The two websites selected for review are the National Library of Medicine and WebMD . Although both websites cover health-related topics, the first website is aimed primarily at healthcare practitioners, such as doctors and nurses. Members of this audience are typically aged 26 to 60 and have a degree in health, medicine, or nursing. The second website, on the contrary, has people without medical education as its primary audience and is thus non-specialized. The audience is diverse in terms of age and includes people of various occupations and education levels. Both websites provide information for visitors regardless of their cultural background, but they require an understanding of the English language. Secondary audiences of the NLM are students enrolled in health and medicine-related classes and retired care providers. Secondary audiences of NLM are medical practitioners who might visit the website to obtain news or search for information to provide to patients. Additionally, both websites can be used by patients who have some prior health knowledge and want to learn more about their diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis. Hence, there is some overlap between the secondary audiences of the two websites.
In terms of persuasive strategies, both websites use claims pertaining to the reliability of the information provided. WebMD (2014) claims to provide credible information on the topics covered in its publications and employs board-certified physicians who can create or edit publications to ensure reliability. The NLM (2020) does not openly claim that the content provided is reliable; instead, the website incites the trust of its audience by emphasizing the organization’s role in the research and distribution of medical information. Both websites connect with the audience by fulfilling their needs with respect to information search. WebMD features an easy-to-navigate page structure with key topics and sections highlighted on the home page. Similarly, the NLM website
lists its sections on the home page and includes links to related resources that can be used to access the latest medical research. The NLM also connects with the audience by delivering news and event spotlights relevant to medical practitioners.
WebMD does not use technical jargon, and all publications are written in simple language so as not to confuse its diverse audience. The NLM website, however, uses technical terms and abbreviations familiar to its primary audience. These include SARS-CoV-2, GenBank, NCBI, and other terms familiar to medical professionals.
The websites are somewhat similar in the style of writing since they both use moderately formal language without contractions or slang. At the same time, sentences and paragraphs in WebMD articles are typically shorter than in the NLM publications, which is justified because the latter targets educated professionals. Both websites have advertising, but they promote entirely different things. WebMD contains individualized ads that showcase online stores, such as ASOS. The NLM, on the contrary, advertises specialist events in the medical world that could be interesting to its audience. Illustrations used on the two websites are visually similar, but the NLM also uses graphs and figures in its publications, whereas WebMD rarely does. When graphs or charts are included in WebMD articles, they are typically simple and supported by detailed summaries of information presented. On the whole, the visual, linguistic, and functional differences that exist between the websites help them to meet the needs of their target audiences. The NLM website targets medical practitioners as its primary audience, which is why the language used there is more complex, and the information is more detailed and specialized. WebMD, in turn, appeals to diverse people without medical education by providing accessible information about health.
References
The National Library of Medicine. (2020). About the National Library of Medicine. Web.
WebMD Team. (2014). What we do for our users. Web.