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What are style guidelines

By Steve Kellas, Content Director

I once worked with a very large corporation (5000+ people) that had a 70-page copy style guide of practically every usage I could dream up, except one – the web. So when I asked if they had specific web guidelines, I was told to ignore the style guide and make a new 'webby' style. The copy I wrote was the product of parts of the traditional style guide, my instincts as a web copywriter and the interpretation of my clients. After the project, I helped them write a new section for their style guide: web copy guidelines and usage.

A good style guide will make it easier for content contributors and writers to create copy that is on brand, on message and consistent with existing copy. Where there are special circumstances or multiple audiences – often the case with websites – these should be clearly articulated.

What should copy style guidelines include?

When writing copy style guidelines, I outline every item that I would need to effectively write copy for your website, brochure or corporate newsletter. Style guides should be the policy, but never be set in stone. Regularly updating a style guide keeps it recent and useful as business lines change, or as style evolves over time. In general, a style guide would cover:

• An overview of the objectives of the communication. For the website, this would be the objectives of the website as a whole communications piece like 'converting browsers to buyers'. For a company, these tend to be principles of communication like 'clear' or 'informative'.
• Target audience information highlighting to the write who the communication is for, what they are like, what other types of content they read.
• Tone of Voice. This would articulate the correct tone and manner of writing as well as narrative position (e.g. conversational, active, formal, welcoming, always use first person personal pronouns, write in the third person impersonal, etc.)
• Language. This describes the type and structure of the language used - not English/French; but a description of the level of language and usage (e.g. write from the reader's perspective, aim for reading age level of 9 years, short and simple sentence structures, less grammar, avoid superlatives and anecdotes, etc.)
• Specific Terms Used (glossary of terms). Clearly document any in-house style points for commonly used words (e.g. 'web site' vs. 'website'; 'e-mail' vs. 'email') as well as any special or industry-related terms and acronyms.

Examples will round out the guide

Include specific examples of structure and style. Being able to follow what has been done before makes the process smoother and often faster (saving time and money).

• Page structure: outlines the components of a web page or document (what goes where?)
• Headline style example
• Summary style example
• Introduction style example
• Body style example
• How, when and what to put into bullet points.
• Meta information (if required): what Meta info must be included, examples
• Hyperlinking style example (e.g. use keywords, never 'click here' as a link)

The time saved in having a definitive copy style guide as 'rule book' will pay for the guide in short order. It quickens briefings, makes review easier and saves time with content providers by giving you a reference point for which to evaluate all content and copy produced and a starting point for creating on-brand, on-message website copy.

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