Issue
Number 364
February 5, 2003
CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE
- Help IAC! Provide a link on your website to IAC's newest
website: http://www.vaccineinformation.org
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February 5, 2003
HELP IAC! PROVIDE A LINK ON YOUR WEBSITE TO IAC'S NEWEST WEBSITE: http://www.vaccineinformation.org
WHAT YOU CAN DO
An important way you as a health professional can help promote sound,
scientifically based immunization websites is to provide links to them on
your organization's website(s). The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is
specifically asking you to help us extend the reach of our newest website,
"Vaccine Information for the Public & Health Professionals" (http://www.vaccineinformation.org).
Launched in October 2002 and funded solely by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, the new website is replete with
reliable information on each vaccine-preventable disease and its
vaccine, as well as scientific data on vaccine safety and the
importance of vaccines.
Even though it's a dependable source of immunization information
for the public, the new website is not having the influence it
should. Because it's so new, few other sites currently link to it.
We need you to provide a link to our newest website on your website
so it can gain exposure on search engines.
WHY YOU NEED TO DO IT
People typically start the hunt for information with a search
engine. What many don't realize is that search engines use "site
popularity," among other criteria, to determine the order in which
they rank search results. A site that has links to it on many other
sites (i.e., a "popular site") is ranked higher in a search
engine's displayed results than a site that few others link to.
For example, more than 3,000 websites link to IAC's original
website, http://www.immunize.org, so when the keywords "immunize"
or "immunization" are entered, this website appears as a top
selection with many search engines. In contrast, because IAC's
newest website has relatively few other websites linking to it,
when the keywords "vaccine information" are entered, the resulting
list may not include the new site, even though the keywords match
the site name perfectly. With most search engines, the resulting
list leans relatively heavily toward organizations critical of
vaccines and U.S. vaccination policy.
For these reasons, please add a link to
http://www.vaccineinformation.org to your organization's
website(s). This may seem like a small step, but adding links to
this site as well as to other sites that supply responsible sources
of immunization information, can help web-savvy health consumers
reach an accurate conclusion about immunization--that it is a
positive medical intervention of enormous benefit to the public's
health and well-being.
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