an apple a day

Information about health, fitness, nutrition and preventive medicine is hot right now — in print, yes, but especially online. The Pew Internet & American Life Project offers these reasons why:

There are many reasons why internet users might now be more likely to search for certain types of health information. Many health-related Web sites are supplying more content and that might be driving users toward certain topics. Government agencies’ call for obesity awareness and public education about nutrition may be increasing public awareness and prompting more traffic. The pharmaceutical industry’s marketing campaigns may be paying off in increased interest in their products. More Americans may be looking for good deals on health insurance or checking up on their hospital’s quality ratings online. The interest in experimental treatments may be growing as internet users become aware of the possibilities available to them.

But it’s not just any health information. If there’s one thing we know about Web users seeking news on a particular topic, it’s that they love customization—if it’s tailored to them, they’re game to read it.

(I do say “seeking news on a particular topic” intentionally—when it comes to general-interest news and entertainment, most people will read just about any site. But sports fans will select SI.com, ESPN.com or Yahoo! Sports based on their personal preferences; fashion enthusiasts will choose from Style.com, WWD.com or New York Magazine’s fashion page; and political enthusiasts, maybe above all others, have extremely specific preferences when it comes to getting their news.)

For this reason, “An Apple A Day” in its current iteration has little chance to significantly expand its audience. Health information in particular requires significant personalization online—which is why the “search” bar on WebMD.com is so popular—so a general news blog covering health and nutrition research and tips isn’t likely to attract a ton of readers. If you’re a 32-year-old suburban mother of two, why read about how blueberries are healthy in general when you can find out how blueberries are particularly good for 30-something mothers who live in suburbs?

To begin with, my blog so far has not been gender-specific. While I have posted on such topics as birth control and breast cancer, I’ve also posted on prostate cancer and whether boys will get the HPV vaccine. With the exception of the health pages on news sites such as CNN.com and NYTimes.com, very few popular health-related online media sources are gender-neutral. Web sites of popular health magazines—menshealth.com, health.com, prevention.com, and even the ostensibly gender-neutral alive.com—target one gender or the other, mostly women.

Now I won’t take this as a reason to limit myself to women only. Men are in just as much need of solid, interesting health information as are women—and they require even more tailoring of that information to keep their egos comfortable and their interest piqued. Take Men’s Health, the most popular and successful health magazine for men. They know their readers are typical guys who don’t want to go to the doctor unless they’re on their deathbed, guys who don’t want to be talked down to about health information or anything else. Men’s Health has to provide health news and service in such a way that their readers feel they’re “in on it” together—as if MH is saying, “We know you probably know this already about fitness/nutrition/etc., but let’s look at it in a cool new way. Wink!”

So, the gist of my plan:

Goal

I want to increase the usefulness of “An Apple A Day” for my readers by making the information more relevant and user-friendly to their distinct needs and attributes. I want to expand my mission statement from simply covering new studies, trends and other news in preventive medicine, to providing actionable service that readers feel motivated to utilize. I also want to boost original reporting, so that readers will get information they can’t find anywhere else.

Community

About 95 million American adults use the Internet to find health information, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project—and as more Americans gain at-home Internet access each year, it’s safe to say that number will only increase. In my blog 2.0, I’ll be targeting two different segments of this large chunk of the population—young-to-middle-aged men and young-to-middle-aged women, all of whom have Internet access and at least some college education and are middle class.

Plan

• Build two separate iterations. To better serve the two distinct portions of my community, I’ll have a men’s section and a women’s section of the site in addition to a main page, which will contain general health news and information.
• Add original reporting. Each week I’ll post at least one interview with a dietitian, researcher or other notable person in the fields of health, nutrition and preventive medicine.
• Boost interactivity. Health enthusiasts, especially those interested in alternative medicine, love to see what their peers have to say about conditions, medications and treatment. So in addition to boosting comments on blog posts, I’ll also add forums where users can discuss their health concerns with each other.

See more on the Community and Development Plan pages.