What Are the Business Benefits – If a customer can’t quickly understand how to use your product or service, why would they buy it? That’s why it’s important to use tools that help potential customers understand the nuances of your product. One of the most effective ways to do this is to create a knowledge base on your site. Let’s talk about what it is and how to form it in this article.
Table of Contents
What is a knowledge base
A knowledge base is a section with useful articles and instructions on how to use your product. Ideally, they should be short and informative at the same time. Some templates can be seen at the write my essay service.
Don’t confuse a knowledge base with a FAQ. A FAQ is built on a question-and-answer basis. And the knowledge base is a separate section with instructions, where everything is described step by step, solving several typical problems simultaneously.
Why do you need a knowledge base
There are a number of advantages which may bring a knowledge base. Among them it is necessary to allocate separately the following:
- Optimization of company expenses. You will not need to increase your staff as your client base grows: your managers will be relieved of routine matters. They will have time to delve into complicated questions of customers.
- Increased customer loyalty. Knowledge base simplifies the use of the service. It can be called an effective sales tool that closes many objections of potential buyers. Customers easily enough turn into confident users after reading the guides and watching video tutorials.
- Increases the efficiency of employees. Training of new staff is facilitated. After all, new employees now have the opportunity to take advantage of the knowledge base. More experienced managers now won’t have to spend time training new employees, so they can focus on other issues.
Where to start building a knowledge base
- Gather content. Analyze customer correspondence, collect the most frequent questions. Take that list and give comprehensive answers. It is important to properly design a section that will tell you how to properly start working with the service.
- Think through the structure of the article. For an article to be useful, you need to think about its structure. As a rule, it is worth adhering to the following scheme:
- A description of the customer problem that needs to be closed;
- A step-by-step solution to the issue;
- Achievement of the result – the problem is completely solved.
The narrative should be consistent. You should explain to the customer step by step how to register in the service, how to make a purchase or get a discount on a group of products.
- Write an article. Write simple articles that will be understandable to a person who is not immersed in the topic. Follow these rules:
- Keep your thoughts short, don’t overwhelm your client with canvasses of text;
- Explain the terms. The potential client may not be familiar with the terminology of your products or services. You can even make a separate glossary;
- Break up the text into logical blocks – paragraphs. This makes it easier to understand the information. Do not forget to use lists of lists as well;
- Highlight the keywords for the convenience of the client. This way he can pay attention to the important points;
- Add links. If you talk about something that is detailed in another article, just use a link. Linking through the site will help the client navigate it better.
- And remember, don’t write too big an article. It’s better to make several small ones that describe certain features. This will help the client to understand the matter better. Dividing articles by keywords – this is an additional plus for promotion in search engines.
- Use visuals. Tons of text is not something that will help make sense of the topic. If each article is with explanatory screenshots, diagrams and infographics, it will be a good solution.
- Set up clear navigation. If you can set up easy to navigate, your customers will be comfortable using the knowledge base. Insert links to similar articles. Don’t forget also such interface element as “Breadcrumbs”, they display the chain of all user’s transitions.
Maintain your knowledge base
Maintaining the knowledge base is an important item that needs to be done for it to work effectively.
- Distribute the knowledge base. The knowledge base should be all over the site, don’t be limited to a single section. Insert links where appropriate, and where it will help the customer to solve the issue. You can use tooltips, they work effectively.
- Create templates. A template will allow you to create articles for your knowledge base in one style that is simple and easy for every client to understand
- set up feedback. In each article, if possible, you should set up a feedback form. This way, the customer will be able to point out possible errors or inaccuracies, as well as ask additional questions.
- Update the knowledge base in a timely manner. If the information on the site is outdated, it may cause negative feedback from your clients. In the worst case you will notice an increase in the number of refusals. To avoid all this, you need to make timely edits.
- Analyze articles. Periodically do an analysis of the articles. You should understand how they influence your buyers. Whether the number of purchases has increased, whether the number of bounces has decreased, and so on. Analysis helps you respond to any changes in a timely manner.
Also Read – How Web Portals Are Beneficial for Businesses These Days