Creating and Managing Knowledge Base Articles

In this digital age where businesses compete for the attention of potential buyers online, companies are constantly looking for new ways to bring customers to their website, be it search engine optimization activities or building a knowledge base. 

Have you considered a knowledge base for your website? Building a database of information may be as simple or complex as you choose. However, even with just a handful of articles to start, you'll deliver important information that can help people find your website and the answers to critical questions! 

Keep reading to learn why consulting businesses need a knowledge base and how it can help you turn more website visitors into buyers.

What Is a Website Knowledge Base?

Answers to commonly asked questions, how-to tutorials, and troubleshooting advice are some of the knowledge base articles that may be found on a company's website. A knowledge base is a tool to alleviate the burden of assisting website visitors by facilitating the discovery of individual solutions through published resources. 

Combining online chat with other self-service tools like searchable FAQs and a knowledge base can cut customer service volumes by 20-40%, lowering handle times and cost per contact across all channels, according to Gartner. Therefore, a knowledge base is an excellent way to offer a seamless experience to your customers. 

When thinking through what to include in your knowledge base, consider: 

• Questions often asked
• Detailed method manuals
• Articles providing context
• Video demos
• Definition lists and glossaries

Knowledge base article management is the procedure through which all of this data is gathered and structured in a usable manner. The result is a knowledge base that website visitors and potential customers can access. Knowledge base software (like HubSpot) organizes and disseminates that data to the intended audience.

A Guide for Creating a Knowledge Base

Now that you know what a knowledge base is, it's time to understand how to create one. Follow these tips to add this useful resource to your website!

1. Choose the Right Software

A knowledge base can be established using any application that facilitates information exchange. This can be as simple as a Google Docs folder with a link to your site's assistance documentation (although that's not recommended as the best solution). 

Instead, choose the right app to host, create, and manage knowledge base articles for any size consulting business. Ensure the software you chose has capabilities that make it simple for your team to publish and manage material and for your customers to locate the answers they're looking for. In addition, the ideal software allows the resource to grow as you add more articles!

2. Determine Which Questions to Answer

A preliminary list of what to include in your knowledge base can start by reviewing the queries in your support queue and consulting with your staff to get an idea of what they think are the most commonly requested issues.

The sequence in which you'll write each article may also need to be prioritized, depending on how long your list is. If you can think of ten ideas, you have enough to get started and organize them efficiently! However, if you quickly wind up with a hundred, you'll need to invest some time sorting them into the order of importance.

As you work through the list with your customer support team, prioritize and publish the most commonly-asked questions first, then continue creating materials for other questions on your list. 

3. Create an Easy-To-Understand Structure

You may save time and effort by choosing how you'll structure your knowledge base from the start. 

Look through the list of subjects you generated in the previous phase and think of possible groupings you might use to sort them into. These "buckets" help visitors find the information they need more quickly. 

4. Start Creating Content

An effective knowledge base article must be well-written, easy to follow, SEO-optimized, and informative. You may save a lot of time on content development if you use resources developed by others on your team and repurposed into a user-friendly resource. 

Establish guidelines for these articles and use best practices for writing and creating SEO-friendly material when you make your articles. Consider different media types, lists, text layouts, and anchor links for extended pieces.

5. Keep Your Knowledge Base Growing

Building a knowledge base isn't something you do once and then forget about. The most effective resources require regular upkeep and improvement if you want to receive and provide your customers with the greatest experience when landing on your website. Making someone responsible for such a procedure is highly recommended.

Effective knowledge base articles and associated screenshots will need to be regularly updated to reflect any new or revised processes arising from product or other updates. If you don't keep your self-service materials up-to-date, you're setting your consumers up for failure, and that's not a metric you want to track in your business.

You should also watch reports to see what consumers are looking for but cannot locate. This can provide ideas for writing knowledge base articles over time. You'll also learn which articles require updating for better clarity and understanding.

Tips to Create a Great Knowledge Base

Now that you understand how to develop a knowledge base for your website, here are some best practices and suggestions to assist you along the way.

• Learn from others: Have no qualms about exploring the knowledge bases of other small businesses and implementing what you discover on your website.
• Get customer feedback: An excellent way to make sure your knowledge base is helpful to customers is to collect client feedback.
• Audit your content: Establish regular dates to audit the knowledge base's content to optimize for search engines, add new material, and eliminate outdated pieces.
• Remember your users: The user experience is crucial when accessing your knowledge base!
• Recruit a customer service team: Gain their insights to compose helpful articles for your customers.
• Facilitate communication with support: Your knowledge base is not a barrier that prevents consumers from communicating with a person.

A well-executed knowledge base helps customers feel informed and positions you as an expert in your field and market! 

Create and Manage Knowledge Base Articles With the Right Tool

The importance of strong knowledge base articles cannot be ignored! While the content and structure are important, the tool you use can make or break the entire project. If you're ready to build your knowledge base, HubSpot can help! Speak to a Geek to learn how we can help you identify the ideal topics for this valuable resource, then get it up and running on your website. 

Ready to optimize your business? Start by downloading our free "Game Plan for Success!"