Headed up the ecomagination.com site redesign at frog in 2011, where I created this style guide to keep our bloggers, influencers and agency partners on the same page.

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ecomagination.com
Writer’s Style Guide

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Table of Contents
What The Site Stands For
Content
Part One: Start out Strong
Part Two: Get Down to It
Part Three: Wrap it Up
Part Four: Formatting Like a Pro
In Conclusion...
Author Checklist
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5
7
9
13
15
18
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What The Site Stands For

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What The Site Stands For
Our Approach
• Adopt a peer-to-peer tone
• Maintain a human perspective on
every issue
• Infuse every story with optimism
Our Goals
• Establish GE as a thought leader in
clean technology
• Communicate the real-world benefits
of ecomagination products, services
and cross-business solutions
• Inspire a following of our content
Our Audiences
• Business leaders
• Policy makers
• Innovators
• Engineers
• Architects
• Students
• Thinkers
Doers, making and inventing the
things that drive us forward

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Content

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Content
Our Content: Highlighting groundbreaking
global innovation in energy efficiency and clean
technology, with a positive outlook on the
implications for business and the environment
Analyze
Analysis of the latest clean technology
industry news and the effects of public
policy on energy-efficient infrastructure
Focus: business and politics
Invent
New developments and fresh
approaches from entrepreneurs,
startups, and major players
Focus: innovation and technology
Commit
In-depth look at what adoption looks
like around the world and new ways to
shape consumer sentiment
Focus: lifestyle and perspective
Content lengths: 500—1000 words
(please see your SOW)

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Part One: Start out Strong

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Part One: Start out Strong
Title
Strike a balance between fun wordplay and SEO
optimization.
Lead/Opener
Say something interesting to draw them in and set the
stage for the rest of the piece and keep their attention by
getting right to the point.
Begin positively
Even if you have to start with a negative piece of
information, present it in an optimistic light.
Play up the human element
Wrap the story around the people in it. Even if you’re
covering something that seems dry and technical, find a
way to personalize it.

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Part Two: Get Down to It

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Part Two: Get Down to It
Call in the subs
A lot of people skim articles on the web—how can we
make it easier for them to find the most important
content? Keep your SEO keywords in mind when you’re
creating titles, but maintain a sense of fun.
Take lots of breaks
Paragraphs need to be short and sweet: five sentences,
tops. When you’re done writing, go through and put in
a lot of line breaks. Give people room to breathe while
they’re reading.
Go global or go home
We’re talking about issues that affect everyone on the
planet. Make sure to include a global perspective when
it’s relevant—and it usually is.
Present all sides of an argument
Show the tension between differing points of view before
you make your case.

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Part Two: Get Down to It
Link in
Include links to relevant content within ecomagination or
other GE sites like Txchnologist. It’s always a good idea to
get familiar with the content on our other sites so you’ll
know the global topics we’re covering.
Let people talk
Pepper your story with lots of good quotes and great
details—try to include at least 3 quotes that would be
good to “pull” or highlight outside of body copy.
Humanize it
Show the people behind a new technology or how a new
technology/policy is changing real lives. Use peer-to-peer
“we” and “you” language whenever you can. Just keep
in mind that “we” doesn’t mean “the people of GE,” nor
should it ever be interpreted that way.

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Part Two: Get Down to It
About lists
Lists sometimes make information easier to digest, but
not when your piece is full of them. Limit your lists to
no more than 2, and keep the number items in each list
below 5.
Link out
Be sure to include links to relevant content throughout
your piece. Each piece should contain at least 5 links from
5 different topline sources (not just Wikipedia!). Please
see Part Four of this document for proper link formatting
instructions.
Use keywords
We’ll usually send you a list of keywords for SEO, or you
can find them yourself using Google AdWords. Try to
use them as much as you can, in section titles as well as
body copy, but don’t let SEO make your language stiff
or stilted. Keep the balance between real language and
searchspeak.

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Part Three: Wrap it Up

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Part Three: Wrap it Up
Make your case
What’s the big takeaway? After you’ve explored all the
angles, it’s time to add a little perspective. Don’t be afraid
to make a big statement.
End on a high note
Find a way to end your story on a positive, human
note that leaves people feeling optimistic, even if the story
itself has negative information in it or highlights a
problem. Point the way toward possible solutions, and
try to make people feel good—there’s enough gloom-and-
doom out there.

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Part Four: Formatting Like a Pro

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Part Four: Formatting Like a Pro
Start with a summary
Include a 25 – 35 word summary at the top of the
document. This should be descriptive of your article, but
also designed to grab the reader’s attention.
Format your links
Embed your hyperlinks into the text. To add hyperlinks in
Word:
• Select the text that you want to display as a hyperlink.
• On the Insert tab in the Links group, click Hyperlink.
• Copy and paste the website URL in the Link To form
and then press OK.
Highlight your headings
Headings increase the readability of your article.
When formatting, make sure they are bolded and in
sentence case.

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Part Four: Formatting Like a Pro
Pull out your quotes
Highlight your pull quotes by placing them on a
separate line in italics. Clearly label them with brackets:
[pull quote]. Positioning these quotes is important;
do not place them too closely to headings and keep them
evenly spaced throughout the document.
Check your sources
Include reference information including interview
notes, research, and contact information along with
your article. We may ask for this information after
you’ve filed your story.

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In Conclusion...

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In Conclusion...
Summary
Include a description (25-35 words) of the article
All about you
Please send us:
• a description (3 sentences max) of yourself
• a high-res image (to be circle cropped)
• your Twitter handle
Making good decisions and using your words
“Green” is a tired word. It’s also hard to avoid, but try to find a better
way to say it.
“Innovative” is also worn out. What’s fresh and different about the
thing you’re trying to describe?
For other word choice and style questions, we follow the Chicago
Manual of Style.
Oh, and a tiny little editorial pet peeve: please put just one space after
punctuation. Thanks!

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Author Checklist

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Author Checklist
Please make sure your piece includes:
At least 5 hyperlinks formatted in Microsoft Word using
the hyperlink feature
Subheadings throughout, clearly identifying sections
A 25-35 word summary at the beginning
Plenty of line breaks
High-res photos if you’re featuring a product or company
Please make sure you’ve submitted:
All signed contracts, forms, and SOWs
A bio, Twitter username, and high-res photo
An invoice for the piece
Your reference information including interview notes,
research, and contact list

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