Introduction
Your organization is constantly focusing on providing great customer service through different mediums, such as calls, emails, etc.
But stats show more than 69 percent of customers say they prefer to handle problems independently, and 63 percent almost never contact customer service before looking for answers online.
That means you must appeal to customers' desires when they would prefer to look up their questions online and receive a prompt response than calling your customer support staff.
And the easiest way to achieve this is through a knowledge base.
This article will be a thorough resource for setting up and maintaining a knowledge base. Let’s begin.
What is a knowledge base & what are its major components?
A knowledge base is a self-serve internal or customer support library that offers information about a product, service or topic to enable users to locate solutions so they can handle issues on their own.
All knowledge bases provide employees, customers and prospects with useful information, but the specific data and details you choose to add to them will depend on the goals your company has for using them.
Its major components include:
- Answers to FAQs.
- Video demonstrations.
- Company information.
- Directions and tips for using your products and services.
- Knowledge of different business departments.
- The content you’ve created that can provide in-depth solutions.
In addition to producing material for industry-based customers, some companies also write for industry-wide readers.
This offers helpful information and exposes your content to various audience groups that may end up as customers if they find the information you offer helpful.
What are the benefits & challenges of building a knowledge base?
The goal of customer service departments is to enhance the customer experience. When users have a query or problem, they contact your customer care department to receive the required solutions.
This reactive repetition takes a lot of time, causes stress and is not scalable. This is where the knowledge base comes into play.
Let's discuss the importance of knowledge bases in more detail.
It benefits your reps
Eighty-eight percent of customers expect brands to have an online self-service portal. But, your support staff can only do so much at once when responding to inquiries via phone, email, or live chat.
However, your customers can find the solutions they require on their own if you offer a comprehensive knowledge base.
Your customer will feel proud that they solved the problem on their own and your support staff will have more time to handle more pressing problems as a result.
It helps to keep all your user content in one place
A knowledge base should not only be a collection of help center articles. In addition, it can comprise features like a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section, a user forum, articles, white papers, how-to guides, video tutorials, case studies, dictionaries and glossaries – anything that aids customers in understanding and utilizing your goods or services.
However, you may also create an IT knowledge base or internal corporate knowledge base to assist your employers in learning how your business functions, finding out about perks and HR information or finding solutions to typical technical queries.
It’s a convenient and constant resource
Encyclopedias in public libraries are no longer being thumbed through with patience by people. They seek immediate resolution to their questions.
If a customer or potential customer has a specific query regarding your business, such as "What is machine learning?" or "How do I record my screen?" they'll presume they can simply search that query or closely related phrases on your website and obtain the solutions they need.
Types of knowledge bases
Following are the two types of a knowledge-base.
Internal Knowledge Base
An internal knowledge base is used by those who work for the company; however, this might serve two purposes. The first serves as an internal hub for customer care and assistance, while the second supports staff members.
Customer support representatives must have access to the same data; otherwise, their responses may differ. People may take longer to respond because they use different methods to search for solutions.
Bots can work behind the scenes to provide salespeople with useful information during the interaction. A search bar or widget allows them to enter inquiries and they will receive the appropriate response to give the consumer.
It doesn't focus at all on the customer with an internal information base for employees. These knowledge libraries frequently provide answers to IT and HR queries.
Everyone is accustomed to having immediate access to information. There is no distinction made at work.
If the issue is trivial, you don't want to call the IT department and wait on hold or submit a ticket. You can look it up on your own using an internal knowledge base.
External Knowledge Base
Customers and visitors to websites use an external knowledge base, as do other people outside the company. Usually, the data stored for external knowledge bases is delivered by a chatbot or AI-powered search engine.
Chatbots are the most well-liked method for letting customers self-serve and receive typical query responses.
The majority of individuals prefer using this service, which is available 24/7 to answer queries.
The best part is the question's formulation is irrelevant with this technology. For instance, if a visitor puts, "I can't sign in," "I forgot my password," or "I have to update my login," they will all result in the same response for password recovery.
How to create a knowledge base from scratch?
Design and structure should come first
Let's begin with the design and structure of your knowledge base article format. Almost like a standard home page for support-based information, most of these start at a high level. This example demonstrates that.
The Scribe gallery allows you to search for specific issues and navigate by categories.
When it comes to knowledge bases, discoverability is crucial. The home page should feature the most read articles prominently and search functionality should be improved to help readers find solutions to their particular issues.
