Writing foundations

By following these guidelines, you can start building better conversations with your audiences.

Be conversational

Helpful, human language is always better than text that sounds like a robot.

Write how you would talk to another human being.

Use abbreviated words like you’re, it’s, we’ll and we’ve to set a casual tone.

Avoid using abbreviated words that sound awkward when you say them out loud.

Use simple words

Use simple, common words that are clear and easy to understand.

The average reading age in the UK is around 9 years old, so avoid technical words and sentences.

Be inclusive

Using inclusive language means choosing words that are respectful and considerate. As our users are a diverse group of people, we want the way we speak to them to take account of their preferences and differences.

Use gender neutral terms over gendered ones where possible.

As a general rule, you should avoid referencing gender, age, disability, ethnicity or religion unless it's absolutely relevant to the content you're producing.

If disability is relevant to the content you’re writing, use positive terms. Remember that 'disability' is a description, and not a group of people.

It's important to remember when you're writing that people don't always agree on what are the most inclusive terms, and they can change over time.

Be consistent

Use consistent language across your experiences.

Avoid using different words for the same action.

Be concise

Use as few words as possible without losing the meaning.

Make sure every word has a purpose by removing any unnecessary language.

Too much information can overwhelm the user, so only reveal detail when it’s needed for the experience.

Try to frontload the most important words into the beginning of any communication with your user, as this makes it easier for users to scan your content.

Use descriptive headings

The main message should be in the title and then expanded upon in the copy.

Address users clearly

Use ‘you’ and ‘your’ when speaking to the user instead of ‘my’ or ‘I’.

If something goes wrong, don’t address the user as ‘you’. This can blame the user for the error.

Only use ‘I’ when the user is agreeing to something.

Use ‘we’ or ‘our’ when referring to the brand you’re writing for.

Use an active voice

Using an active voice makes your sentences shorter and easier to read.

An active voice takes responsibility and builds trust with your users.

Avoid using a passive voice. It’s indirect, long, and confusing to users.

If you’re unsure, you can use the Hemingway Editor to check whether you’re using an active or passive voice.