Content guidelines

Practical guidance and best practice for anyone producing content.

Contents

URL guidance

GOV.UK URLs (web addresses) are designed to follow a consistent, predictable, user-friendly format.

URLs must:

  • be clear, simple and easy to read
  • be in lower case letters
  • use dashes to separate words
  • use words to be search engine friendly 

See the GOV.UK guidance for more information on URLs.

URLs should not:

  • contain acronyms (unless the acronym is very well known or it's an acronym of an organisation with a long name)
  • contain articles (a, an, the and other linking words)
  • use underscores to separate words
  • use capital letters or dates

Short URLs

Short URLs are often used for marketing purposes such as campaigns and printed materials. They should be clear and easy for people to remember.

Short URLs redirect users to a web page that has a longer URL. They should not be used for external pages that aren’t owned by Staffordshire County Council.

Short URLs should have the same standards as long URLs and the guidance above.

Content editors can speak to the Digital team for more support with this.