Don't use (a) large number of – use many, most, or just say how many.
How we write for Smart
At Smart, we have different audiences depending on what channel we're using, and what product or service we're talking about.
Most of the time we're talking to people directly about their personal finances and their pension savings. We sell and explain sophisticated products to our clients and customers. We need to make sure they understand us and trust us – or where to go if they need help.
These principles should apply to everything we write, and they form the backbone of our tone of voice.
We know our audience
It's easier to write well if you understand who you're writing for.
By knowing what your audience is interested in or worried about, your content will:
- be relevant
- catch their attention
- answer their questions
It's important to know how your audience talks. This will help you use the same terms and phrases as them when talking about an issue or topic. Your content will then be easier to understand and find.
We put the user first
Don't publish everything you can. Only tell someone what they need to know so they can complete their task. Nothing more.
People don't usually read text unless they want information or instructions. When you write, the first question you should ask is "what does the user want to know?".
Meeting a user need means being:
- specific
- informative
- clear and to the point
We're compliant
As a leading fintech operating our own master trust, we need to make sure all our content is compliant.
Some of the things we write will have to go through specific compliance and legal sign off to meet regulation. But even if it doesn't, our content should always stick to these guidelines to make sure it's compliant.
- Don't make any wild, misleading, or untrue claims. For example, "Our pension scheme means you'll be rich in retirement"
- Give guidance, never advice. Refer people to The Pensions Advisory Service, Pension Wise and other services if they need advice
- Always use the right names for things such as products, services and legislation. For example, it's Smart Pension Master Trust not The Smart Pension scheme
- Make it clear who or where communications are coming from. This will usually be us, but it could also be one of our partners, a director or trustee, or another third party
We make our content easy to read
Our content should provide clear, easy to understand information to our users. Complicated writing and large blocks of text get in the way of this information.
Easy to read content uses:
- short sentences
- sub-headed sections
- bulleted lists (like this one)
We use plain English
The average reading age in the UK is about 9 years old. Even if our audience contains those with a higher reading age, we should use words that are easy to understand wherever possible.
Try to avoid jargon or difficult terms. If you have to use them, make sure you explain them.
Plain English doesn't mean "dumbing down" your writing or only using short words. It's about getting your message across efficiently and in a friendly manner.
Using plain English is as simple as writing in the way most of us speak.
- Write in the active voice wherever appropriate (see below)
- Use 'you' and 'we'
- Use everyday words you know the reader will understand
- Use contractions when it feels natural to do so
- Avoid turning a process into a noun – this is known as "nominalization". For example, "upon arrival" should be "when you arrive"
If you find yourself about to write, type or dictate a word you wouldn’t use in every day conversation, look it up in the A to Z of words to avoid. You should find a simpler alternative. Often there will be a choice of several words. You need to pick the one that best fits what you are trying to say.
Using the active voice
When writing for Smart, we use the active voice and avoid the passive voice.
Active voice:
- "we've set up your workplace pension"
Passive voice:
- "your workplace pension has been set up"
We avoid the passive voice because it's often wordier, difficult to read, and overly formal – meaning it can alienate readers.
It can be difficult to spot the passive voice. A good rule of thumb is that if your clause could end with "...by monkeys." and still make sense, you're probably using the passive voice. For example:
- "50% of your to-do list has been completed" (...by monkeys)
- "contributions of £123 were made by your employer" (...by monkeys)
- "a pension transfer was initiated (...by monkeys) last month"
There are some exceptions to avoiding the passive voice. For example, if you're talking about an action that will be taken by someone other than Smart, the user, or someone known to them:
- "your funds will be invested"
You may also choose to use the passive voice in error messages or in negative communications, to avoid placing blame on the user:
- "your password was entered incorrectly"
- "your scheme will be cancelled unless you..."
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Don't use (a) percentage of – use some, or say what percentage.
Don't use (an) absence of – use no or none.
Don't use (have) regard to – use take into account.
Don't use (it is) compulsory – use (you) must.
Don't use (it is) mandatory – use (you) must.
Don't use (it is) obligatory – use (you) must.
Don't use (please find) enclosed – use we have enclosed.
Don't use (the) tenant– use you.
Don't use (to) liaise with – use to meet with, to discuss with, to work with (whichever is more descriptive).
Don't use (to) progress something – describe what is going to happen.
Always capitalise it.
Write the first instance out in full, with the abbreviation in brackets. Then use the abbreviation for all other instances on the page.
