How to Create an Editorial Style Guide for Your Content Team

When producing large volumes of content, uniform parameters for formatting and punctuation are essential. Consistency throughout your department means that your team will be more productive and the work you produce can be created flawlessly. A tried-and-true way to achieve this is by creating an editorial style guide for your department. You can choose to incorporate the Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press Stylebook, or come up with a combination of rules that work for you and your team. Because we think an editorial style guide is a must for any digital writing department, we’re here to help you get started with your own. Here are five key categories that will help you create a comprehensive editorial style guide.

Style, voice, and tone

Although the concept is pretty self-explanatory, you’ll want to dig deep into the stylistic choices writers on your team make. While some rules are obvious (ex: avoiding passive voice), others may be specific to your industry. For example, if you’re writing technical copy, you should avoid slang and jargon. To establish the rules that matter most, sit down with your team to discuss what’s important.

Grammar and mechanics

From punctuation to shorthand, you’ll want to establish a clear set of grammar and mechanics guidelines. For instance, at Aronson Advertising, we frequently use units of measurement in our content that we write in a specific way. The next time you write or edit a piece of content, pay attention to specific details, like frequently used acronyms and how you display numbers. Then you can determine the grammar and mechanics rules that will best serve the content and your clients.

Company-specific guidelines

Are there any topics you write about that are specific to your industry? You’ll want to create a section in your style guide for this purpose. At Aronson Advertising, we work in the automotive space and are required comply with each automotive brand’s advertising rules. Compile the unique aspects of your company and how they relate to your published content.

Frequently used words

With writing for the automotive space comes a group of words that are used consistently to describe the vehicles we write about. (e.g. ‘mid-sized SUV’ instead of ‘midsized’ SUV). Should you find yourself in a similar situation, it’s a great idea to create a list of these words and phrases so all of your writers know which variation to use.

Structure and layout best practices

Do you use bulleted lists or tables in your content? You’ll want to create a best practice guide for your formatting rules. This will make your content as uniform as possible. Whether your team uses headers or leaves header coding up to the SEO team, define your standards for flawless content.

To learn more about the services that the Aronson Advertising digital department can provide for your business, contact our team today.