The EditorNinja Guide to Style Guides
By John Doherty
EditorNinja Founder
Last Updated: September 19, 2024
Table of Contents
As we’ve edited millions of words since EditorNinja started in 2022, we’ve come across every style guide and combination of styles you can imagine. One of the most common style guide customizations is described simply as “AP but with the Oxford comma.”
Style guides ensure consistency in your content. When content plays a significant role in the marketing and conversion funnel, consistency can be the difference between hundreds of conversions and just a few. It is that important.
We’ve seen simple one-page guides and 80-page guides. The rule for your company’s style guide is simple: make it as long or as short as your content needs. However, for an editorial style guide, include only what writers and editors need to succeed. Most end up between 4 and 8 pages long.
The more important things like proper structure and formatting are to your business (such as if you are in a regulated industry), the longer your guide will be.
Some types of content may also need dedicated style guides for different areas of the business. For example, press releases need strict AP style, whereas most blog posts are MLA or “AP with an Oxford comma.” Knowing the different styles, or at least having cursory knowledge, can help you define individual styles for your site and describe them to someone else, such as “AP with the Oxford comma, except for press releases.”
Not sure of the details of each style? Click into the relevant chapter for you:
Additional chapters: