Steps to create a Content Style Guide
Once you’ve realized how important a style guide is for your content, the next thing is to actually create one. This is where you’ll have to face some pressing questions, some of which are as follows.
- What to include in the content style guide?
- What should the final version of the guide look like?
- Whom can I ask for help and feedback?
- How will the guide be distributed?
All of these (and many other such questions) are, indeed, crucial to the entire process. It is, however, important to answer these in a sequential manner so as to be safe from an overwhelming, and hence, frustrating experience. Breaking the process of the creation of a style guide into certain steps can be extremely helpful. The following seven steps can guide you through the process.
1. Know your content
As in all the other things related to content (such as content strategy, information architecture, personas), the first thing is to know what you have. Before getting to the decision-making phase, you need to have a clear idea about the types of content your organization is generating, the formatting principles you follow, and the modes of publication you’re using.
The guidelines for blog posts, for instance, will be different from printed instruction manuals which, following the same principle, will be different from social media posts. It is, therefore, important to have an idea of the entire repository. If you already have the results of a content audit, you’ll be able to save a lot of time in this step.
2. Meet the collaborators
A style guide is a comprehensive document, listing rules for various types of content dissipated via multiple channels. The technical writing or communications team might be the only one generating the guide but they are never the only people benefiting from it. Similarly, as the content reaches the audience through different channels, other teams and individuals should have their say when the rules are being laid down.
A style guide is mostly about making decisions and creating rules.
To keep the process standardized and to have a comprehensive output, it is important to identify all the stakeholders and collaborators. Based on the findings of Step 1, you can easily shortlist the teams you’ll be working with. Some common ones include the people concerned with social media, design, marketing, and customer support.
3. List down the decision points
Once you know your content and you know who you’ll be working with, it is then time to sit together and begin the task. A style guide is mostly about making decisions and creating rules. It is, therefore, advisable to know what you’ll be making decisions about. To make things simple and less frustrating, do not make any decisions just yet. Sit down with all the concerned people and list the instances where some decision is required.
It can be literally anything regarding the content. The decision points can range from things as small as the capitalization of headings and as big as the choice of a markup language. Once you have gathered all the concerns, the decisions can be made in a better way, making sure that nothing is left out.
4. Discuss and make decisions
Now that you know who the decision-makers are and what do they have to make decisions about, the next logical step is to discuss and pass the verdict. It is crucial for all the concerned teams to participate actively in this phase. Decisions regarding the tone and voice of the content, the use of a second or third person in the instructional material, the length and capitalization of headings, the choice of language, all need to be discussed and finalized. It goes without saying that the teams and individuals of any department (social media, for example) will have the final word in the sections dealing with their content (captions and tweets, in case of social media).
Another important part of this step is to list down the basic principles for the creation of the style guide itself. For instance, it must be made clear whether the guide will be hosted on the website, shared via Google Docs, printed and distributed, and/or shared via any other medium.
5. Create content for the guide
At this stage, you’ll have all the ingredients you need to create the content style guide. Now is the time that you actually start writing the decisions down, organizing the guide, and creating a draft as a result. Some important things to take care of, while creating the guide, are as follows.
- Address all the rules discussed and finalized in Step 4.
- Make the content clear and free of any ambiguities.
- Ensure uniformity in the structure and presentation of the guide itself.
- Make the guide flexible, so that it can be altered and updated in the future.
6. Review the content style guide
Once a draft of the style guide is created, sit down with all the concerned teams one more time. Review every decision point and make sure that all the important things have been addressed. If any changes are needed, make a note and edit or update the content as needed.
A style guide is the first step in bringing uniformity, enabling you to generate helpful content for the audience.
If the changes requested in the first review are significant, then you might find it helpful to schedule a follow-up review (and another one, if needed), to make sure that all the requirements are fulfilled in the final version.
7. Distribute the document
Once the edits have been made and reviewed, you are now ready to share the content style guide with everyone. Based on the decisions made in Step 3, you can either host it online or share a version with everyone concerned with content creation.
Remember, based on the nature of the content and the size of your organization, you may not need some steps. Alternatively, some phases might take up more of your time. The end goal, however, is to get a comprehensive style guide which is both easy to understand and flexible to changes.
Sources
- UX Magazine. The Elements of a Style Guide.
- Midori Nediger in Venngage. How to Create a Brand Style Guide.
- Morgan Marie Quinn in Prototypr. How to Create a Content Style Guide.
- Andrei Dorin in Muzli. How To Create a Style Guide From Scratch. Tips and Tricks.
- Barbara Arnolj in UX Collective. How to design a style guide for websites.
- ReVerb. What Is A Style Guide And How To Create One For Your Brand?
