Your Style Guide Needs an Update
Content style guides are like the potato mashers in your cutlery drawer. You know it’s there, it peeks out to say hi when you open the drawer, but you rarely?use?it. (Apologies to any potato masher lovers out there.)
But style guides should be more like your spatula or peeler — something essential that you use every day. Style guides are a critical part of content governance. Governance across the web is vital because we want our users to have a consistent experience throughout our digital properties.
A style guide ensures that your brand’s presence is consistent and recognizable across all channels.
If it's been a while since you cracked open your style guide and reviewed it, chances are it needs an update. Especially if you're not sure about two essential sections: inclusive and accessible language.
What should a content style guide include?
Your brand style guide needs these important sections, at a minimum:
I lay out clear brand guidelines, including the 10 essential elements and new information on diversity, inclusion and accessibility. And if you already have a style guide, dust off the covers, crack it open and make sure it contains these elements. Feel free to add any that you’re missing. Style guides are living documents that need frequent updates.
Ready to spatula-tize your style guide? Let’s go.
The 10 Essential Elements of a Style Guide
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1. Your brand’s story
Before diving into the details of how to write for your organization, make sure the guideline users understand your brand. What does your company stand for? This section should cover:
Nemours Children’s Health ?does this with flying colors. Their brand guidelines explain these bullet points and their brand narrative. They also explain?why?these details matter, as an effort to “encapsulate the strategic vision of the organization and the meaning behind Well Beyond Medicine. The guidelines provide context and a meaningful, emotional connection between Nemours and all stakeholders.”
2. Grammar rules
Most corporate style guides use short paragraphs to direct writers to other style guides for grammar and punctuation rules. But there are basic grammar rules that people ALWAYS get wrong — even professional writers. So include three to four pages on some basics instead of sending writers elsewhere for direction. For example, include the differences between commonly misused words like:
And make it clear how your organization spells “healthcare”: two words (health care) or one word (healthcare). Call it out in the guidelines, so everyone is on the same page.
Consider adding grammar changes to your brand guide when a major style book does. If you use Associated Press (AP) Style, you might note when it gives new guidance, like?using “they” as a singular pronoun .
3. Actionable examples
Bring the grammar guidelines to life by adding real examples. Write out a sentence in the unacceptable format, then include a correct version. Our Aha Media style guide includes tangible examples. These sentences ensure our writers have clear direction on what we mean by each grammar rule.
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See the examples and 9 other essential elements in our recent blog post.