Health.com finds a healthy following on Twitter

When Time Inc. re-launched its health.com website in May 2008, it repositioned the site less as an extension of Health magazine and more as a standalone information resource for health enthusiasts. The site’s audience development team knew they would have a tough time competing through traditional channels to draw visitors against the likes of WebMD and other established health sites, which dominate search engine results. So they tried something new: Twitter.

Launched as part of a broader viral marketing effort, Health’s Twitter account has seen extraordinary growth. From 278 followers at the end of last year, @goodhealth grew to nearly 24,000 followers in May, and as of Aug. 11 had more than 635,000 people signed up to receive its updates – an increase of nearly 2,600% in the past three months alone.

“I saw Twitter as a great place to establish an online voice, share links, and connect with health enthusiasts of all kind,” said Ross Weale,associate director of online audience development with Time. “It’s also a site where Health magazine and Health.com could better compete for reader attention against higher trafficked health sites.”

Eleven health.com staffers post @goodhealth tweets, averaging 12 or more posts a day, including retweets of interesting, relevant content – no matter the competitive source, said Weale. The account is promoted from the health.com site and its newsletters, and is also cross-promoted from popular sister accounts like @time and @peoplemag.

“Together with our Facebook fan page and other popular sites like Digg and StumbleUpon, Twitter is very helpful in getting our content to go viral,” said Weale.

But will that buzz contribute to health.com’s overall health? According to Compete.com, website traffic increased from 2.9 million page views in August 2008 to 6.8 million in June 2009, before dipping to 4.2 million in July. Pages per visit, however, have dropped from a high of 5.86 in January to 4.15 in July.

“With Twitter being such a new platform, it is very early to determine those types of longer-term goals,” said Weale. “But in the short term, the publicity and awareness that has resulted from having a top health account has been very exciting for the Health brand and staff.” Twitter has produced dividends in other areas as well, such as helping editors to find interesting story ideas and as a platform for reader feedback.

With Twitter, Weale added, “I hope to continue to attract and retain an audience that has a growing affinity for our brand in exchange for the privilege of their attention.” How much impact that attention will have on the Health franchise remains to be seen.