Content Tips

All draft content is subject to review and editing for web content best practices, grammar, voice, brand/nomenclature standards, plain language, health literacy and plagiarism. Subject matter experts should know this before they start writing.

MaineHealth follows the AP Editorial Style Guidelines except:

  • “Health care” should always be two words unless used as part of a brand name such as “Maine Behavioral Healthcare.
  • We follow the American Medical Association Style Guidelines when listing provider credentials.
  • We do not use periods for credentials.
  • Do not capitalize medical specialties or disciplines unless they are part of a proper noun. “He is a radiation oncologist. He works at Cape Elizabeth Family Practice.”

  • Get to the point quickly and put the most important information first.
  • Skip “Welcome” statements and lengthy introductions.
  • Use plain language.
  • Explain medical terminology, abbreviations and technical terms when they are necessary.
  • Use active sentence structures rather than passive.
    • Passive: Patients can be referred by calling 207-867-5309.
    • Active: Call 207-867-5309 to refer a patient.

  • Cover one topic per page.
  • Write short sentences.
    • Long sentences are hard to follow. Looks for words like “and,” “because,” and “that” in your sentences. Break them up into shorter statements.
  • Keep paragraphs short – three sentences or fewer.
  • Use headlines, sub-headlines, bullet points and numbered lists to organize content

  • Write in the second person (“you”) as much as possible.
  • Know your audience, their questions and their tasks.
  • Organize content around their intentions rather than our internal organizational structure.
  • Include relevant differentiators (awards, certifications, achievements, etc.) but emphasize customer benefits more than our accolade

  • A keyword is a word or phrase used to search for web content. (e.g. “field)
    • Use keywords, including location information, in titles, headers, captions and body copy.
    • Don’t force it. Use natural language patterns.
    • Include common synonyms of your top keywords (heart care, cardiology, etc.).
    • Organize sub-sections of content by primary keywords.
  • A topic is the meaning or “intent” behind a keyword search. (e.g. “football field” vs. “corn field”)
    • Write with the page topic in mind. Provide the meaning behind your keywords so search engines know you are a subject matter expert.

  • Write alt text for images
  • Write keyword- and topic-specific link text that helps the user understand what they are going to get.

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Click here for more information about our mindfulness program Learn more about how mindfulness can help with holiday stress.
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Read this article about new laparoscopic techniques. Learn more about new laparoscopic techniques.

  • Avoid using only sensory wording to refer to elements on a webpage
    • “See the green box at the bottom of this page for more information.”
  • Don’t embed text in images. We can overlay it for you.
  • Make PDFs and other files accessible.
  • Ideally, each page should have at least one clear call to action (CTA). The goal is to make it quick and easy for site visitors to take the next step after the view the page. For example,
    • Refer a patient
    • Read an outcomes report
    • Call or email for more information
    • Make a donation
    • Watch a video
    • Read about a medical service
    • Join a clinical trial
    • Read a customer testimonial
    • Sign up for a newsletter
  • Keep it clear and concise.
  • Make sure it is relevant to the page and intended audience.
  • Display it prominently.
  • Track conversion rates, when possible.

  • Don’t define people by their conditions or life experiences.
    • Use “People with substance use disorder” vs “Addicts”
    • Use “People with diabetes” vs. “Diabetics”
  • Avoid assumptions about the gender of your target audience. Try to use gender-neutral words. For example, “chair” instead of “chairman.”
  • When pronouns are necessary, try using:
    • They, their, them, someone or anyone
    • A person, or people
    • A patient, or patients

 Always include a source link or footnote when you lift content from another website or publication.

  • No serial commas – Do not use serial comma unless it is needed for clarity. The serial comma is the last comma in a list of several items. Example: “Southern Maine Health Care has more than 20 offices located in Biddeford, Kennebunk, Saco, Sanford and Waterboro.” No comma after “and.”
  • Phone Numbers – Should always appear in this style: 207-444-8888 (2 dashes, no parentheses)
  • Abbreviations/Acronyms – Words should be spelled out on first reference. Abbreviations and acronyms should use capital letters, no periods or spaces between letters.
  • States – Spell out the names of states and territories, except in the case of complete addresses. (For example, MaineHealth is located in Portland, Maine. The address for MaineHealth is 110 Free St., Portland, ME 04101
  • Time – Keep it simple. Abbreviate “am” and “pm” without punctuation
    • 8 am
    • 9:30 pm
  • Titles – Don’t use periods after academic titles (MD, DO, RN, RD) except “Ph.D.” This is an AP Style exception. On first reference, use Dr. before the full names of physicians (Dr. Anne Johnson). On succeeding references, use Dr. with the physician’s last name. (Dr. Johnson). Do not use Dr. in front of the name of a person who has a Ph.D. or Ed.D. Instead, provide the person’s name with the abbreviation of the degree after the name, set off by commas: Jane Smith, Ph.D., works in population health.
    • bachelor’s degree and doctorate are lowercase
    • board of directors is lowercase
    • master’s degree is lowercase
    • board-certified is lowercase and hyphenated (when used to modify an adjective, compound modifier or noun, even when the noun is implied, and when it follows a form of the verb “to be.” (Dr. Jones is a board-certified pediatrician. In 1984, she was board-certified in pediatrics.)
    • “He is board-certified as a tax law specialist.”
    • “Our specialists are board-certified in …”
    • “She a board-certified doctor.”
  • Dates
    • Spell out months when they are used alone or with the year: September 1993
    • Abbreviate months when part of complete dates (except for March, April, May, June and July).
    • Do not abbreviate days of the week.
    • A comma follows the year when a specific date is mentioned within a sentence. (The president visited on Sept. 28, 2016, but only stayed for a few hours.)
    • Never use a comma between a month and a year (September 2016).
  • Diseases – Do not capitalize arthritis, emphysema, leukemia, pneumonia, etc. unless the disease is known by the name of a person or geographical area identified with it, capitalize only the proper noun element: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Ebola virus, etc.
  • Departments Names – Should be lower case
    • Our emergency room entrance is located on the first floor of the hospital.
  • Exclamation Points – should be used sparingly, if at all!
  • Not-for-profit – use not-for-profit vs. non-profit
  • Preventive/Preventative – use preventive
  • Staff – Always use “care team members” rather than “staff”
  • Website – one word
  • Well-being – hyphenated