Examples:
Abbreviations, such as Doctor (Dr), or London Drive (London Dr).
Acronyms such as for your information (FYI).
Initialisms, such as Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
This is an accessibility guideline, meeting Success Criterion 3.1.4 Abbreviations, level AAA.
This is how we refer to the account name a user signs in with.
We use active voice most of the time. This is where the agent, or 'doer', comes before the verb. For example:
- Active voice
We will close your account - Passive voice
Your account will be closed
Sometimes, the passive voice can make your content read more naturally, so there's no need to avoid it every time. It can also be used in error messages caused by user error, as it's less accusatory. For example, "your password was entered incorrectly" is in the passive voice, but it's friendlier and less accusatory than "you entered an incorrect password".
A good rule of thumb to help you identify passive voice is to add the phrase "by monkeys" to the end of your clause ("Your account will be closed... by monkeys"). If it still makes sense, you're probably writing in the passive voice.
We format addresses and label data entry fields as follows
Address line 1
Address line 2
Town
County (optional)
Postcode
We use adviser unless writing for a US audience, when it's advisor.
We don't use them, unless they're part of a brand name, like Legal & General.
Sentence case.
Sentence case. Not "Annual statement".
We say "Guaranteed income (also know as an annuity)" in the first instance, and "guaranteed income" in all other instances. The exception to this is if we're referring to a specific annuity product – in which case we would say "annuity".
If you're replying to a tricky letter or a complaint, or are dealing with a difficult problem, put yourself in the reader's shoes. Be professional, not emotional.
You may have to give a firm, unwelcome answer, but be as helpful and polite as possible. If you are going to apologise, do so early. If the problem is your fault, say so.
Apologise completely and concisely, sympathetically and sincerely. And whether it is your fault or not, try to emphasise what you can do for the other person.
With content that’s audio-only, like podcasts and voice-only presentations, we need to include a link to the transcript of the recording.
This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded), level A.
Two words, no hyphen. Enrolment should have two L's (enrollment) if writing for a US audience.
"Back" and not "Previous" or "Go back".
Not BACS. Full name is Bacs Payment Schemes Limited.
Use to indicate actions/buttons in instructional content. For example, "press Continue".
You can also use bold sparingly to emphasise important information.
As in 'request your pension breakdown’.
Stick to British English – avoid Americanisms.
You can use bullet points to make text easier to read.
There are two ways to format bullet points. Avoid switching between these two ways of formatting within one page or document.
Short list bullets
When you're listing short information, you can use a bulleted list like this. Make sure that:
- you always use a lead-in line
- the lead-in line ends with a colon
- the bullets make sense running on from the lead-in line
- you use lower case at the start of the bullet
- you don't use more than one sentence per bullet point – use commas or dashes to expand on an item
- if you add links they appear within the text and not as the whole bullet
- you don't end a bullet with a semicolon, "and" or "or"
- you don't put a full stop after the last bullet
Full sentence bullets
This in an alternative way of formatting bullets, for when you're listing longer points.
- This should be used when each point forms a complete sentence in itself.
- These bullet points don't require or work with a lead in sentence.
- There shouldn't be a colon preceding these bullets.
- You can use a capital at the start of each bullet.
- You can also end each bullet point with a full stop.
- Just like the other type of bullets, you shouldn't end any bullet with "or", "and" or a semicolon.
Buttons should be simple and direct "Start now", "Continue" and "Back" are the standard buttons for our transactional user journeys.
More specific button text should be used when you're asking a user to complete a single action. Customise this text to describe the action as accurately as possible. The resulting label should complete the sentence “I want to…” from the user’s perspective.
Our preferred CTA for cancelling an action.
People find capital letters harder to read. Always use sentence case – even for titles and headings – except when using brand or product names (for example, "Smart Pension", "Legal & General", "MacBook Pro").
Don't use title case in URLs (smartpension.co.uk, not SmartPension.co.uk). The only exception to this is when you're referring to the Smart Pension Master Trust – as this is the official name of the trust.
It's not commonplace to use capital letters in email addresses, and we don't do it.
We avoid writing anything in all caps, as it's not accessible and doesn't fit in with our tone of voice.
In running copy or headings use "charges" and avoid "fees". For example, don’t use "Our charges and fees" in a heading when "Our charges" does the job.
The exception is when referencing the specific name of a charge, such as "Monthly flat fee" - a charge applied to Smart Pension Master Trust members.
