Whether you’re updating your directory profile, editing course listings, or anything in between, this page will help you facilitate simple website edits and work with OMC on complex ones, all while keeping your work true to the Terry College brand.
Writing for the Web
Before writing content for the website, answer these questions to shape your content:
- Who are you addressing?
- Why are they on this page?
- What are they trying to learn?
Consider Your Medium
When writing for the web, remember that web users have short attention spans. Keep content clear and concise, minimizing unnecessary words. Visitors are searching for specific terms and information, so think through those terms, and use them strategically in your content. Page length also plays a key role in performance. Pages should contain 500–2,000 words for proper search engine indexing.
The Editorial Fundamentals
Business Learning Community
The six buildings are:
- Amos Hall
- Benson Hall
- Correll Hall
- Ivester Hall
- Moore-Rooker Hall
- Sanford and Barbara Orkin Hall
Do not refer to it as the BLC in written communication.
College Name
Use the “University of Georgia Terry College of Business” on first reference if using for a university-wide audience and “The Terry College of Business” for internal Terry audiences. On second reference, “the Terry College” (with the) and “Terry” are acceptable. The college’s official name is “the C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business.”
Departments
Terry is home to seven academic departments:
- J.M. Tull School of Accounting
- John Munro Godfrey, Sr. Department of Economics
- Department of Finance
- Department of Management
- Department of Management Information Systems
- Department of Marketing
- Department of Insurance, Legal Studies and Real Estate
This department houses the Real Estate program, the Legal Studies program and the Risk Management and Insurance program.
Capitalize the full names of departments on first reference. Do not abbreviate as Dept. or dept. Lowercase the generic department, institute, or school when used alone (i.e. “finance department”).
Titles
Job titles
A person’s formal title should be used on first reference. Use lowercase for titles unless they are directly before a name and function as part of the name. As a general rule, titles containing more than four words should be placed after the name. Do not capitalize titles in generic usage: The deans met with the president. The vice president attended the meeting.
Academic titles
For professors holding an endowed chair or special professorship, capitalize the full name of the title: John Doe, Smith Professor of Business Management. The full name of the chair often includes the donor’s first names and middle initials; these can be omitted on first reference.
Leadership titles
Use whatever title the group uses for its leader: “chairman,” “chairwoman,” “chairperson,” or “chair.” If the information from the group does not make clear the title the group uses, “chair” is preferred.
Courtesy titles
In a formal list (of participants or donors, for instance), “Mr.,” “Mrs.,” “Miss,” and “Ms.” should be omitted, except when a woman has chosen to use her husband’s name — e.g. Jane Doe, but Mrs. Joseph Doe, Mr. and Mrs. John Doe.
Faculty titles
Do not reference faculty members as “Dr.” unless they are a medical doctor.
Writing Tips and Reminders
- Write in an active voice.
- Prioritize the most important information at the top of the page followed by any supporting information.
- Do not rely exclusively on text to communicate information.
- Web content owners and coordinators are responsible for ensuring content is free of copyright issues. Do not use images, documents, or any other web content from an external website without documented permission to do so. Keep copies of the written permission.
Basic Formatting Rules
- Use a single space after punctuation.
- Commas and periods generally go within quotation marks.
- Do not write in ALL CAPS.
- Balance text with visual elements such as images, photography, and/or snippets.
- Make use of headings and lists.
- Degrees should not contain periods (i.e. PhD and MBA).
- Times — remove :00 when on the hour and include periods in a.m./p.m. (i.e. 10 a.m.)
- Dates — use Arabic figures without st, nd, rd or th. Include year if not indicated in other context such as page title.
See our comprehensive editorial style guide for additional guidelines.
Web Visual and Technical Guide
Colors
The colors below are the primary colors and use cases. WordPress will default to these based on use. Do not deviate from these defaults without qualification.
Typography
Use consistent formatting.
Default styles for headings and paragraphs are predefined in the content management system. Do not change default styles (color, size, font) without a qualified reason.
Use bold and italic text sparingly.
Never underline text unless applied by default (i.e. links).
Brand Fonts
Headings
- Headings are used to break content into logical sections. While headings are often styled differently (larger, bolder, colored), text should not be made a heading for this purpose only.
- Think of headings as the topics in an outline or titles in a table of contents. Headings should always follow an ordered, nested structure and should make visitors want to continue reading.
- Web pages should include exactly one
<h1>, typically the page title. The first available heading for body copy is an<h2>. You should not have an<h3>without a corresponding parent<h2>.
Samples
Heading 3
Lists
Use lists when presenting series of items. Lists are easier to visually interpret compared to a comma-separated list within a paragraph.
An ordered list (numbered) is used when the order of items matters (i.e. a step-by-step guide).
An unordered list may have an assigned order (i.e. alphabetical), but the order has no underlying importance or sequence.
Hyperlinks
Do not use the words “Click here” in a link.
Link color or button styling is sufficient for identifying clickable areas. If it is a call-to-action, the verb might be “learn”, “contact”, or “register”, not “click”. Link text should be descriptive of the link target. Do not include “Website link” as the link text nor a full URL.
BAD: Click here to see the MBA recruiting policy.
GOOD: Learn more about our MBA recruiting policy.
Remove any unnecessary parameters from link URLs.
Common undesirable parameters include ?_ga=, ?fbclid=, and Google Analytics tracking information such as ?utm_source= (unless specifically added for an intended result)
Do not set links to open in a new window.
Users can click back to the previous page or choose to open links in a new window if they wish.
Images
All images should have alt text that describes the content of the image.
If a user’s browser has images disabled, or they are visually impaired, the alt text is a substitute for the image’s visual content.
Use image captions where appropriate.
Unlike alt text (where you are describing the image), a caption can provide additional information that includes context.
Example
Alt text:
close-up of UGA football player autographing football
Caption:
Player signs a commemorative 2022 National Championship football during a parade along S. Lumpkin street honoring the team as they return to Athens.
Web Accessibility
Just as you’d ensure a physical space was accommodating for people with disabilities, we want to ensure our online information is available and accessible to all visitors.
Terry departmental web editors do not have permissions to alter settings that drastically alter accessibility; however, there are some considerations everyone should keep in mind, regardless of technical permissions:
Alt-text for images
Alt-text is the descriptive text that accompanies an image; this is different from a caption. It provides the meaning of a photograph to visitors who are blind or have limited vision.
Proper color contrast
Contrast in text color and background color allows visitors with colorblindness or limited vision to better read text
Ensure all videos are captioned
Users with hearing disabilities often rely on captions to process the meaning of video. Ensure any videos on your pages are fully captioned.
For any additional questions, please email the Terry Web Team.