Healthline.com Ranked Top Online Health Information Website
Healthline.com, the flagship site of Healthline Media, has passed WebMD.com as the number one ranked health information site in the U.S. with 72.9 million unique monthly visitors as measured by Comscore in January. Underlying this milestone is the fact that 92% of Americans want to be more in charge of their own healthcare, a trend that drives people online looking for health information. The company achieved this growth while generating record revenue and profitability at a time when other publications and online media properties are declining.
"Healthline.com is the most read online health website because we make it a priority to deliver expert advice in human terms," said Healthline Media President and CEO David Kopp. "Consumers trust Healthline.com and its sister sites MedicalNewsToday.com and Greatist.com because of the quality of information across a wide swath of medical conditions and lifestyle situations." Healthline has more than 120 scrupulously vetted writers and more than 100 doctors and clinicians reviewing and validating its articles, Kopp added.
"Healthline Media's unparalleled quality of medical reporting and lifestyle writing engages readers and delivers strong performance for advertisers," Kopp added.
A Year of Strong Momentum
The number one ranking follows a year of strong momentum for Healthline.com. In addition to growing readers and followers, Healthline Media also:
- Had more than 3.8 billion visits in 2019 according to data from Google Analytics
- Published more than 7,750 new articles, videos and other content written with empathy and the highest standards for conscious language, sourcing, and evidence-based medical excellence. Readers responded with hundreds of thousands of positive comments on social media, user reviews and direct emails to the company
- Added more than 250 new brand advertisers
- Was recognized by Ad Age as a "Best Place to Work" and a "Best and Brightest Great Place to Work" by the National Association of Business Resources
- Launched Healthline Parenthood, a new online wellness publication for new parents
- Launched or enhanced free apps for Breast Cancer, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), and Multiple Sclerosis
- Hired 117 new people to a total of 330
- Was acquired by Red Ventures in July
Trend Toward Healthy Self-Care
Driving Healthline's momentum is the fact that Americans are taking more control of their health. According to Healthline's study of 2,000 Americans, 89% say they pay more attention to their health and wellness than they used to and 79% have searched for information online about a medical concern instead of visiting a doctor or other care provider. The trend toward self-health is most evident in American's proactivity toward health-related activities, including:
- 60% wash their hands often (millennials are the worst hand washers at 55% while boomers are the best hand washers at 69%)
- 57% try to reduce stress
- 53% take vitamins
- 49% don't smoke, led by 58% of boomers who don't smoke as opposed to the 57% of millennials who do
- 41% sleep at least 8 hours a night
- 38% get a flu shot
The "eat right and exercise" plan is on the list of ways to stay healthy, as is going to the doctor annually and practicing positivity.
- 48% go to the doctor for annual check-ups (64% of boomers; 41% of millennials)
- 46% eat a balanced diet
- 45% exercise regularly (more than 3 days/week)
- 43% practice being positive in life (48% of boomers; 40% millennials)
- 35% admit to being proactive about health concerns
Americans also believe they know what's best for themselves health-wise. Half (50%) believe that their doctors don't always know what's best for them, though Gen Z is more skeptical with 60% and millennials are more accepting with 44% not believing their doctors always know what's best for them. Even if Americans do listen to their doctors:
- 86% adapt doctors' advice to what they feel is best for them
- 83% are confident that they can generally diagnose themselves through online research when they have symptoms of an illness
- 49% listen to doctors' advice then do their own research to decide what to do
- Only 26% follow doctors' advice exclusively
"Healthline.com is committed to making the world stronger and healthier," added Kopp. "We care deeply about this vision, and will continue to earn our new number one ranking for years to come."
About Healthline Media
San Francisco-based Healthline Media's mission is to empower people to be their strongest and healthiest selves by being a trusted ally in their pursuit of health and well-being. The company is one of the world's fastest growing health information brands with online properties Healthline.com, MedicalNewsToday.com and Greatist.com. Healthline Media's sites provide evidence-based articles with the highest standards of medical integrity that support the modern health consumer with a whole-person approach to health and wellness. Healthline Media is the top ranked health publisher and number 39 on Comscore's Top 100 Property rankings through January 2020. Across all of its properties, Healthline Media publishes articles authored by more than 120 writers and reviewed by more than 100 doctors, clinicians, nutritionists, and other experts. The company's repository contains more than 70,000 articles, each updated with current protocol. More than 200 million people worldwide and 87 million people in the U.S. visit Healthline's sites each month, according to data from Google Analytics and Comscore, respectively. Healthline Media is owned by Red Ventures.
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