We say:
“Monthly flat fee – we charge this fee to cover the time spent and technology used in administering your pension. If you no longer contribute to your Smart Pension account and your savings are worth less than £100, we won’t charge this fee.”
For Annual Management Charge, we say:
“Annual Management Charge (AMC) – we charge a small amount as a percentage of your investments each month for managing and investing your pension. Some investments have extra operating costs which we add to the AMC. This total charge is called the Total Expense Ratio (TER).”
Click only applies to users who have a mouse that will click a button or a navigation item. It doesn't apply to users on mobile, trackpads or using voice command.
Use 'Select' instead.
For example, 'Select the Pay Now button', not 'Click the Pay Now button.'
Only use to introduce bulleted lists, or to introduce examples which include numbers.
A good rule of thumb is – if you want to use a colon, use a dash instead.
We don't use Oxford commas, also known as serial commas. An Oxford comma is when you use a comma in a list before the word "and".
For example, it should be: "I went to the beach with my dog, Auntie Jill and David". Not "I went to the beach with my dog, Auntie Jill, and David".
You can use a comma before "and" if the context isn't a list, and it will introduce a new clause or break up a long sentence.
A conjunction is a "joining word", that links different parts of a sentence together – such as "and" or "but". And they can be used to start sentences.
Our preferred CTA for continuing an action.
Should say "Continue" rather than "Next" or "Proceed".
Use "Continue" where it's not necessary to explain to the user exactly what the button does. For example, if the button submits the information they've entered and takes them to the next step in an application, "Continue" is better than "Submit details and continue".
A contraction is a shortened version of two words, written as one word. Often, they use apostrophes to signify missing letters ("didn't", "can't", "shouldn't")
Use these to make your content informal and friendly, but don't overdo it. Too many contractions can make content hard to read.
In the first instance on a page or document style as "Coronavirus (COVID-19)" at the beginning of a sentence, or "coronavirus (COVID-19)" in the middle of a sentence. In any further instances, just say "coronavirus".
How we refer to our customer service department ("If you need help, our customer support team is happy to help")
Dashes work well when used in place of colons. Use en dashes (–), not em dashes (—). A hyphen doesn't count as a dash – it's a hyphen.
On a Mac, type an en dash by selecting the Option + Minus keys at the same time.
Don't use dashes in lists or tables of numbers or financial information, as they can look like a minus sign.
Technical term for a very small pension pot. Translated from Latin the term means "pertaining to minimal things".
Not 'de minimus'. Use sparingly.
Always a small 'r', even if forming part of a name like the Smart De-risking Fund.
Not dependant.
It's a proper noun and needs to be capitalised.
We say "flexible income (income drawdown)" in the first instance, and "flexible income" after this. An exception is when referring to the legal or financial process of drawdown – in this instance, say "drawdown" (for example, "your pension fund is now in drawdown").
Don't use these – use "For example," instead.
Use "Edit" and not "Change" or "Amend".
For example, "please can I have your email address so I can email you that document" or "I received your email at my email address."
Should be all lower case for readability. For example:
We use two types of error messages – alerts (boxes that pop up out of the form or page) and inline errors (error messages that appear by the incorrectly filled form field).
Alerts
Alerts should lead in with a simple statement of fact, followed by a broad description of the options available on the page. For example, "It looks like your income could run out when you're 78.”
If you want your income to last longer, you could lower your monthly income or move more money into this pot".
Avoid stating whether an alert is positive or negative. In the example above, it would be wrong to say "There's a problem - your money might run out when you're 78. To fix this, (...)" – as it's impossible to know the user's future plans or overall financial situation.
Inline errors
Unlike regular error messages/alerts, inline error messages don't necessarily need to explain what went wrong. Telling the user the solution is often enough to prompt them to correct the error, especially in simple forms. For example, "Please enter your name" is enough to prompt a user to fill in a form field they accidentally missed.
Explaining the error can make the message unnecessarily long and harder to read. For example, "You didn't enter your name. Please enter your name" is overkill for a simple to understand and easy to fix error.
Don't use it. If you find yourself in a situation that calls for the use of something like this use "and more" instead.
Use them sparingly – they may be useful in specific cases (such as celebration moments) when there is less need to be formal!
Use "Quit". Can be more specific, like "Quit transaction".
Lower case.
We have a "no-FAQs" rule. Our existing content and products should be written and structured in a way that the user does not have to ask questions in order to find out what they need to know or complete a task.
