Editorial Style Guide

Words to Consider:

• discover
• preparing for the future
• response
• restore

Use	Lose
email (do not capitalize unless at the beginning of a sentence)	e-mail
Internet (capitalize)	internet, Net
online	on-line
user name	user-name, username
Neighbors (capitalize)	---
PO Box	P.O. Box
2-1-1/8-1-1/9-1-1	211/811/911
cancel	un-enroll
together, collaborate	partnership
electric	electrical
energy, energy service	utility
log in, log on, log off (verb)	---
login, logon, logoff (noun/adj.)	partnership
natural gas	gas
Auto-pay	autopay, Auto-Pay; Do not use recurring card/direct pay in place of Auto-pay
Smart Thermostat Program, Peak Time Rewards Program	Smart Thermostat program, Peak Time Rewards program
street number	house number
street name	street
phone number	telephone number
setup (noun), set up (verb)	---
use	usage
we're	We are
ZIP Code	zip code, Zip code
interrupted	disconnected
---	authorized
Shut-off Protection Plan	Shut-0ff Protection Plan
---	commodity
the meter, a meter	your meter, our meter
Lake Winds® Energy Park	---
Cross Winds® Energy Park	---
Consumers Energy Smart Energy®	---
Consumers Energy Foundation, Foundation	Consumers Energy foundation, foundation (Always capitalize Foundation even alone)
we work	we work hard
customer research (or something similar)	JD Power
Web (capitalize, use sparingly)	web, world wide web
smartphone	smart-phone
touchscreen	touch-screen
social network (noun)/social-network (adj.) Use social network as a noun. Use social-network as an adjective. Example: Grow your social network. (noun). Versus: Social-networking analysis says people enjoy liking Facebook posts.	---
residential customers	Residential customers (only capitalize at the beginning of a sentence
commercial and industrial customers	non-residential customers

PROCESS FLOW

• Make sure to track all projects and underlying tasks in the Digital Operations Stories Board of Azure DevOps. 
• If the project or task calls for it, route the creative/content via your group's Workfront process (please be sure to include Steve Fawcett on the creative reviews)
• Once the images/content have been approved by the necessary parties (including Legal and Strat Comm), open a Web Working Group Workfront request for build. Please allow 2+ weeks for the page to be built out. If there are multiple pages, DCE to provide a timeline

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES

The below deliverables should be loaded to the Web Working Group ticket.

• Creative Comp (see example): Figma Prototype (preferred) or PDF outlining the expected look of the page
  • Multiple Pages: If you are delivering multiple pages for a section, each comp/deck/asset(s) should be delivered in its own folder
• Copy Deck (see example): A copy deck with the expected copy/links
• Multiple Pages: If you are delivering multiple pages for a section, each comp/deck/asset(s) should be delivered in its own folder
• Assets: Images as jpegs, sized to spec (you can find the image specs here). Image names must be lowercase with dashes (ex: small-business-owner-paying-bill)
• Image Delivery: Images should be delivered in folders outlined by component (i.e. all Hero images should be in a folder, all Descriptors in another folder)
• Multiple Pages: If you are delivering multiple pages for a section, each comp/deck/asset(s) should be delivered in its own folder
• Infographics/Custom Images: The native files for any custom images should be provided as part of the deliverables
• Full Size Images: Provide the full size images being used in a single folder (this is in case the component changes or we need to resize it)
• New Components: If new components are created, provide an image sized to spec for the newly created component (please reach out to your CE contact for the full size image for resizing). We'll then add it to the list of available components found here
• The image must have the size in the upper right corner (just as the other components do on the above link)

If the digital customer experience is how we want people to feel, then we need to be:

• Passionate: We enjoy what we do and the services we provide. We’re always looking at new ways to provide energy to our customers in the safest, most reliable way. 
• Intuitive: We understand your needs and can provide an answer before you ask a question. We value our customers.
• Dependable: We do what we set out to do. If you have a problem, we solve it.
• Trusted: We’re part of the community. We’re stewards of the environment. We provide the best value for the services we offer.

As part of that overall customer experience, we have to engage the customers with a specific Voice and Tone.

Voice is the personality of your brand. It’s who you are. Voice needs to align with your digital customer experience. The attributes you use to describe your voice define the personality you use to interact with your customers.

Consumers Energy’s voice is:

• Authentic, NOT hokey or cliché: When we make a promise to the people of Michigan, we deliver because our employees are neighbors with everyone in this great state.
• Approachable, NOT aloof or overly eager: We’re here for the people of Michigan. Every hour of every day, our people are out there, doing the work that needs to be done and getting involved in projects that benefit Michigan communities.
• Progressive, NOT trendy or superficial: We’re excited about the future because every day we make advances in renewable energy, energy efficiency, new and cleaner energy generation and environment stewardship that make Michigan a better place to live and work.
• Expert, NOT jargony or complicated: As Michigan’s leader in safely bringing energy to Michigan homes and businesses for more than 125 years, we know how to satisfy the growing needs of our state. No one is a greater authority or advocate.
• Empowering, NOT pushy or bossy: Our business isn’t about only about providing energy, it’s about giving people the freedom to enjoy their lives. And everything we do is done to bring comfort to the people of Michigan and energy to Michigan’s businesses. We’re part of the community. We’re stewards of the environment. We provide the best value for the services we offer.

Tone is the response to an emotional state. Tone needs to align with our voice. These attributes describe the way we speak to our audience at a given point in their customer experience.

• Because we are Authentic, our tone is genuine and straight-forward.
• Because we are Approachable, our tone is sympathetic and caring.
• Because we are Progressive, our tone is thoughtful and provocative.
• Because we are Experts, our tone is confident and well-reasoned.
• Because we are Empowering, our tone is positive and stimulating.

Residential (Less Formal) Example	Business (Formal) Example
Hey, Bill! How’re you doing?	Hello, Mrs. Weincraft. How may I help you?
Take a look at our ideas to make your home more energy efficient.	Our energy efficiency services will reduce your energy costs.
We may not hug trees, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love the environment.	Every decision we make balances between our concern for the environment and the needs of your business.

• Spell out ‘MISS DIG 811’ completely when referencing in copy
• ENERGY STAR^® only needs registered trademark after first mention on the page
• Cross Winds^® Energy Park and Lake Winds^® Energy Park: Registered Trademark required upon first or most prominent mention on the webpage
• URLs should always be lowercase when typed out in digital copy (www.consumersenergy.com/coldweather VS www.ConsumersEnergy.com/coldweather)
• Image Naming Convention: Should describe the image/topic, be all lowercase and have “-” between words (EX: smiling-man-signing-up-for-billing-alerts)
• Use Sat. (not Sa.) to abbreviate Saturday. (This goes against Yahoo! Style Guide)
• NO oxford commas
• Text Communications: Always include the disclaimer, “Standard text charges may apply.” Whenever we’re collecting 2WCC opt-ins
• Image Selection Guidelines:
• When including photos of vehicles, only use Ford or GM.
• Unless otherwise requested, use photos that are not seasonal.
• Always use photos that look Mid-western.

Structure copy in ways that make it easy to read: headlines, short paragraphs, bulleted lists and calls to action. Design elements such as feature lists and comparison charts help present information in forms that communicate quickly.

“Chunking” copy—organizing information in clear, orderly, and discreet pieces—makes it easier to read and remember. Online readers rarely read an entire page word-for-word, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, so presenting information in easy-to-scan chunks communicates best.

Larger amounts of information—such as product details—should be broken out onto subpages to keep the amount of copy on a single page manageable and aid customers in locating and navigating to subtopics such as pricing.

Generally, paragraphs should not exceed 3 or 4 sentences in length. Mixing short and long sentences keeps the readers’ focus.

Avoid long blocks of copy with scanning aids such as subheads or bulleted lists every 2 to 3 paragraphs.

