Table of contents

  1. Keep it clear and simple
  2. Titles
  3. Summaries
  4. Meta description
  5. Keywords

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Keep it clear and simple

Titles, summaries, keywords and metadata tell users what the bulletin, article or page are about and make it easier for people to find your content.

So users can find what they are looking for when using search engines, all text should be:

  • in plain English
  • using terms and phrases that reflect the language of our users
  • as short as possible; search result pages truncate titles and summaries over set character limits
  • frontloaded (with the most important information first)

Also ensure that house style is applied.

Titles

Titles are the first thing that a user will see when they find your content or land on the page. Nearly 80% of our users come to the site through a search engine, such as Google. Our titles need to be clear, concise and engaging to encourage people to read more and help them find what they are looking for.

Titles should reflect the words users put into search engines. They should focus on topics that users are interested in rather than survey names, designations or data sources. For example, people are more likely to search for “gender pay gap” than “Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings”, and for “employment” than “labour market”. 

Avoid using words like “provisional”, “final”, “results”, “estimates” or “statistics” where possible as research shows that shorter titles get the most engagement. These can be included in the summary instead if needed.

We can use analytics to help you choose the best title for your content. Email content.design@ons.gov.uk

Bulletin titles

All bulletin titles must include:

  • the name of the release (focusing on the topic)
  • the geographical coverage
  • the date or period the data cover

Bulletin titles should:

  • be fewer than 65 characters including spaces
  • be frontloaded and have the most important information first
  • not include a survey name or statistical designation

Baby names in England and Wales: 2018

More detailed guidance for bulletin titles is available.

Article titles

Article titles should:

  • be a concise description of the subject
  • include the geographic coverage and time period if appropriate
  • be fewer than 65 characters including spaces
  • be frontloaded and have the most important information first
  • not include a survey name or statistical designation

If your article contains Experimental Statistics, please include this in the summary.

Disability pay gaps in the UK: 2018

Coronavirus and the effects on UK productivity measures

More detailed guidance for article titles is available.

Datset titles

Dataset titles should describe what the dataset contains. They should:

  • be frontloaded (with the most important information first)
  • be short – aim for 60 characters including spaces
  • not include acronyms – put these in the keywords
  • not include the word “dataset”

If you have one dataset, use the same title as the publication (but without the data period) for consistency.

The Public sector employment, UK: June 2020 bulletin is published with the Public sector employment dataset.

If you have multiple datasets, make sure the titles are clear and concise so that users can easily distinguish between them.

The Baby names in England and Wales: 2019 bulletin is published with the following datasets:

Summaries

Summaries give users more information about what the publication or page contains. They appear directly under the title on the page and help users decide if they want to read on. 

Summaries should:

  • be in plain language and using terms and phrases that users are likely to use
  • be fewer than 160 characters including spaces 
  • be frontloaded with the most important information first
  • include the geography and the period that the data cover
  • have any abbreviations written out in full
  • be sentence case and include a full stop at the end

The summary can be the same as the meta description (as long as it is not longer than 160 characters).

Bulletin summaries

Bulletins are our main output for providing new analysis and data to the public. It is important that summaries are clear, concise and frontloaded to engage as many people as possible. Use plain language and avoid including technical jargon. 

Avoid using phrases like “This bulletin covers…” as it delays users getting to the main information. The summary should not be used to provide a definition of a topic, as we have a Glossary section for that.

Labour market overview, UK: May 2019
Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.

More detailed guidance on bulletin summaries is available.

Article summaries

Articles can be used to provide analysis or information on a range of topics. We have identified seven different types of articles on the ONS website and so the article summary is important for helping users understand more about what the article covers. 

The summary should begin with the most important information and avoid phrases like “This article is going to show…” or “An analytical article on…”.

Let users know if the article contains Experimental Statistics by including a sentence at the end with “Experimental Statistics” in brackets. Any technical terms can be explained in the article or included in the keywords.

Earnings and employment for disabled and non-disabled people in the UK, raw disability pay gaps and factors that affect pay for disabled people.

Annual progress update on our transformation of population, migration and social statistics.

More detailed guidance on article summaries is available.

Dataset summaries

The “About this dataset” section of a dataset page provides users with a brief summary of what they can expect to find in the Excel downloads. 

This summary should be clear, concise and frontloaded. It should contain the geographical coverage (if it is not already in the title) and the frequency of the data (for example, annual, quarterly, monthly).

Annual burglary data from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). Data include when incidents happened, information about offenders, the victim’s perception of the incident, and what items were stolen.

Meta description

A meta description is a HTML tag that provides a brief summary of the page. It appears in search engine results, such as Google, alongside the title and so needs to make sense out of context (that is, away from the ONS website). It helps users decide if the page is what they are looking for.

The meta description should be clear, concise and frontloaded. It should summarise clearly what the page is about. It must be fewer than 160 characters as otherwise the text may be cut off by search engines. The meta description can be the same as the page summary.

Estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for the UK for February to April 2020.

Keywords

Keywords are words or phrases that best describe your page and its content. They are used by search engines, such as Google, to help rank your content in terms of relevance for users. Using keywords that reflect the language of users will help people find your content.

Keywords should reflect the words and phrases that users enter into search engines. Use up to five keywords, as using too many reduces their effectiveness in search.

They should not duplicate words from the title or meta description, as these also contribute towards search. Include any acronyms or alternative phrases in the keywords.

We can help you find the most relevant keywords for your publication using Google Search Console. Email content.design@ons.gov.uk.

Keywords for the Producer price inflation bulletin:

  • PPI
  • manufacturing
  • output prices
  • input prices
  • producer prices

We are constantly improving based on research and best practice. Any significant changes to our guidance are available on the Updates page.