If there is no other solution than to use a question as a subheading, write the question in the first person.
One word, not two.
Should be capitalised as it's a proper noun – it's a service offered by Pay.UK.
Use upper-case when referring to file extensions in body copy. For example, "PDF" and not "pdf".
If a link opens a file, then tell the user by specifying the file extension in brackets after the CTA copy. Use lower-case and a stop before the file extension. For example, "Download statement (.pdf)".
Not forename.
Two words, no hyphen. Use "first name" rather than "forename", etc. Only capitalise if at the beginning of a sentence.
Smart Retire's drawdown pot. Sentence case.
You should follow the VID (Visual Identity) design guidelines on which fonts to use and how to present them.
Should always be written out in full, not eg or e.g.
Use normally in sentences and paragraphs. Don't use them to end headers.
The exception to this is error messages, which should have a full stop at the end of the header. If there are two sentences to the error message, use to end the first sentence.
Where there is a sentence that ends with something in quote marks, the full stop should go "outside the quotation marks like this". It's the other way around for US English.
Don't use full stops:
- to end any text for radio buttons
- at the end of standalone links, for example, "Back"
Should only be used to refer specifically to investment funds. For a sum of money in a scheme/pot use "pension savings" and not "pension funds".
Only capitalise the word "fund" if it forms part of a proper noun (name). For example, "Your savings are divided up between four funds, including the Smart Sharia Fund and the Smart Future Fund".
We never ask a user for their sex or gender unless it is absolutely essential. If we do have to ask for it, we must tell them why we need the information.
The main case for asking for a user's gender is when we have to ask a member for their legally recognised gender. This is because it is a requirement from the government on any RTI (real time information) data that's submitted to do with PAYE. More information can be found here on the government website.
Where we must ask for the member's gender for this reason, we say:
"Select your legally recognised gender. HMRC uses this for tax services."
Or, if the information was already supplied by their employer:
"Your employer told us your legally recognised gender when you joined Smart Pension. HMRC uses this for tax services."
Not glidepath, glide-path or Glide Path.
Refers to how a user's savings, when using an investment strategy managed by the pension provider, are moved into different investments the closer the user is to their nominated retirement age. This is often done to reduce risk.
The full definition is in progress. This term is used rarely in client-facing comms. This may change in early 2023.
Remember that glidepath is all one word, not glide path.
Lowercase G. For example, "In a series of indicative votes, the UK government failed to find a consensus on Brexit."
All external emails should start with "Hi [first name]" and end with "The Smart Pension Team" (or whatever team is most appropriate)
We say "Guaranteed income (also known as an annuity)" in the first instance, and "guaranteed income" in all other instances. The exception to this is if we're referring to a specific annuity product – in which case we would say "annuity".
All page titles, headings and subheadings should be written in sentence case (not Title Case).
Use a heading that is specific enough to tell the user exactly what the page or form field does. For example, "Reset your password" not “I don’t know my password”.
People reading just the header, subheader, label or page title should know what to expect.
If the page is part of a collection of pages, we should also make that clear from the title.
Where there is only one action a user can take in a section, use the format "[Verb] the [noun]" or "[Verb] your [noun]".
Where a user can take multiple actions on a page, or for section headers and landing page headers, use a noun that covers all of the actions where possible. For example, "Contributions".
For platform content, we do not use questions as subheadings. Where it is completely unavoidable we use the first person for questions.
Text content should be organised with headings, wherever possible, to make it easier to navigate. For example in long form content, information articles and content that can be organised, like a ‘Setting’ menus.
Some bits of content, like long letters, may not be suitable.
We should also use headings in the right way if we have control over them. For example, if there are sub-topics, we should use H3s under the relevant H2 and so on.
This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterions 2.4.2 Page Titled, level A, 2.4.6 Headings and Labels, level AA, and 2.4.10 Section Headings, level AAA.
Use when creating compound adjectives. For example, "long-term investment".
When you're using content like images, charts, graphs, or thumbnails, these need to have text alternatives.
For simpler content, like images or thumbnails, you must write a short caption that describes what it is. You must also use the alt text feature of the content management system (CMS) you’re using, This should be a descriptive sentence explaining the information conveyed in the image as the alt text. Alt text is what appears on a page if the content does not load. It is also what screen readers read.
For example, your caption could be ‘Andrew Evans and Will Wynne opening the Smart Building office’. Your alt text could be ‘Andrew Evans and Will Wynne surrounded by Smart colleagues on the ground floor celebrating the opening of the new Smart Building office’.