Lead with the best: Begin pages with the strongest, most relevant copy and proceed in order of importance. Some customers may not read past the first paragraph or even the first sentence.

Provide only the best and most relevant information for the page—not all possible information. Our goal is to provide enough copy on the page to lead customers to the next step—to answer that page’s call to action. The fact sheets are there to provide the deep, in-depth product information.

Support statements with examples: Make strong statements about the benefits of our company and its services, and support those statements by describing the processes and expectations behind them: “We care for the communities we serve. In 2013, our grants, corporate giving and employee contributions totaled more than $8 million to Michigan nonprofits.”

Write Simply and Clearly: Our content is for our customers, not us. Write in a natural, “human” style, without complicated industry terminology, marketing jargon and corporate-speak. Communicate complicated concepts as simply as possible.

Demonstrate to customers that we understand their challenges and opportunities. It explains how our business model can help their practice grow, or their career blossom.

Our writing is:

• Simple and to the point. Tell website visitors what they need to know quickly and clearly.
• Inclusive. Use language that people understand. It’s O.K. to speak plainly. When speaking about Consumers Energy, use “we,” “us,” “our.” When talking to the customer use “you” or “your."

Use Active Voice: Use action words and phrases that demonstrate the value of Consumers Energy as a partner, as well as the culture of the organization:

• Create, make, achieve, grow, give, care
• Committed, dedicated, passionate, community
• Respond to customer needs, achieve our goals, give to the community, care about our customers

Be a Partner: Writing in terms of “you” and “we” reflects key attributes of partnership and helpfulness. For instance, “We want to reduce your energy bill,” not “Consumers Energy helps you reduce your energy through a variety of programs that we offer.”

Avoid Clichés: Clichés are overused phrases. They negatively impact our copy, making it sound hackneyed, stale or predictable. They also come off as “lazy” writing. More importantly, if we want to be progressive and innovative, clichés deny us the opportunity to say something new, interesting or memorable. Therefore, we want to keep clichés out of our copy.

Here are a few quick ways to identify clichés, according to The Yahoo! Style Guide:

• You recognize it as you write it. If it comes to mind too easily, it’s probably a cliché.
• The phrase repeats a sound. If it alliterates, you must obliterate. (ex: “Tried and true” or “helping hand.”) And don’t forget about rhyming phrases, like: “one-stop shop” or “meet and greet.” It ends predictably. (ex: Don’t let the cat out of the ___.)

Each page should be optimized for search. If we’ve done our job up to this point—creating relevant, simple and concisely written content that is engaging—SEO should be an easier task. But without SEO, all that great content we create isn’t findable. And what good is great content if it can’t be found?

Remember:

• Sprinkle relevant keywords throughout the copy. But don’t go overboard.
• Put the keywords where they matter most: page title, headlines, links and in the page’s metadata.
• Don’t use keywords that are misleading or do not accurately reflect the content topic.
• Whenever possible, link to other relevant sites, and encourage them to link to your site.
• Clear, concise writing that resonates with our audience is the first priority. SEO is the second priority.
• Mobile comes first when it comes to search, so write for mobile users, which means creating to the point copy where you don’t have to scroll. Check your work in a mobile dimension to confirm it reads well and looks good.
• Scan-ability is really important, use clear concise headlines and lower text count whenever possible.
• Focus on nuggets of information instead of dense paragraphs.
• Image file names should describe the image and should always be lowercase with dashes in between words. For example: wind-turbines-in-michigan.jpg.

• Write simply so everyone can understand our content
• Define all acronyms when they first appear
• Avoid calling out colors when directing users to places on our webpage. For example, don’t use click the green button.
• Write out alt text for all images. Make sure they are as descriptive as possible. Never say “photo of” or “graphic of.” Here is an example of a do and don’t:
  • Don’t say: Picture of a yellow dog.
  • Do say: Golden retriever laying on the grass on a sunny day.
• We should always try to avoid using any image assets that have text on it. If we do receive an image or similar asset with text that doesn’t work with a screen reader, make sure to include the text information either in alt text or using a text-related component such as a content block.
• Always be descriptive with links. Don’t use “click here” or “learn more.” Use “Discover more about solar power on our Solar Gardens page.” Please note for CTA buttons do maintain descriptiveness but with a shorter action text.
• For more information on accessibility, please view our Web Accessibility Standards.

