Abstract
BackgroundThe 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.ObjectiveThis 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).MethodsA 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsThe 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.
Highlights
A multitude of studies have assessed the use, quality, and availability of medical/health care information on the Internet in areas as diverse as inflammatory bowel disease [1], orthodontistry [2,3], pain [4], cancer [5,6,7], and mental health [8,9], among many others
The tool can be used retrospectively to make improvements to existing websites, potentially enabling better Google search result positions without incurring the costs associated with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals or paid promotion. (J Med Internet Res 2013;15(8):e183) doi:10.2196/jmir
As the Internet is one of the first places a patient is likely to go when searching for medical information [23] and given that Google is the primary search engine in use worldwide, holding almost 90% of the global search engine market [24], corollary use of website quality assessment (WQA) could possibly lead to higher rankings on Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for websites using this tool in their design and development
Summary
A multitude of studies have assessed the use, quality, and availability of medical/health care information on the Internet in areas as diverse as inflammatory bowel disease [1], orthodontistry [2,3], pain [4], cancer [5,6,7], and mental health [8,9], among many others. A PubMed search for research into online medical information, including, for example, use of resources such as Wikipedia or Google in medical education and availability of information for patients, provides thousands of search results. 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, those aimed at the general public
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