1-800-PetMeds Writing Style Guide | Pet Education
Basics and grammar
Style Manual Preference: The Yahoo Style Guide and the AP Stylebook Online
Abbreviations
Common abbreviations should be utilized with periods.
Example
a.k.a. or etc.
Acronyms
If the shortened form of a phrase may be unfamiliar, spell it out the first time and include the abbreviation in
parenthesis.
Example
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common reason cats visit the veterinarian.
If needed, the acronym may be used in headings and subheadings to save space due to character limitations, but
the full spelling should be utilized in the beginning of the page content.
Capitalization
Sentence case capitalization is used for titles and subheadings. Titles and subheadings over 3 words should not
be capitalized.
Examples
Over three words: What your pet needs to stay healthy.
Three words or under: Give Healthy Treats
Product names should be capitalized and spelled to match the product name on our web site unless otherwise
noted for SEO purposes.
Example
K9 Advantix II
Commas
Use commas to separate elements in a series but do not place a comma before the conjunction in a simple
series.
1
Examples
The flag is red, white and blue.
He would nominate Tom, Dick or Harry.
Ellipses
Ellipses […] should precede and proceed with a space. Use ellipses sparingly.
Example
Well, there is a new solution … this collar does both!
En dash
An en dash is used to mean to, up to or through for number ranges, pages, dates etc. It may also be used to
construct a compound adjective that includes a proper noun of more than one word.
Example
Tick season can last from April-October.
Code: –
Em dash
Em dashes should be used sparingly but may be used to replace commas, semicolons, colons and parentheses to
indicate added emphasis.
Example
She needs to buy three items—dog food, treats, and a leash.
Code: —
Voice and writing style
Audience profile
Prizm Codes:
- Upper Crust
- Big Fish, Small Pond
- Blue Blood Estates
- Movers & Shakers
Age: 35-60
Gender: Female
Family Information: Has kids
Education Level: College graduate
Voice
2
The voice for PetMeds Education content is in the active voice. Reference the Voice Chart for more details on 1800-PetMeds’ voice characteristics.
Writing style
For maximum ease of reading, copy should be written to fall between the Flesch Reading Ease Score in the 6070 range, which is the reading ability of an average 13-15 year old student.
Formatting and graphics
Alt text and title text
All images should include alt text and title text for optimization purposes, with the exception of images which
used solely for design purposes or images which are not informational. The alt text and title text contains a short
one-sentence or description that relates to the image and includes relevant keywords. `Use sentence-style
capitalization and punctuation.
Examples
Before: Pet owner walking with dog
After: Pet owner walking their dog with a headcollar.
Headers
The use of H1, H2, and H3s tag are used in descending order for headings and subheadings.
Examples
H1 = CLHead2 / <h1 class="CLhead2">Diabetes in Dogs and Cats</h1>
H2 = CLSubhead / <h2 class="CLSubhead">What Are Fleas?</h2>
H3 = CLSubhead / <h3 class="CLSubhead”> Has the cat flea developed resistance to flea products?</h3>
Images
Only one main image (non-product image) should accompany the article, with a right alignment. Unless
otherwise noted, images for use may be used from the \\Pbsrvfs1\photos folder or downloaded from iStock. All
images should be optimized for web use.
Layout
There are three templates currently used in the Education section which new content will need to fit into. These
templates are known as Disease, Numbered, and Not Numbered.
Examples
Disease – contains tabs for Overview, Symptoms and Treatment.
Link: http://www.1800petmeds.com/education/addisons-disease-dog-cat-1.htm
3
Numbered – contains numbered lists or steps in a procedure.
Link: http://www.1800petmeds.com/education/steps-tackle-pet-flea-infestation-7.htm
Unnumbered – does not contain tabs or numbered sections of copy. This template is commonly used for F.A.Q.s
and other pages which do not apply to either template.
Link: http://www.1800petmeds.com/education/faq-fleas-dog-cat-7.htm
Links
The number of links per page should not exceed 150.
Lists
Introducing a list should include a fragment sentence or a sentence ending in a colon.
Example
Symptoms of diabetes in cats may include:



Loss of appetite
Vomiting
Dehydration
Numbered lists
Use a numbered list when the sequence of list items is important. Each item in the list should begin with a
capital letter and use ending punctuation. Examples of numbered lists may include top 10 lists or a step-by-step
procedure.
Bulleted lists
Solid round bullets should be used for unordered lists. Each item in the list begins with a capital letter.
Styling Lists
 If one of more items in the list is a complete sentence, capitalize the first word and use ending
punctuation.
 If all list items are sentence fragments, do not use ending punctuation.
Examples
All complete sentences
Benefits of glucosamine and chondroitin include:
 Many supplements pair glucosamine and chondroitin together due to their complementary benefits.
 Glucosamine may help to promote the production of collagen in cartilage.
 Chondroitin fights against white blood cell enzymes that damage cartilage.
4
All sentence fragments
Flea and tick control products to use in your home and yard include:
 A room fogger
 Carpet powders and sprays
 Yard sprays
Meta descriptions
Meta descriptions should not exceed the 200 character limit.
Meta titles
Meta titles should not exceed 70 characters.
Period spacing
Only one space should be used after a period.
5