Voice and tone
Words are everywhere on your website: in headlines and paragraphs, buttons and notifications. How do you create consistency across all of your written content?
You guessed it: through carefully considering and documenting your organisation's voice and tone.
What is voice and tone?
Voice and tone work together to create a consistent experience across every piece of content on your site.
Your voice is your organisation's personality. It's the consistent character that comes through in everything you write. Is your organisation friendly and approachable? Professional and authoritative? Warm and encouraging? Your voice reflects your core values and the way you see and talk about the world.
Your tone is how you adapt that voice to specific situations. While your voice stays consistent, your tone shifts depending on the content and context. You might be celebratory when sharing success stories, reassuring when addressing concerns, or urgent when calling for action.
Why this matters for your redesign
Every piece of writing on your site adds up to create an impression in your visitor's mind. A clear voice and tone keeps your message consistent and helps you connect emotionally with your audience.
When you get this right, visitors can recognise your organisation's content anywhere. They develop trust because your communication feels consistent and authentic. When you get it wrong, your content feels scattered and unreliable.
What should be in your voice and tone guide?
Your voice and tone guide can be short and sweet. Start with the following:
- Your organisation's personality. List 3-5 adjectives that capture who you are. Be specific rather than generic.
- Define your positioning. What makes your organisation unique? Your voice should reflect what sets you apart from others in your space.
- List your touchpoints. Where does your writing appear? Website pages, email newsletter, social media, etc. Consider how your tone might shift across these different contexts.
- Describe your audience. Review your user personas. What motivates them? What holds them back? Your voice and tone should speak directly to these motivations and address these barriers.
- Create specific guidelines. Include vocabulary preferences (do you say "supporters" or "donors"?), formatting rules (how do you handle phone numbers or addresses?), and grammar choices (do you use the Oxford comma?).