You can dramatically improve the quality of your business content by following a writing style guide. So, if you don’t have one, pick one and follow it: all. the. time.

Using a style guide ensures that the punctuation, grammar, spelling and word usage is consistent in every piece of business content you publish. This means your writing is polished and professional.

Two writing style guide options

The Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style are two main style guides used in different industries. One of the main differences between them is Chicago’s use of the Oxford comma – a comma placed before a conjunction in a series (milk, bread, and eggs). If you’re a business owner who happened to start your career in marketing or journalism, you probably use AP style.

If you’re not familiar with AP, here’s one thing to know: The next time you don’t see an Oxford comma in a series (like in my third sentence), it’s not a mistake – no matter what Grammarly says. It means that the writer is just following AP style.

Style guides give you clarity, guidance

I’ve worked with several style guides, but since I know AP style the best, I’ll share some basic AP Stylebook rules in this infographic. If you need a different style manual, find one that suits you. This infographic will give you an idea of the kind of rules that can give you clarity and guidance and save you time.

AP style basics for higher content quality

The AP Stylebook is the gold standard of writing style manuals used by professional journalists, corporate communicators and business owners. You can buy an annual subscription for the AP Stylebook Online here. The latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style can be found here.

Once you’ve started using a main style guide, you’ll want to learn why you also need a company-specific writing style guide.

But first things first, start with selecting and using your main style guide. It’s the foundation for better writing.