Blog Writing Style Guide

This style guide is designed to help writers create content that aligns with the tone, voice, and style of REACHRIGHT. Please follow these guidelines to ensure consistency across all written materials.

Audience

Our primary audience is pastors and church leaders, predominantly from evangelical churches in the United States. Keep this audience in mind when creating content, using language and examples that resonate with their experiences, values, and challenges.

Tone

  • Positive and Enthusiastic: Maintain an upbeat, optimistic tone throughout your writing. Emphasize the benefits and exciting aspects of the subject matter.
  • Encouraging and Supportive: Provide reassurance and support to the reader. Offer practical advice and resources to help them overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

Voice

  • Conversational and Relatable: Write as if you are speaking to a friend or colleague. Make use of questions and direct address to engage the reader.
  • Informative and Engaging: Provide helpful tips, insights, and relevant information. Strive to make your content interesting and enjoyable to read.

Style

  • Clear and Concise: Keep sentences and paragraphs short and to the point. Avoid unnecessary jargon and complex language. Writing for the web, we prefer short paragraphs to improve readability and make it easier for readers to digest the content.
  • Bullet Points and Lists: Use bullet points and numbered lists to organize information and make it easily digestible.
  • Subheadings: Divide your content into sections with clear, descriptive subheadings to guide the reader and improve readability.
  • Short Sentences: Aim for at least 80% of sentences to be less than 20 words.
  • Short Paragraphs: Paragraphs should be no more than 3 sentences in length. Most should be 2 sentences. Occasionally one sentence
  • Simple Language: Try not to use complex words and shoot for a 7th-grade reading level.
  • Transition Words: Use transition words in a minimum of 30 % of your sentences.
  • Active Voice: Avoid using passive voice and choose active voice wherever possible.

HTML Formatting

Use the following HTML formatting guidelines to ensure consistency in your writing:

  • Headers: Use H1 for the title, then H2 for the next level, H3 for the next, and so on. Do not go beyond H4.
  • Bold and Italics: Use bold for emphasizing important words or phrases and italics for indicating emphasis or for introducing new terms or concepts.
  • Bullet Points and Numbered Lists: Use bullet points for listing items without order, and numbered lists for listing items in a specific order.
  • Links: Use a hyperlink to add a clickable link to your content.
  • Images: Use an image to visually represent something in your content. Be sure to add relevant keywords to the alt text of the image.

By following this style guide, you’ll ensure that your writing aligns with the REACHRIGHT brand and provides a consistent, engaging, and informative experience for our readers.