Brand writing

Communicating a consistent message creates a stronger more recognisable brand, the guidance below will explain common what3words messages and phrases.

Simple what3words explainer

Use for: a concise explanation of the what3words system, e.g. in an email, on an event stand or leaflet

what3words address explainer

Use for: situations where someone comes across a what3words address for the first time e.g. e-commerce checkout copy or a travel guide. It’s also a nice simple one for presentations.

what3words app explainer

Use for: explaining what the app itself does, as opposed to the what3words system as a whole.

what3words

Our company name is what3words. This should always be lowercase, even at the start of a sentence. The ‘3’ is always numerical, and there are no spaces. When speaking in a legal context we use what3words Limited or what3words Ltd

The abbreviation w3w should only be used internally, or in informal person-to-person conversations such as the w3w.community or customer support.

what3words

what 3 words

what3words address

This is always written with a numerical ‘3’ and is always lower case.

You can also use: 3 word address, what3words location, 3 word location or 3wa in an informal context.

Please avoid: what3words-address, Three-word address

what3words address format
///nation.jumper.stones

The address should always begin with three typed forward slashes with no spaces. It should always be in lowercase with the three words separated by a dot and no spaces.

When used in text, remove commas just before and full stops directly after a what3words address. This is to ensure they look clear and clean on the page. The dots between words in a what3words address are always referred to as dots, not as full stops or periods.

Use UK English spelling

This is our default as a UK company. But we avoid anglicisms and phrases that sound overly British where possible. For example, we prefer ‘while’ over ‘whilst’.

Metric is the default
(3 metre square)

We default to metric over imperial measurements, but need to be aware of local conventions. It is fine to use local measurements if it will be better understood e.g. 10ft square instead of 3 metre square for the US.

Please note: ‘metre’ should be written out in full where possible, rather than using the abbreviation ‘m’. ‘ft’ should be used as an abbreviation, rather than writing out ’10 foot square’.

Country names

In English, we use the official UN names of countries e.g. ‘Côte d’Ivoire’, not ‘Ivory Coast’. Make sure you check the official UN names as incorrect names have slipped into frequent use e.g:

• The Solomon Islands refers to the chain of islands, but the official country name is Solomon Islands
• The Ukraine is often used but can cause offence and should be avoided – the country is Ukraine. And the capital city is Kyiv not Kiev (use our app as a guide on city names and spellings)

There are some exceptions, for example while Republic of Korea is the official name, we may sometimes refer to it in more informal comms as South Korea as this is not offensive, not incorrect and is more accessible to our audience. Same goes for South Africa vs Republic of South Africa.

URLs

URLs should be written without the https:// or www.

They should always be the shortest possible version of the URL and, if used to end a sentence, shouldn’t have a full stop after them.

what3words.com
what3words.com/business

Hashtags

Always write hashtags in title case as it’s easier for people with visual impairment e.g. #Help999FindYou and #FindTheFun