Help Scout: How to create a knowledge base in 8 simple steps

Step-by-step advice on building a customer knowledge base that’s clear, well-organized, and genuinely useful for both your audience and your support team.

Over the past 30 years or so, our brains have been rewired for instant gratification. Whether it’s binge-watching an entire series in one night or expecting next-day (or same-day, if possible) delivery, people want what they want now.

Customer service is no exception. When questions come up, most customers would rather find an answer themselves than wait in a queue or draft an email. In fact, a Zendesk survey found that 69% of customers try to resolve support issues themselves before reaching out for assistance — usually through using a knowledge base.

Creating a knowledge base can feel intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be overly complex. That being said, it is one of things you want to get right, because while a well-crafted knowledge base empowers customers to solve problems and reduces the workload on your support team, a poorly built knowledge base can make things worse. If customers can’t quickly find clear, helpful answers, frustration mounts (and so does your support volume).

Below, I’ll walk through eight steps for creating a great knowledge base — something that’s intuitive, effective, and genuinely helpful for your customers.

Read article