Decide on your writing process
Producing articles for a knowledge base is similar to writing informative blog posts. In all situations, you want to draw readers in with a compelling title, provide clear and helpful directions and let them leave with fresh knowledge and insights.
As a result, we may formulate the following general rules for writing knowledge base articles:
- Create a title that is detailed.
- Make sure your material is informative so that users can find all the information they require.
- Eliminate typos.
- Link to a useful resource.
- Don't forget about readability and user experience (as mentioned above).
- Include the most frequently asked questions in your chatbot or auto-responder for support tickets.
Basically, your knowledge base should follow the same writing guidelines as blogs and other nonfiction instructional media.
But hold on, it only applies to text-based content. How about video content?
According to Hubspot’s report on animated video statistics, 94 percent of people watch explainer videos to understand the product or the brand better and 84 percent of the watchers decided to make a purchase after the video.
So, our recommendation would be to utilize both at once. Customers looking for answers will find text-based information more easily because it is more likely to rank on search engines.
Add visuals
Adding visuals in knowledge base content is always recommended because they help readers understand what you're writing about. A step-by-step guide with related visuals, for instance, can assist users in visualizing what needs to be done. Simple screenshots with annotations work well most of the time.
However, only a few tools available can do it effectively and one of them is here for you.
Scribe makes it easier for you to record your screen and automatically turns your workflow into step-by-step instructions.
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With Scribe, you can make product demonstrations, documentation of processes, or troubleshooting manuals and embed them in your website.
Here’s what our users say:
Tips & best practices for creating & maintaining your knowledge base
Building up your knowledge base is just the beginning of the battle. To fully serve your customers, a spectacular knowledge base must be a dynamic resource that is regularly updated.
By following these few recommendations, you can ensure that your knowledge base has the greatest possible effect on your customers and is always ready to assist them.
Understand your audience
When creating your knowledge base, analyze your customer data. Use these patterns to understand how to write about and position your knowledge-base content, just as you did when you examined trends to determine your knowledge-base themes.
Knowledge base articles require just as much planning as blog entries and sales copy.
Create your tone and writing style to appeal to your readers, maintain their interest and address their concerns.
The goal of proactively offering a knowledge base is compromised if customers contact your customer care team because they can't grasp your responses.
Maintain a brand-specific information base
Customers seeking additional information about your goods or services are given a disconnected experience if your knowledge base is not kept consistent with your brand's voice, colors and design.
Scribe top tip: Establish a style manual for your knowledge base. Include formatting and writing instructions particular to your knowledge base articles. Try to keep it compatible with your overall company branding. No matter who is writing articles or updating the material, this helps keep your knowledge base consistent and professional.
Take accessibility into account
Not only should your website adhere to accessibility guidelines, but your knowledge base should as well.
All screenshots, photos and videos that are part of articles should include alternative text. Detect whether there are any contrasting colors that might be difficult to see against particular backgrounds or buttons.
Additionally, use large, readable fonts for the headers and bullet points that divide lists. To assist readers in navigating lengthy articles, include hyperlinked tables of contents.
Make sure your knowledge base is mobile-friendly before launching.
Update your knowledge base whenever a new product is released or updated
Your knowledge base should update if anything about your organization, products, or services does. Your knowledge base information will eventually become useless if you don't take care of it and customers will notice.
Update your knowledge base articles frequently, just as you teach your customer support team about new products or services. The same holds true for writing fresh articles for new features or completely fresh products.
Use accurate & convenient tools
Using accurate and convenient tools gives you a hassle-free experience while ensuring your work is done effectively and Scribe is a great option. Allow Scribe to accompany your screen capture and marvel at its beauty!
Faster than you may anticipate, it will transform your screen recording into a comprehensive step-by-step guide.
Additionally, Scribe Pages allows you to compile and save videos and other materials to create process documents (such as screenshots, infographics and links).
This improves the guides and makes it possible for you to create even more comprehensive educational resources.
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Create your knowledge base with Scribe!
Building a knowledge base can help you scale out your customer success and support initiatives. As a result, it can aid in cost-cutting, enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing the return on investment for your customer success department.
Additionally, it can assist you in shifting your attention from simply responding to support issues to more proactive initiatives like customer empowerment and education. This change may result in significant organizational success.
There are various approaches to creating a helpful knowledge base, but they all revolve around providing solutions to significant and common customer problems.
Leverage Scribe to create valuable educational resources for your customers and give your knowledge base a competitive edge.
And yes, it’s free. Get started now!
