A Clearly Defined Style Guide Creates Brand Consistency

A Clearly Defined Content Style Guide Creates Brand Consistency

Why bother with a content style guide? It helps a company communicate better. Which saves time and money when writing company documents. A style guide goes farther than simply establishing what grammar and punctuation should be used. It outlines when, for example, to use a company abbreviated name or trademark symbol. Once in place, it allows authors to write in a consistent way, rather than infuse their own style—it sets the tone for authors to follow. This is important across all communications, whether internal or external (customer-facing).

For instance, authors can follow a common set of procedures that spell out when to:

• Capitalize a heading
• Write a number or use the digit format
• Use certain kinds of punctuation in different types of lists

Following a well-written, organized style guide goes a long way to reducing the time authors need to find answers as to “how do we say this?”

The hallmarks of a good style guide:

• Properly organized according to how/when certain written elements should be used
• Follows the established corporate style
• Utilizes input from the company’s authors during development
• Relatively brief; about four pages long, depending on the end goal
• Created as an easy-to-read reference tool