A style guide is a set of rules applied to all of your content. This includes your website, any promotional pieces, social media posts, blog posts, brochures, and even internal documents. It’s a place where an agreed upon set of rules are stored. This style guide should be shared with anyone who needs to gain an understanding of your brand. Marketers, writers, outsourced help, anyone who will benefit from knowing.
What does a style guide do for your brand?
A style guide shows how prepared you are. That your presence is concise and intentional. When you consider granular things such as your font style and size, as well as defining the tone and formatting style (MLA, APA, Chicago) for when you cite your sources, it shows that you have one cohesive, clear brand.
It can be jarring for a reader to notice disparate content. It risks appearing as though you don’t understand who you are and looks disorganized. Often there are multiple writers contributing to a brand's content, and without a style guide to direct those decisions, your brand may appear as though it has conflicting personalities.
Style guide vs. design guide
A style guide is not to be confused with your design guide, where color choices and font styles, and sizes live. Though, if it’s easier to keep these in the same document, and it isn’t confusing, feel free to add those there! Remember, this document is a living and breathing document. Add things as you wish, take things away that are irrelevant, make it work for you.
Here is a free Style Guide Template. Access the document by clicking the link and creating a copy to make edits.
Or, use this link to access a PDF Copy.
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