Perhaps you have a rapidly growing web presence and your writers need a more consistent approach. Failure to follow a standard approach can damage an organisation's brand. A well written web style guide is an important first step on which to build an effective corporate verbal identity.
A simple test of whether a company is adhering to a style guide is to key into a website search engine 'web site' and 'website'. Then check for the number of linked references to both.
If the engine blindly follows 'exact match' spelling, and both searches result in page links being listed, you will know that the site needs a more rigorous approach to spelling. You can also try this with 'email' and 'e-mail'.
Working so closely with our many clients means that we have a good appreciation both of what is needed and what is likely to be regularly used.
Lip service is widely paid to the importance of having a web style guide, but other web project pressures often mean that creating one is the job that finds a place at the bottom of pile. But it is also a job that you can consider outsourcing.
Working so closely with our many clients means that we have a good appreciation both of what is needed and what is likely to be regularly used.
So what should be included?
language-related
- use of acronyms, italics and
- capitalisation
- numbers, measurements, time and dates
- business-specific vocabulary and
- terminology spellings, abbreviations and
- hyphenation
- grammar and punctuation
- tone and style
web-related
- styling text for the screen
- bulleted and numbered lists
- hyperlinks and local navigation
- headlines and summaries
- downloadable file guidelines
publication-related
- site structural guidelines
- global navigation
- workflow procedures, proof reading,
- check lists
- website standards, corporate design and accessibility issues
project or organisation related
- house spelling rules eg housebuilding or house-building
- In a global organisation, local guidelines may be necessary
- quality control procedures
If you would like to discuss how we can help you with your web style guide please phone us on 01444 254780 or email info@rightwords.co.uk.