Always Keep Readability in Mind: We want everyone to be able to read and understand our content. When writing, try to use the simplest language possible. Here are a few key tips below:

• Avoid words with a lot of syllables
• Use short sentences
• Try to use simple vocabulary (i.e. instead of using the word “Investigate further,” use “find out more”)

As you write, make sure to use the Flesch-Kincaid Readability tool to check your content. We generally try to aim for our readability level score to be higher than 70, which is understandable to those at a seventh-grade level and lower.

Consistently styled copy provides a smooth customer experience and enhances the quality and credibility of our brand. Follow these style guides in formatting text. The recommended style book for the site is The Yahoo! Style Guide. Use it as a reference for any style issues not addressed in this guide.

Page Titles, Headlines and Subheads: Page titles are descriptive—e.g., the CE service or product. They are road signs that identify the topic of the page.

Headlines inform and engage—they:

• Signal if the page is right for the customer by indicating a solution to a problem
• Engage customers by speaking to their needs
• Deliver value statements about Consumers Energy, its products, services or accomplishments

Headlines on a page tell a story, so that a user who scans them learns key facts in a logical progression. When writing headlines, favor statements and use questions very sparingly:

• Avoid questions that can be cast more strongly as statements—those that will convey information: state the product benefit or identify the intended audience
• Avoid rhetorical questions that simply set up a desired or expected answer
• Limit questions to the only the most engaging, compelling ones

Page titles, headlines and subheads:

• Use title case
• Do not use periods, question marks or exclamation points to punctuate, even if it is a full sentence
• Commas are acceptable, use sparingly

Do	Don't
Get Renewable Energy from Consumers Energy	Get renewable energy from Consumers Energy!

Limit calls to action to two or three per page, using wireframes as a guide. Avoid overwhelming or distracting the customer.

Calls to action should be:

• Action oriented (View, Buy, Call)
• Preferably two words in length if at all possible (View Sample, Get Started, Watch Video)
• Chosen from a limited set that is used consistently across the site (Watch Video, not View the Video, Click to Play the Video, See the Video, etc.)

Calls to action follow these rules:

• They do not have punctuation (Call Now, not Call Now!)
• Each word should be capitalized unless they are a Call to Action button: Watch Video, Call Now
• Call to Action Buttons should be ALL CAPS
• Try to use personalized CTAs such as See Rebates for a Rebates page -- avoid using CTAs that are too general such as Learn More

Do	Don't
Watch Video	Watch video
Register	Register!
Enroll Now	ENROLL NOW

• When using cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers, spell out the numbers below 10. If the number is 10 or more, write out the number (e.g., cardinal numbers: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12...or ordinal numbers: first, second, third, fourth...10th, 11th...)
• If the number is more than a million, spell the quantity indicator of the number. (e.g., 999,999 or 1 million, 1.5 million, $6 million)
• Single-digit addresses are spelled out. (e.g., One Energy Plaza, Eight S. Shermer Rd.)
• Phone numbers are formatted as 123-456-7890.
• Do not spell out ‘percent,’ use %
• State all times using numerals, except noon and midnight. Instead of 12 p.m., write noon. Instead of 12 a.m., write midnight. Do NOT write 12 p.m. noon or 12 a.m. midnight
• For on-the-hour times, you do not need to include minutes. i.e. 3 p.m., NOT 3:00 p.m.
• Include the minutes when they’re needed for consistency within text or a table that includes other times with minutes.i.e.:
  
