Blog: Writing texts
Writing business texts people read
12 posts on writing texts
Writing texts
Accessible text messages: writing for every customer
One in four people in the UK are disabled, and the NHS standard calls texts a highly effective format for many of them. How to write texts everyone can use.
22 October 2026 · 7 min read
Writing texts
How to write dates, times and prices in a text
Thursday 19 November at 10:30am, £25, 07700 900 265: how GOV.UK and NHS style guides write dates, times, prices and numbers so nobody misreads a text.
22 October 2026 · 9 min read
Writing texts
Merge fields in business texts: what to personalise
NHS guidance says people trust a text more when it opens with their name. How to use merge fields without blank names, capitals or the wrong person reading it.
22 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Reply Y to confirm: designing texts people answer
NHS England says reminders work better when patients can reply to cancel. How to write texts that get usable answers: one question, clear options, a deadline.
22 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Texting customers in Welsh: the rules and the cost
Welsh councils and health boards treat texts as correspondence under the Welsh Language Standards. Who reads Welsh, and why one ŵ cuts a text to 70 characters.
22 October 2026 · 9 min read
Writing texts
Texting customers whose first language isn't English
Census 2021 found 5.1 million people in England and Wales with another main language. Which languages force Unicode, and when a text is worth translating.
22 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Appointment reminder wording that gets replies
Two trials put numbers on reminder wording: a text cut missed NHS appointments from 11.1% to 8.4% by naming a £160 cost. What it means for your 160 characters.
17 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Emoji in business texts: what they cost
One emoji drops a text from 160 characters to 70 and can treble its price. What the GSM standard says, which emoji take four places, and when one is worth it.
17 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Links in texts: how to look legitimate
Half of UK mobile users got a scam text with a link in three months. What Ofcom, the NCSC and GOV.UK say about links, and how to write one people will trust.
17 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
The 98% open rate myth
Every SMS vendor quotes a 98% open rate and none can say where it came from. What a text can measure instead: delivery receipts, clicks, replies and opt-outs.
17 October 2026 · 8 min read
Writing texts
Write texts the way GOV.UK writes
GOV.UK's writing rules (short words, 25-word sentences, the point first) applied to a 160-character text, and what GOV.UK Notify found when it rewrote its own.
17 October 2026 · 9 min read
Writing texts
Writing texts for older customers
Ofcom's 2025 tracker has 27% of over-75s on a mobile that is not a smartphone and 32% with no internet at home. How to write a text they can read and act on.
17 October 2026 · 8 min read