Tips for Writing for your Audiology Blog
Want to write for your practice website and blog? In this article, we’ll discuss things to consider when writing for your audience.
Simple and Clear Writing
Writing simply and clearly requires consideration and care. Easy-to-read writing is a form of writing that is clear and easy to understand. This form of writing is useful for transmitting difficult or unfamiliar information to a general audience, such as the intricacies of hearing loss or new hearing products.
“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”
- Ernest Hemingway
Creating Easy-to-Read Materials
As you begin to craft an article, start with an outline. This outline will provide the internal logic of your piece and will also offer a clear progression of the ideas you aim to share.
Readers should have an understanding of what they will learn as they read your piece. In your introduction, tell them what audiological information the piece will provide.
As the piece progresses, the information readers learn should build upon itself. Remember to use simple transitions to link ideas together. In the conclusion, recapitulate for readers what they’ve just learned.
Keep in mind the audience for whom you are writing. A piece on hearing aids will most likely be read by people of an older age group. Adding your own personal style to the piece will make it more interesting and engaging to the reader. Above all, however, it is important to write as clearly as possible.
Stay on Topic
Be sure not to stray from the main points of the piece.
Clarity is Key
Write in short sentences, with commonly used vocabulary.
Remain Relevant
Make sure that everything in the piece is relevant.
What is the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of this piece you are reading?
In case you’re wondering, the Flesch-Kincaid grade level of this piece you are reading is 7.8 – right between 7th and 8th grade!
General Considerations
Everyone reads at a different level. Because English has become the universal language for a number of industries and businesses, writing in a clear and simple way will appeal to the widest number of people. Consider that your piece will be read by people of all ages, races, classes, lifestyles, and educational levels.
For adults in the US, the average reading level is between 7th and 8th grade. According to a 2014 report from the US Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, 21% of adults are reading below a 5th-grade level. Approximately 32 million Americans cannot read at all.
To appeal to the widest audience, you may want to check your piece of writing after you have completed it. There are tools online that give you the readability score of your piece, such as readability-score.com.
SEO and Your Blog Post
Write naturally, with your article geared towards readers, not search engines. Some people I talk to ask about what keywords they should be targeting for their blog. The reality is that search engines have become more sophisticated over the years. The writing that will give you the best “SEO boost” is the writing that is most interesting to the reader. It should solve a problem, answer a question, or educate them on something they have not heard about. If the readers come to your article and stay for a while, Google (and the other search engines) will take it as a sign your resource is important.
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