There is so much bad information out there about health and medicine these days; it is difficult to know what sources to trust. As a professional medical service or as a responsible medical content creator, it isn’t just important that the facts and details you submit to readers are accurate, it’s mandatory.
Some of this information looks authoritative. It’s branded to look like it comes from a trustworthy source. The sad part is often the content that gets shared the most is rife with errors and misleading details. If you worry about the sheer amount of false info that circulates online about medical subjects and want to use your content to steer people away from bad information, keep reading. Have I got an idea for your next blog project…
Fact-checking and Blogging
You may not have the research power that sites like Snopes enjoy (yet), but you have one thing that the conspiracy crowd doesn’t – the desire to deliver content that is factual. Sometimes, the best course of action is to zero in on the bad information, examine it from an objective angle, and come back with the facts.
This is one of those instances where content curation can really pay off. Social media alone is rife with skewed, faulty, and misleading information on a wide range of health topics. Instead of getting frustrated and wondering how your small, lesser-known blog can compete with them, use their own content to demonstrate that your voice is the trustworthy one. Who knows? With time (and the right content curation strategy), people could start looking at bad medical information and immediately think about going to your blog or website to get the real story. It’s not impossible.
So, with that, I have a few bits of advice you’ll want to keep in mind when developing your fact-checking blog. I think that considering some or all of these things when you write will put your blog on the path to becoming a trusted source of good medical information.
Don’t Rely on Your Own Reputation
This is an instance where you should be less concerned about your own opinions and perspectives and simply focus on what known and trusted authorities have to say. You’ll be curating content on both sides and providing many citations so people can vet the information you’re delivering.
You will build your reputation by being committed to reporting good information and assuming accountability for everything you write. From a medical marketing standpoint, this can really further your brand, sell products and services that you trust, and retain a solid reader base long-term.
Don’t Link to Other Blogs
I say this in the context of using other blog content to find “factual” information. Look to more academic and scientific sources like current medical journals, the World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control for source content. Blog X has about as much chance of being right as you do without proper research, so don’t trust them.
Use the Right Keywords – They Change Daily
An important thing to remember in any content marketing context is that keywords change by the day. This is why I always recommend researching relevant and timely keywords not just once but for every article and blog post you publish.
Also, be certain to use known evergreen keywords in your writing, so your content can be found even with a basic search. If your article this week is about vaccination, for example, you will want to include keywords that center on that. You will, however, also want to include keywords that define current events surrounding the subject – things like the names of people and places that are in the news right now about your topic can help boost rankings for that specific page.
Remain Objective
If you’re anything like me, when you see things on social media that are clearly and obviously wrong, your initial response will probably be somewhat emotional if not downright visceral. That’s OK. What isn’t OK is letting those thoughts and emotions spill over into your content. It’s fine to be passionate about delivering the truth, but a level-headed, objective approach is necessary in this instance. Why? Because the conspiracy theorists’ content is fraught with emotionalism and sensationalism. It’s how they get people to listen to them.
Your job is to make your voice rise above the din of conspiracy, and that is accomplished by remaining objective and simply presenting the facts as they are. Remember, fact and opinion are two different things. Don’t present facts in a way that will be read as if they’re opinion. Your objective here is more truth-focused than theirs. Make sure that the messaging comes through loud and clear in your content.
Don’t Condemn, Complain, Insult, or Demean
This is another very important element to fact-check blogging. The other source is rife with opinion. People don’t need to know what yours is about them. Instead of complaining about how wrong the information is, simply provide the counter-argument. Instead of condemning the source, expose it with practical counter-information. This is how yours is going to eventually be perceived as the more trustworthy voice out there.
Putting It All Together
At BeezContent, we have been working with medical bloggers and medical content creators for years, helping develop content that gets results. If you’ve gotten to this point in the post and think I have some good ideas but just don’t know how to best implement them, contact us. We are here to help you with every step of the content development and publishing process. Our writers have the experience and skills needed to set your blog up for success.
