Total Synergy blog posts are written by people from all over the company, not just those with ‘writer’ or ‘marketing’ in their job titles. We love having specialists from around the office blog about their work and related point of view. The person most familiar with the subject is in the best position to convey it and the writers on the marketing team can help by discussing ideas and editing as needed.
We have one main blog on the totalsynergy.com website. We also have a system update segment for system release info, errors, outages and non-blog related product information.
Basics
We update the blog between two to five times a week. We generally publish content based on our six core pillars:
- AEC industry
- Technology
- Cloud and collaboration
- Better business
- Synergy/Total Synergy
- Employer brand
The system update ‘blog’ will feature major release updates, new feature releases, and any updates worth mentioning in detail. New features and significant product updates or releases will only be mentioned in the blog when it’s related to a client story and real life experience and benefits.
Guidelines
When writing for the blog, follow the style points outlined in the voice and tone and grammar and mechanics sections. Here are some more general pointers:
Remember ORIO
It’s not always possible, or easy, but try to factor the ORIO principles into all blog content. Original, relevant, insightful, objective.
Be casual, but professional
Use conversational language — we’re not writing academic journal papers. If you’re referencing many sources, list them at the end, don’t break the flow with referencing.
Get to the point
Don’t bury the lead — get to the important stuff right away. Blog posts should be scannable and easy to digest. Break up your paragraphs into short chunks of three or four sentences, and use subheads. Our readers are busy, keep that in mind.
Be specific
If you’re writing about data, put the numbers in context. If you’re writing about a Synergy client, give the reader plenty of information about the person, discipline, company, and why their story is relevant.
Link it up
Feel free to link away from Synergy if it helps you explain something.
Make the visuals count
Don’t just use stock imagery with no relationship to the story. Enhance the story with great images or custom graphics. Ensure you use alt text and name the images for both internal reference and SEO purposes (see naming conventions in internal documentation).