As content marketing grows in importance, more and more businesses are recognising the need to define the editorial style of their written output.
But how do you go about deciding on your brand's particular style if you've never had the need before?
The best place to start is by studying the best guides that are freely available on the web. We've listed below three of the best British English examples we know.
Most businesses will never need anything as thorough as these, but they are very valuable inspiration for the structure and content of a guide that suits what you need.
UK Government
As most business writing for the web is journalistic in nature, we've included two publications by news organisations. But this one is published by the UK government, and it shows how seriously they are taking their responsibility to communicate clearly.
"Using this style guidance will help us make all GOV.UK information readable and understandable. It has a welcoming and reassuring tone and aims to be a trusted and familiar resource."
https://www.gov.uk/designprinciples/styleguide
BBC
"Audiences expect the BBC to demonstrate the highest standards of English because well-written stories are easier to understand."
This guide contains a lot of interesting subjective content, but also a very helpful section on grammar, spelling and punctuation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide
The Economist
This is my personal favourite for its stylish and self-deprecating introductory page. And any guide that takes George Orwell's six elementary rules as its starting point is worth treating seriously!
"The first requirement of The Economist is that it should be readily understandable."
Good advice for all of us.
http://www.economist.com/styleguide/introduction
Do you know of anything better? Let us know if you think we've missed a great guide.