IHR Guidelines for
Promotional Text Listings

Background

IHR's goal is to provide educational web pages that are easy to use and helpful. To achieve this goal, we strive to present promotional listings with educationally slanted text, rather than promotionally slanted text. We want Internet users to:

  • Quickly and easily understand how the listings are organized on the page
  • Quickly and easily understand each listed organization

To help us achieve these goals, please use the following guidelines for your promotional listings.

Line 1:  Organization Name

  1. The IHR listing listings should contain the organization's name, rather than the doctors' names.
     
  2. The organization's name in the IHR listing and their website, should be consistent.
     
  3. If a listing is sponsored by another organization, the sponsoring organization may add identifying words to indicate that they are the sponsor, using these guidelines:
     
    • Maximum of three words
    • Words can be italics, but not bold
    • The text color should be consistent with other text colors on the page. Here is an example: "Sponsor Network Member".

Line 2:  Location Line

  1. IHR prefers to use a metropolitan areas for the location. However, if you prefer, you may use your city.
     
  2. The goal for the Location line is for Internet users to quickly see objective office location information that is relevant to them.  The Location line is written from the user's point of view. This line is not organizational branding (which can be placed in the 25-word description). For example:
     
    • Do not include words such as "convenient" or "conveniently located."
    • This is not a line for branding your organization as having a regional or national presence. See the Location line table below for details.

   Examples of Location line text:

Your office locations are here: And your IHR.com listing is in this state section: Then, your Location line would say: Comments
Houston Texas "(Houston)" This is a standard Location line.
Houston New York "(located in Houston, Texas)" This is an out-of-state listing, so IHR adds "located in _____."
Houston and Chicago Texas "(Houston)" Although you have offices in both Houston and Chicago, the text will only say "Houston," since the Internet user looking in the Texas section only needs to know the Texas locations.
Houston and Chicago New York "(located in Houston, Texas and Chicago, Illinois)" In this case you have no office in New York state. The location line would then include both Houston and Chicago. That way, the person looking in the New York section could learn that you do have locations outside of New York state.

Line 3:  25-Word Description

Your 25-word description should ideally have the following goals:

  • Emphasize the unique benefits of your services or products.
     
  • Clearly and accurately describe your organization's services and/or products.
     
  • Provide educational information, and avoid the use of extravagant promotional claims.

Your 25-word description:

  • Must be a maximum of 25 words
  • Must adhere to "ASRM Guidelines for Advertisers" especially, please note the following items:
    • #2 - "Claims made in advertisements must be supported by reliable data."
    • #3 - "...using SART Clinic Specific Data for advertising/marketing that ranks or compares clinics or practices is unacceptable and is not permitted."

Additional guidelines for your description:

Text can contain:
  • Comparative superlatives about the physicians or staff, if this is clearly substantiated (i.e., source, date, and methods) on your website. Examples:
    • "voted best doctor"
    • "national recognition awards"
    • "originator of the _______ procedure"
    • "first physician to perform....."
  • Factual statements, if they are clearly consistent with statements on your website. For example:
    • "12 years providing _____  procedure"
    • "performed 1,300 _____ procedures"
  • Superlative expressions, if there is no explicit comparison with other centers. Examples:
    • "excellent success rates"
    • "premier center"
    • "first-class customer service"
 Text cannot contain:
  • Comparisons between your organization and other organizations.
  • Explicit comparative superlatives about success rates, status, or services. Examples:
    • "highest success rates"
    • "among the best pregnancy rates"
    • "one of the nation's premier centers"
    • "superior success rates"
    • "best customer service in the state"
  • Success rate or research statistics. Examples:
    • "55% success rate...."
    • "research shows a 55% increase in ...."
  • Research jargon. For example:
    • "statistically significant results"
    • "double blind"
Formatting can contain:
  • Normal sentence capitalization.
  • All lower case for typical names of treatments or diseases. Examples:
    • "in vitro fertilization"
    • "infertility"
  • Initial upper case for the formal name of a unique program offered by your organization, as it is written on your website. Examples:
    • "IVF 100% Refund"
    • "Shared Risk Program"
 Formatting cannot contain:
  • Excessive capitalization. Examples:
    • "EXCELLENT TREATMENT RESULTS"
    • "Excellent Treatment Results"
  • Bolding
  • Exclamation points

 

Links to Your Website

  • The link to your website must allow users to return to the IHR starting page by clicking once on the browser's "Back" button.
     

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Quicklinks -
IHR Services for Fertility Organizationss
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