Spectrum Health Beat continues its run of excellence

Pretty much every health care organization publishes some original content. Spectrum Health’s blog, Health Beat, has consistently produced excellent content that engages a large audience, delivering the kind of information that “empowers readers to make informed decisions for themselves and their families.” That effort has made Health Beat the first-place winner the “Blog” category of PR Daily’s 2017 Nonprofit PR Awards. 

Health Beat is more than just a blog. It’s a prime example of brand journalism, attracting large audiences from the public as well as from Spectrum Health’s 25,000-plus employees. Content on Health Beat is updated three times daily, which keeps readers coming back for the latest news and features, builds a growing archive of discoverable content and appeals to the best elements of search engine algorithms. 

The content, which includes articles, photos, videos and infographics, is produced by journalists who tell positive, authentic stories about real people. Health Beat satisfies all the criteria for a solid site, including mobile readiness, a strong social media presence driving nearly half the traffic the site gets and an opt-in email newsletter to push new information to readers. 

In the two years since its launch, Health Beat has drawn nearly 1.5 million views. Adding the reach of articles through social media, Spectrum estimates the content has reached more than 100 million people. 

Congrats to the Health Beat staff of Cheryl Welch, Jill Seidelman, Chris Clark, Sue Thoms and Taylor Ballek.