  • Conferences begin every half-hour until noon: 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. etc.
  • Classes are either at 1:00 p.m. or 2:30 p.m.
• Use periods with the abbreviations “a.m.” and “p.m.” Those abbreviations are both lowercase with a space after the preceding number, but no spaces between the letters and the periods. (i.e., 5:15 a.m.)
• Abbreviate time zones in capital letters. i.e. 8:30 p.m. ET Midnight CT i.e. 8:30 p.m. ET Midnight CT

Do	Don't
We serve 68 counties in Michigan.	We serve sixty-eight counties in Michigan.
We contributed $8 million to charity last year.	We contributed $8,000,000 to charity last year
Our offices are located at One Energy Plaza, Jackson, MI.	Our offices are located at One Energy Plaza, Jackson, Michigan.
Last year, more than 12,000 people showed up for our event.	Last year, more than 12K people showed up for our event.

Metric List

Name	Abbreviation
Kilowatt per hour	kWh
Thousand cubic feet	Mcf
Volt	V
Miles per gallon equivalent	MPGe

Bulleted lists within body copy are particularly effective in summarizing features and benefits in a scannable manner. In general, lists should:

• Be brief and to the point
• Have consistent sentence structures (i.e., parallel construction: each point is phrased in a similar manner)
• Avoid beginning each bullet with the same word
• Avoid sub-bullet lists (bullets within bullets)
• Include two or more items
• There should be 5 spaces to begin a bulleted list. Copy should start 2 spaces after the bullet.

Each bullet should begin with a capital letter. Bullets written as sentences end in periods. Bullets that are phrases do not need punctuation. When using a bulleted list in body copy:

• Introduce the bulleted list with a colon.
• If a bullet item is a full sentence, use a period to punctuate. If a bullet item is a phrase, no period is necessary.

Do	Don't
Bulleted lists are: Useful Scannable Efficient	Bulleted lists are: useful. scannable. efficient.
Here are a few tips: Don't drink the water. Wear a tie. Provide a list of acceptable discussion topics.	Here are a few tips: Don’t drink the water, wear a tie and provide a list of acceptable discussion topics.

Linking strategy should follow the site design, favoring the identified calls to action in boxes, lists and images.

• Limit the use of links to other pages within the body copy of a page. Too many links are distracting and make way-finding confusing.
• Avoid links within body copy and instead employ the link opportunities built into the design.
• Consistent use of links in these elements will focus users on the calls to action and “teach” them how to navigate the site.
• Avoid using general link terms such as “click here” or “learn more.” Try to personalize the link such as: See how we’re making a difference for Michigan in our Clean Energy Plan. 

Overuse of abbreviations hinders readability, so avoid abbreviations in body copy. Do not use ampersands in page titles, headlines or body copy.

• Addresses, either directional indicators or streets (e.g., N. Frederick Ave. or Sunnyside Ln.)
• State names are abbreviated when preceded by an address. If a state is preceded by a city name, spell out the state name. If a state name stands alone in the body copy, spell it out.
• If a state name is abbreviated in body copy, use a period after.
• Use postal abbreviations for state names (e.g., Michigan = MI).
• Use a period after abbreviating directional indicators, streets.
• Do not abbreviate large numbers. (e.g., $8 M, 46K)

Do	Don't
Materials and service providers.	Materials & services providers
We contributed $8 million to charity last year.	We contributed $8M to charity last year.
Our offices are located at One Energy Plaza, Jackson, MI.	Our offices are located at One Energy Plaza, Jackson, Michigan.
We’re the largest utility provider in Michigan.	We’re the largest utility provider in MI.
Our headquarters is in Jackson, Michigan.	Our headquarters is in Jackson, MI.

There are times we use infographics to help visually explain our content. When we do use infographics, please keep the following in mind:

• Infographics should be WCAG-compliant above anything else. This means that we need a dynamically created interactive component versus a static component. This ensures that screen readers can pick up the text.
• All infographics need to fit our standards for specs and resolution.
• Infographics assets must be responsive for both desktop and mobile.