Best Practices For Rewriting Your Health System’s About Us Pages

When was the last time you reviewed and revised your health system’s About Us page? Although it can seem like an easy page to leave alone, chances are you could be more strategic with the content.

Consider Your Audience

Like the rest of your website, this section should be focused on the needs of your website visitors. What do they want to know? Why have they come to this page? What do they want to learn and what are they going to do after they find out? But first and foremost, who are they?

Luckily, Google Analytics and members of your organization can provide you with useful insight as to who those audiences may be and what they’re looking for. Your audience could include:

• Potential patients wanting to know more about your organization before coming to you
• Existing patients interested in learning more about you
• People who want to work with you, including physicians and other job seekers who want to learn why you’re the right place for them
• The media, who may be looking for more information about your organization and the background that made you who you are today
• Politicians, community leaders, and engaged citizens who want to learn more about what you provide your community
• Donors who could be deciding whether to give to your organization
• Companies that are new to the area researching relocation/expansion options and considering their employees’ healthcare needs

As you move forward working on this page or section, keep these audiences top of mind and make sure that you’re putting what they want first.

Before You Write, Plan

Although this may seem like a no-brainer, planning your page is an important first step — especially for pages like this that could have many different audiences.

When you’re writing about your organization, it’s easy to throw everything and the kitchen sink on the page. After all, it’s a catch-all, right? Wrong! Make sure that you plan for what you actually need on the page so you don’t go overboard.

Common Content on an About Us Page

Although it’s easy to put a lot of information on your About Us page, successful pages tend to highlight this type of content:

• Mission, vision, and values
• Overview of your system — bed size, revenue, and employees, as well as a very high-level summary of what types of services and locations you offer (hospitals, clinics, home healthcare, etc.)
• Awards and recognitions
• Organizational history/timeline
• Executive/Leadership team and bios
• Community benefits information
• Quality and safety data

Include enough of your story so that your visitor feels like they get to know who you are, what you’re about, and what your brand personality is. And be specific to what your audience is looking for. Consider outlining your page before you write. Plan each section you need, making sure to connect the content with at least one of the audiences you already identified. But make sure you don’t include more than what your research shows a visitor will want to read.

The variety of content combined with the many different audiences that could be visiting highlights the importance of cross-linking on an About Us page. Make sure you weave copy and links to take job seekers, patients, the community, and media to other areas of the website, including careers, services, location profiles, and news and media information.

About Us Page Content Best Practices

When you’re ready to review and revise or rewrite your About Us page, keep these best practices in mind.

• Keep the 5 Ws in Mind: All journalists are taught to answer the 5 Ws — who, what, where, when, why (and sometimes how). Follow the same advice on your About Us page. You’re telling a story — your story! But every good story needs an editor. Keep the narrative focused on what your website visitors want (and sometimes need) to know, not what you want to say.
• Communicate Your ‘Light Bulb’ Moment: While you’re writing, consider what point you’re trying to get across. What’s the one thing that made your organization what it is today? Then, consider why that benefits your patients, job seekers, or other readers. That is a pivotal part of your story, so make sure you build on it.
• Show Off Your Brand’s Personality: Your About Us page is meant to communicate who you are, so your personality should come through, too! Instead of approaching this page from a dry, journalistic voice, infuse the page with your brand’s personality. Whether it’s caring and approachable or intelligent and authoritative, make sure it comes across on this page.
• Consider Mapping Out Your History, But Stay High-level: Does your organization have an interesting or unusual history? Does your history speak to your mission today? Consider incorporating a high-level history on this page to tell that story. Just keep in mind that whatever you say has to follow all the earlier best practices, so make sure it’s meaningful to your website visitor’s interests and needs.
• Give Your Readers the Option to Follow Up: Whether it’s a phone number to call or a contact form (or maybe both), make it easy to ask questions or learn more. Keep in mind that all those audiences mentioned earlier will have different next steps. Try to find a call to action that makes sense for the page and meets the needs of the primary audience’s goals and needs. Then, rely on your reader’s ability to use the navigation elements to find what they’re looking for otherwise.

Start Writing

If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out these organizations’ About Us pages.

• Cone Health Medical Group
• Nash UNC Health Care
• ProHealth Care

Now that you’re armed with best practices and motivation, it’s time to get writing! Not sure where to start? Reach out to Geonetric’s content experts for help in crafting your story.

The original version of this page was published at:  https://www.geonetric.com/content-strategy/health-system-about-us-best-practices/