Written by Cassandra Cyphers.
When working on a shared, public-facing project like your city’s website, multiple people are coming together to create content. Each person contributes unique perspectives, vocabulary, and tone of voice.
But too many styles across a larger body of work like a website can feel chaotic to users. It erodes trust.
A city website should speak with one voice that flows from page to page as if only one person wrote all the content. A consistent voice not only supports your city’s brand (yes, it has one!) but also helps residents build a relationship with it.
Some of your voice will come from following best practices for usability, accessibility, and plain language. The rest is up to you and your team to define.
One exercise that can help is creating a Voice Chart.
How to create a voice chart
Step 1: Define your principles
Start by thinking of your website as a product. How do you want to define the experience of using your city’s website? These are your product principles.
Some examples might be: trustworthy, competence, efficiency, tradition, forward-thinking, helpful, or diversity.
Step 2: Fill in the chart
Once you settle on your top 3 product principles, you and your team can map your principles against voice dimensions:
- Tone: The emotional feel of the words.
- Vocabulary: Words you prefer to use vs. avoid.
- Say this: Examples of what it looks like in practice.
Your voice chart might look like this:
| Characteristic | Efficiency | Empathetic | Transparent |
| Tone | Direct, concise, urgent | Warm, reassuring, human | Clear, objective, plain |
| Vocabulary | Use: Apply, Pay, Submit. Avoid: “It is mandatory that…” | Use: You, we, us. Avoid: “The applicant…” | Use: Cost, timeline, data. Avoid: Jargon, vague words. |
| Say this | “Trash pickup is delayed 1 day.” | “Permitting can be confusing. Here is where to start.” | “The project will cost $1.2M and will be completed in May.” |
Adapting voice for specific projects
While your product principles don’t change, different projects might require you to turn the volume up or down on certain principles.
- For a significant infrastructure project, you might turn the volume up on efficiency and transparency, but turn it down a bit on friendliness. The goal is clarity and authority.
- For a page on summer camp registration, you might turn the volume up on inclusivity and friendliness.
When creating new content, consider: “Which of our principles is most important for this page’s specific audience?”
Where does this fit?
A voice chart is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to your content strategy.
A style guide includes all of your ground rules on grammar, formatting, imagery, fonts, and more. When do we use bold for emphasis? Do we want to use the em dash? Decide on the mechanics once and apply them everywhere. This ensures your content is both correct and consistent at a basic level.
A voice chart is an expression of your city’s personality or brand. It helps your team make content that fits together in a cohesive style and connects with your audience in the way you want.
Together, these documents form your content strategy. By giving your team both the rules and the roadmap, you empower them to write with confidence — and ensure your audience gets a consistent experience that leaves them pleasantly surprised.