A Method for the Design and Development of Medical or Health Care Information Websites to Optimize Search Engine Results Page Rankings on Google

Author(s): Suzanne Dunne , BSc (Hons), MSc ¹ ^, , Niamh Maria Cummins , BSc, MSc, PhD ¹ , Ailish Hannigan , BSc, PhD ¹ ^, ² , Bill Shannon , FRCGP, MICGP, MD ¹ , Colum Dunne , BSc (Hons), MBA, PhD ¹ ^, ² , Walter Cullen , MB, MICGP, MD ¹ ^, ²

Editor(s): Gunther Eysenbach

Other contributor(s): Andreas Holzinger (Reviewer), Federico Bassetti (Reviewer)

Publication date (Electronic): 27 August 2013

Journal: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc.

Keywords: health care information, patient education, Google, Internet, medical informatics, generic drugs, website development, quality assessment

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Abstract

Background

The Internet is a widely used source of information for patients searching for medical/health care information. While many studies have assessed existing medical/health care information on the Internet, relatively few have examined methods for design and delivery of such websites, particularly those aimed at the general public.

Objective

This study describes a method of evaluating material for new medical/health care websites, or for assessing those already in existence, which is correlated with higher rankings on Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Methods

A website quality assessment (WQA) tool was developed using criteria related to the quality of the information to be contained in the website in addition to an assessment of the readability of the text. This was retrospectively applied to assess existing websites that provide information about generic medicines. The reproducibility of the WQA tool and its predictive validity were assessed in this study.

Results

The WQA tool demonstrated very high reproducibility (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.95) between 2 independent users. A moderate to strong correlation was found between WQA scores and rankings on Google SERPs. Analogous correlations were seen between rankings and readability of websites as determined by Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level scores.

Conclusions

The use of the WQA tool developed in this study is recommended as part of the design phase of a medical or health care information provision website, along with assessment of readability of the material to be used. This may ensure that the website performs better on Google searches. The tool can also be used retrospectively to make improvements to existing websites, thus, potentially enabling better Google search result positions without incurring the costs associated with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals or paid promotion.

Related collections

Most cited references 32

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Patients' use of the Internet for medical information.

Joseph Diaz, Rebecca A Griffith, James J Ng … (2002)

To determine the percentage of patients enrolled in a primary care practice who use the Internet for health information, to describe the types of information sought, to evaluate patients' perceptions of the quality of this information, and to determine if patients who use the Internet for health information discuss this with their doctors. Self-administered mailed survey. Patients from a primary care internal medicine private practice. Randomly selected patients ( N=1,000) were mailed a confidential survey between December 1999 and March 2000. The response rate was 56.2%. Of the 512 patients who returned the survey, 53.5% (274) stated that they used the Internet for medical information. Those using the Internet for medical information were more educated ( P <.001) and had higher incomes ( P <.001). Respondents used the Internet for information on a broad range of medical topics. Sixty percent felt that the information on the Internet was the "same as" or "better than" information from their doctors. Of those using the Internet for health information, 59% did not discuss this information with their doctor. Neither gender, education level, nor age less than 60 years was associated with patients sharing their Web searches with their physicians. However, patients who discussed this information with their doctors rated the quality of information higher than those who did not share this information with their providers. Primary care providers should recognize that patients are using the World Wide Web as a source of medical and health information and should be prepared to offer suggestions for Web-based health resources and to assist patients in evaluating the quality of medical information available on the Internet.

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Internet information-seeking in mental health: population survey.

John Powell, Aileen Clarke (2006)

A major use of the of the internet is for health information-seeking. There has been little research into its use in relation to mental health. To investigate the prevalence of internet use for mental health information-seeking and its relative importance as a mental health information source. General population survey. Questions covered internet use, past psychiatric history and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire. Eighteen per cent of all internet users had used the internet for information related to mental health. The prevalence was higher among those with a past history of mental health problems and those with current psychological distress. Only 12% of respondents selected the internet as one of the three most accurate sources of information, compared with 24% who responded that it was one of the three sources they would use. The internet has a significant role in mental health information-seeking. The internet is used more than it is trusted.

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A review of the differences and similarities between generic drugs and their originator counterparts, including economic benefits associated with usage of generic medicines, using Ireland as a case study

Suzanne Dunne, Bill Shannon, Colum P. Dunne … (2013)

Generic medicines are those where patent protection has expired, and which may be produced by manufacturers other than the innovator company. Use of generic medicines has been increasing in recent years, primarily as a cost saving measure in healthcare provision. Generic medicines are typically 20 to 90% cheaper than originator equivalents. Our objective is to provide a high-level description of what generic medicines are and how they differ, at a regulatory and legislative level, from originator medicines. We describe the current and historical regulation of medicines in the world’s two main pharmaceutical markets, in addition to the similarities, as well as the differences, between generics and their originator equivalents including the reasons for the cost differences seen between originator and generic medicines. Ireland is currently poised to introduce generic substitution and reference pricing. This article refers to this situation as an exemplar of a national system on the cusp of significant health policy change, and specifically details Ireland’s history with usage of generic medicines and how the proposed changes could affect healthcare provision.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Suzanne Dunne:

Graduate Entry Medical SchoolUniversity of LimerickLimerickIreland353 (0)868560296353 (0)61 233778suzanne.dunne@ul.ie

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): J Med Internet Res

Journal ID (publisher-id): JMIR

Title: Journal of Medical Internet Research

Publisher: JMIR Publications Inc. (Toronto, Canada )

ISSN (Print): 1439-4456

ISSN (Electronic): 1438-8871

Publication date Collection: August 2013

Publication date (Electronic): 27 August 2013

Volume: 15

Issue: 8

Electronic Location Identifier: e183

Affiliations

[1] ¹Graduate Entry Medical School University of Limerick LimerickIreland

[2] ²Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation and Immunity (4i) Graduate Entry Medical School University of Limerick LimerickIreland

Author notes

Corresponding Author: Suzanne Dunne suzanne.dunne@ 123456ul.ie

Article

Publisher ID: v15i8e183

DOI: 10.2196/jmir.2632

PMC ID: 3758043

PubMed ID: 23981848

SO-VID: a9154592-fe94-4514-bef9-3a9210d69bdb

Copyright © ©Suzanne Dunne, Niamh Maria Cummins, Ailish Hannigan, Bill Shannon, Colum Dunne, Walter Cullen. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 27.08.2013.

License:

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

History

Date received : 25 March 2013

Date revision requested : 12 May 2013

Date revision received : 17 May 2013

Date accepted : 11 June 2013

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