With content that’s more complicated, like graphs or diagrams, it’s not possible to give the same experience with just a short description. There needs to be more information.
There must be both a short description and a long description. The aim is to create the same experience with your text as you get from the content.
The long description should be on the same page, and close to the content it is detailing.
For example, a graph showing Smart’s growth could say “This graph shows Smart’s growth”.
The long description could say ‘This graph shows that since 2019 Smart has grown almost 2,000%, with growth accelerating. In 2019 growth was 200%, 2020 growth was 250% and growth in 2021 was 330%’.
This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 1.1.1 Non-text Content, level A.
Capitalised as a proper noun, according to the way that gov.uk uses it.
A pot in Smart Retire where the user can set aside some money to leave to loved ones or a charity when they die. Write it in sentence case.
A pre-built investment offering available to our members instead of choosing their own funds. You can say "pre-built investment strategy" if you'd like. We never say "model strategy" or "model investment strategy".
As per how they refer to themselves. Space before the last name. Not JPMorgan or JP Morgan or J.P.Morgan.
Not surname or second name.
Two words, no hyphen. Use "last name" rather than "surname". Only capitalise if at the beginning of a sentence.
A pot in Smart Retire where a user can leave some money to pay for an annuity. Sentence case.
Avoid unless put in context. For example, "Learn more about the later life pot". If you have to use learn more/find out more anchor text, make sure the link is correctly tagged for screen readers.
Use the phrase "learn more" rather than "find out more" or anything else. "Learn more" should usually be followed by "about...". For example, "Learn more about tax".
Links should be followed by a full stop if they appear at the end of a full sentence, but the full stop should be outside of the link.
If the link appears in isolation, no full stop is necessary.
Legal & General - Investment Management (LGIM) is the part of Legal & General (L&G) that handles Smart Pension's funds.
As per our guidelines on acronyms, both of these should be referred to by their full name in the first instance, with their acronym in brackets, before you refer to them by acronym.
Not life time allowance or Lifetime Allowance.
Links are used for navigating to a new page or going to an external page or document.
You should use buttons where the action causes a change to a page, for example submitting a form or opening a pop-up or panel on a page.
Use links in body text, but not in titles, summaries or subheadings. Use a full stop after a link if the link ends a sentence. For links that lead a user to a screen where they can start an action, start your link with a verb.
For links that lead to an information page, put the link in context. You can do this by using the title of the destination page. If the page title does not give context, describe where the link goes.
Tell the user if you’re linking to an external website. For example, "Pension Wise has more information on the lifetime allowance”. Generally avoid using generic links like "Click here”. Generic links don’t make sense out of context and don’t tell a user where the link will take them. Remember, one word links can be hard for users with reduced mobility to use.
Links should be followed by a full stop if they appear at the end of a full sentence, but the full stop should be outside of the link.
If the link appears in isolation, no full stop is necessary.
This is an accessibility requirement, meeting Success Criterion 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context), level A.
Don't use. Use "sign in" instead.
Don't use. Use "sign out" instead.
(as in "please provide your login details) Don't use. Use "account details" instead.
Instead of looking to, say have you thought about or would you like to, instead.
Two separate words. In a sentence it is written as "master trust" as it is not a proper noun. Only use capitals if the two words for part of a brand name, for example, the Smart Pension Master Trust.
The Money Purchase Annual Allowance is the amount of pension contributions you get tax relief on if you have already started taking an income from a defined contribution pension.
We write it out in title case in the first instance, followed by the acronym in brackets – "Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA)". Further instances on the same page can be expressed as an acronym only.
Title case as it's a proper noun.
A nominalisation is where you turn a verb (process, technique, emotion) into an abstract noun.
For example:
- complete (verb) becomes completion (nominalisation )
- introduce (verb) becomes introduction (nominalisation)
- provide (verb) becomes provision (nominalisation)
- fail (verb) becomes failure (nominalisation)
- arrange (verb) becomes arrangement (nominalisation)
Like passive verbs, too many of them make writing very dull and heavy-going. Avoid them.
- Instead of
We had a discussion about the matter
Say
We discussed the matter
- Instead of
There will be a stoppage of trains by drivers
Say
Drivers will stop the trains
- Instead of
The implementation of the method has been done by a team
Say
A team has implemented the method
Not 'okay' or 'ok'.
All one word.