. If your website is full of waffle or jargon, your potential clients are likely to lose patience (pun intended) and click away!

Web Content that follows AHPRA Guidelines

The other challenge is that there are all sorts of restrictions placed on how health practitioners can advertise or promote their business, whether in brochures, TV ads, or on their own websites – for details, visit the Australian Health Practitioner (AHPRA) Guidelines.

If you are found in breach of the AHPRA Guidelines, it is a criminal offense and at time of writing, carries a fine of up to $5 000 (individual) or $10 000 (bodies corporate). And do you know who’s liable if one of your staff or a contractor gets it wrong? YOU, the health practitioner. So you will want to make sure that if you delegate or outsource any marketing tasks, that your employee or copywriter has more than a passing acquaintance with these guidelines!

Here are just a few examples which could get you into hot water:

Best Optometrist in Town
10% off Dental Checkups this Month
We have the Cheapest Chiropractor Fees in the City
Our Physiotherapy Treatments will make you Taller!
Read these Testimonials from Happy Clients of our Podiatry Clinic
Stop Smoking Guaranteed with our Dietitian
All our Psychologists specialise in Hypnotherapy (unless they are endorsed or have specific qualifications in this area)

As you can see, some of the most common advertising and promotional tactics are just not an option for health care and medical businesses.

If you are a medical professional or a health care business wanting to become more competitive in online search results, we can help.

We’ve written web content for a range of businesses in the health and medical sector, including:

Chiropractors;
Podiatry Clinics;
Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists;
Optometrists;
Dietitians and Nutritionists;
Acupuncturists/Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners;
Physiotherapists;
and other related health and wellbeing industries such as massage therapy, beauty therapy, yoga and pilates studios, as well as products impacted by TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) rules and regulations (for example, joint pain supplements).

The Goal of Health Care Copywriting

While ranking on the front page of Google is highly desirable, it is not the ultimate goal when it comes to health care copywriting for the web. At the end of the day, you want not just to rank well in search engine results, but to also have:

text shown with your Google listing (known as a meta description) which entices people to click through to your website;
content that visitors can’t help but read;
and finally, plenty of bookings and enquiries!

As a health care professional, you take care of others. Let us take care of your web content and SEO needs: contact admin@frontpageseo.com.au or 0421 757 424.