Style guide development

Make sure all your writers are on the same page – by asking me to create a style guide for your organisation

No matter how well you’ve defined your tone of voice, it’s easy to lose control of your brand when you have many writers creating copy.

That’s why you need a style guide – a written document that helps you create the branding consistency you need.

Armed with this set of guidelines, in-house and freelance writers can make the right content decisions, time after time.

Usually taking the form of an A-Z reference document, a style guide is a useful resource that writers can refer to when writing for your brand.

As an expert in brand language, I can create a style guide for your business. My style guide service helps you:

• Put tone of voice into practice. With a content style guide, you can give writers the practical info they need to write in your specific brand tone.

• Save time and money in future. When copywriters have a style guide to turn to, they’re less likely to need to ask you questions – and their copy is less likely to need revisions, which could save money too.

• Meet your organisation’s goals. A style guide helps copywriters to write in a voice that’s best suited to the target reader – helping you meet business goals.

Why use this service?

Style guide icon
Image Credit: Pixel Perfect

What a style guide includes

Never seen a style guide before? To get a sense of what a style guide can look like, browse the Guardian/Observer and the Economist style guides for starters.

You probably won’t want anything as detailed as these – but they’re a good insight into how helpful a style guide can be for a serious content team.

Your style guide will focus on issues that are important to you. These might include:

  • Brand tone. Do you want writers to use short, snappy sentences and paragraphs – or vary the pace? Are you a minimalist brand – or is a dash of creative flair OK by you? A summary of your views on tone of voice should appear here.
  • Styles of English. In a global business, do you use UK or US spellings? Are there any exceptions to the general rule – such as use of the Oxford comma?
  • Industry terms. Are there words that are always spelled the same way in your industry – or ugly phrases that you never want to use?
  • Hyphenations. Do you take a progressive approach to hyphenation, using one-word nouns like “mashup” and “breakup” – or are you a bit more traditional, preferring hyphenated forms?
  • Abbreviations. Do your readers know their ASOS from their ASCII? Which do readers understand, and which should be spelled out at first mention?
  • Basic grammar rules. Not everyone who writes for your business will be an experienced writer. Do you want to include basic grammar rules for them to stick to – or assume that writers don’t need this?
  • Old-school grammar rules. Do you enforce once-popular rules such as ‘don’t split infinitives’ or ‘never begin a sentence with “And”’? (Most people think these two have died a death, but in a highly conservative market, you might not.)
  • References and citations. In reports and white papers, references matter: they give you credibility and reinforce your expertise. But do you have a consistent way to present references, so your readers can read up on a subject further if they need to? A style guide helps nail these down.

Each one of these decisions might seem small in themselves – but taken together, they can be vital to achieving consistency. And consistency, as you know, plays a vital role in building a brand.

So if you don’t have a style guide, and you believe in clear comms, you know what to do. Get in touch – and start work on your style guide today.

How much does copywriting and editing cost?

Copywriting and editing are bespoke services, so I quote individually for all projects. Here are some typical services I offer:

Create a style guide
from
£ ask
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Sector style guide
from
£ ask
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Bespoke style service
from
£ ask
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All prices are indicative. For copywriting services, price includes first draft in Word, plus unlimited revisions within 15 days of first draft, within scope of original brief. No travel is included. Subject to terms.