People, places, and things

This section provides guidelines for referring to different groups of people, ensuring that our language remains sensitive and inclusive. These guidelines cover topics such as pronouns, disability, gender and sexuality, heritage and nationality, race, states, cities, countries, URLs, websites, and writing about companies, including Kinsta.

How to talk about people

We strive to always remain sensitive to every individual in our audience. Below, you’ll find guidelines for how we refer (and don’t refer) to different groups of people.

Pronouns

As already stated, use gender-neutral language: “they,” “them,” and “their” as a singular pronoun.

Disability

Avoid using terms like “suffer,” “victim,” or “mentally ill.” Avoid even addressing people with disabilities as a different audience. Treat everyone equally.

Gender and sexuality

Use “their” as a singular pronoun. Along these lines, look for opportunities to substitute gendered words with their gender-neutral variants:

• Partner instead of husband
• Sibling instead of sister
• Actor instead of actress
• Businessperson instead of businessman

Avoid unnecessarily sexed generalizations. Don’t assume gender based on names or appearances, and avoid using “guys” (as in “you guys”), “sir,” or “ma’am.”

You can find more in the Word Lists section.

Heritage and nationality

When referring to someone of dual heritage or nationality, avoid hyphenation. For example, instead of “Asian-American,” use “Asian American.”

Race

The AP updated their style guide in 2020 to specify that Black should be capitalized in context of race or culture. However, white should remain lowercase, as “white” refers to a skin color and not a group with a shared heritage.

States, cities, and countries

On the first mention, write out “United States” in full. “US” can then be used in subsequent mentions.

Per AP Style, all US cities should be accompanied by their state (with a few exceptions, which can be found on Purdue’s website).

URLs and websites

Each article should include at least 2–4 links to other Kinsta materials. When linking text, exclude any preceding articles (such as “a,” “an,” “our”, and “the”) and trailing punctuation:

• No: Check out our PHP guide for some ideas.
• Yes: Check out our PHP guide for some ideas.
• No: We’ll walk you through the password reset process.
• Yes: We’ll walk you through the password reset process.

Writing about Kinsta

Our trade name is “Kinsta,” and our legal name is “Kinsta Inc.”

Refer to Kinsta using “we” and not “they” or “it.”

Writing about other companies

Companies are single entities, meaning they take the third-person form. Use “which” when referring to companies and organizations (instead of “who”).

Use the spelling and capitalization of the company’s name as shown on their website.