House style guide

How to write online, including rules around grammar, capitalisation, plain English, words to avoid, bulleted lists, links and how to write about the council.

We use the GOV.UK style guide by default.

Go to the style guide A to Z – GOV.UK

What's included in the style guide

The style guide covers a wide range of writing guidance, including:

  • capitalisation
  • numbers
  • job titles
  • bullets
  • gender
  • hyphens
  • words to avoid
  • geography and place names
  • plain English
  • abbreviations and acronyms

Specific to Woking Borough Council

In addition to the guide above there are some rules specific to Woking.

Do not say:

  • 'the council is working hard to fix the issue'
  • 'the Housing team are reviewing applications'
  • 'Woking Borough Council is committed to reduce fly-tipping '

Write in the first person and say 'we':

  • 'we are working hard to fix the issue'
  • 'we are reviewing applications'
  • 'we are committed to reducing fly-tipping'

Tone and consistency

Writing in this way makes:

  • the whole site more consistent and it will feel like it is written in one voice
  • sentences shorter in length
  • the tone of the site more personal and conversational

If you have to reference the name of the council (for example when referencing a strategy document), the official name is 'Woking Borough Council'.