Timely articles covering new medical studies, NHS or WHO announcements, disease updates, and newly approved treatments. Must be written within 48 hours of the announcement. Must cite the original study or official health body as the source.

Examples: WHO Issues New Salt Intake Guidelines 2025 Study Links Ultra-Processed Foods to Early Dementia Risk

Evergreen educational articles explaining a medical condition in plain English. Must cover what it is, who it affects, symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment, and when to see a doctor. Every claim must link to NHS, WebMD, Mayo Clinic, or a peer-reviewed journal.

Examples: What is Type 2 Diabetes? Causes, Symptoms and Treatment PCOS Explained: What Every Woman Needs to Know

Practical articles covering specific diets, foods, nutrients, or eating habits. Must include real nutritional data referencing USDA FoodData Central or NHS Eat Well guidelines. Do not make unsupported weight loss promises.

Examples: 10 Iron-Rich Foods You Should Eat Every Week Intermittent Fasting for Beginners: A Complete UK Guide

Workout guides, exercise plans, and movement-based wellness content. Must include specific instructions, safety precautions, and beginner modifications. Always note that readers with pre-existing conditions should consult a GP before starting any new program.

Examples: 30-Day Beginner Home Workout Plan with No Equipment Best Exercises for Lower Back Pain Relief at Home

Sensitive, empathetic content covering anxiety, depression, stress, sleep, and emotional wellbeing. Must not diagnose readers. Must always recommend professional help. Articles on crisis topics must end with signposting to Samaritans, Mind UK, or NHS mental health services.

Examples: 10 Proven Techniques to Manage Anxiety at Home How Poor Sleep Affects Your Mental Health and What to Do

Word count must serve the reader, not a search target. A health news update does not need 3000 words. A complete guide to managing Type 2 Diabetes should not be limited to 800 words. Write until the health topic is fully and accurately covered. Never pad content with repeated advice or filler paragraphs just to hit a word count.

Every health article must open with a clear introduction explaining what the reader will learn and why it matters to their health. Every article must close with a practical conclusion summarising key health takeaways and next steps including a reminder to consult a healthcare professional where appropriate.

Health readers often scan quickly. Keep paragraphs between 2 and 4 sentences. No wall-of-text blocks. Use short sentences that can be understood by someone with no medical background. Each paragraph must cover one clear idea, symptom, or treatment point.

Every FSIBlog health article must include this disclaimer at the top or bottom. It cannot be removed or significantly reworded.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet, medication, or treatment plan.

Articles must never tell a reader they have a specific condition. Phrases like "you have diabetes if" are prohibited. Instead write "these symptoms may indicate" or "a doctor may diagnose this as". FSIBlog informs and educates, it does not replace clinical diagnosis.

Every statistic, percentage, or research finding must be cited with a link to the original source. Accepted sources include NHS, WHO, NICE, CDC, PubMed, Mayo Clinic, and WebMD. Do not cite other health blogs as primary evidence. Do not use studies older than 5 years unless they are foundational facts.

Accepted: nhs.uk who.int nice.org.uk pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov cdc.gov mayoclinic.org

Every condition or symptom article must include a section titled "When to See a Doctor" listing the warning signs that require urgent attention. This section protects readers and satisfies Google's YMYL health content quality requirements. Missing this section is grounds for rejection.

Example: Seek emergency help if you experience chest pain, difficulty breathing, or sudden loss of consciousness.

Articles on mental health crises, eating disorders, addiction, or self-harm must end with a crisis resources section linking to Samaritans at samaritans.org, Mind UK at mind.org.uk, and the NHS mental health helpline at 111. Writers covering these topics must demonstrate care and clinical awareness in their writing approach.

Every article has one H1 heading which is the article title. It must contain the primary health keyword and be between 50 and 60 characters. Avoid sensationalist headlines. Accurate, descriptive titles build reader trust and rank better for health searches.

Good: Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms: Early Signs You Should Not Ignore

Bad: This Secret Trick Will Cure Your Diabetes Forever

Submit a meta title between 50 and 60 characters and a meta description between 150 and 160 characters with every article. Include the primary keyword naturally in both. Do not make medical promises in meta fields.

Meta title: 50 to 60 characters Meta description: 150 to 160 characters

Use H2 headings for major sections such as Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, Prevention, and When to See a Doctor. Use H3 for subsections. Never skip heading levels. A standard 1500-word health article should have 5 to 7 H2 headings following a logical clinical structure.

Primary keyword density should be between 1.0% and 2.0% of total word count. Place the keyword in the first 100 words, at least one H2 heading, meta title, meta description, and featured image alt text. Never stuff keywords. Natural LSI terms like symptoms, causes, and treatment improve topical relevance automatically.

Target: 1.0% to 2.0% Hard limit: 2.5%

Any health article over 1000 words must include a table of contents after the introduction with anchor links to each H2 section. Google frequently uses these for health sitelinks in search results, significantly increasing visibility for medical queries.

Every FSIBlog health article must end with a Frequently Asked Questions section of 4 to 6 questions formatted as H3 headings with 2 to 3 sentence answers. This enables FAQPage schema and creates opportunities for Google People Also Ask inclusions for health queries.

Examples: Can diabetes be reversed with diet? What foods should someone with high blood pressure avoid?

Every article must include 2 to 5 internal links to other relevant FSIBlog health articles. An article about Type 2 Diabetes should link to related FSIBlog content on blood sugar management or healthy eating. Use descriptive anchor text. Never use "click here" or "read more".

Minimum: 2 links Maximum: 5 links

Every article must include 1 to 3 external links to high-authority medical sources only. Accepted sources are NHS, WHO, NICE, CDC, Mayo Clinic, WebMD, PubMed, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Diabetes UK, and Mind UK. Never link to other health blogs, supplement sellers, or low-authority sites as evidence.

nhs.uk who.int mayoclinic.org pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Writers must not add links to supplement shops, private clinic booking pages, or any commercial health product without prior FSIBlog editorial approval. Undisclosed commercial links violate Google's link spam policies. Sponsored content must be clearly labelled and pre-approved before submission.

Accepted image sources are Unsplash, Pexels, Pixabay, and licensed medical illustration libraries. Never use images of real patients without consent. Never use graphic post-operative or clinical procedure photos without a content warning.

Every image must have descriptive alt text of 5 to 15 words including the relevant health keyword where natural.

Examples: doctor checking blood pressure of elderly patient woman practicing yoga for stress relief at home healthy meal prep with vegetables and whole grains

Google requires health content to demonstrate direct experience. Write from a perspective that reflects real knowledge, your own experience managing a condition, a professional healthcare background, or significant research engagement. Generic condition descriptions that read like Wikipedia rewrites will be declined.

FSIBlog strongly prefers submissions from registered nurses, nutritionists, certified personal trainers, mental health practitioners, pharmacists, or medical journalists. Lay writers are accepted but must demonstrate thorough research with full source citations. All writers must disclose their relevant background in their author bio.

Every FSIBlog health article must include a complete author bio of 60 to 120 words covering your full name or pen name, your health or medical background, any relevant qualifications, and your personal or professional connection to the topic. Anonymous health articles are not accepted.

Bio must include: Full name Health background Qualifications if any Topic connection

Medical guidelines change. Drug dosages are updated. Research evolves. Writers are responsible for using the most current information available at submission. If NHS or WHO guidelines have been updated since your source was published, use the current version. Outdated advice that contradicts current guidelines results in rejection.

Follow this standard structure for condition and treatment articles:

Introduction What Is It Symptoms Causes Treatment Options Prevention Tips When to See a Doctor Conclusion FAQ Disclaimer

Use tables for comparing treatment options, listing nutritional values, showing symptom severity scales, or presenting research findings side by side. Well-structured health comparison tables are frequently featured in Google rich results and featured snippets.

Target a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 or above. Always explain medical jargon immediately after first use. For example: "The patient presented with dyspnoea (difficulty breathing)". Health content that requires a medical degree to understand fails Google's Helpful Content standards for general health audiences.

Target Flesch score: 60+ Avg sentence length: 15 to 18 words

Submit all health articles as a shared Google Doc with editing access. Apply proper heading levels using the Paragraph Styles dropdown. Include a submission notes section at the top listing your primary keyword, meta title, meta description, suggested URL slug, author bio, and all medical sources used.

Run your article through Copyscape, Quetext, or Grammarly before submitting. Your article must have less than 5% similarity with any other published content online. FSIBlog runs every submitted article through plagiarism detection automatically. Articles exceeding 5% similarity are returned without review.

Maximum similarity allowed: 5%

AI tools may be used for editing and grammar checking but the primary content must be written by a human with genuine health knowledge who can personally verify every claim. AI-generated health content frequently contains hallucinated statistics, outdated guidance, and generic advice that lacks the accuracy required for safe health publishing.

Content submitted to FSIBlog must not have been published anywhere else online. This includes your own personal blog. Republishing the same article across multiple domains is treated by Google as duplicate thin content and harms both sites. Each submission must be written fresh specifically for FSIBlog.