5 Winning Strategies to Create Online Help Documentation

Did you know?

• As per a survey by Salesforce, 89% of millennials use a search engine to find answers before making a call to get customer service
• 70% of customers prefer to use a company’s website to get answers to their questions rather than use phone or email.

Who would have thought a decade ago that ONLINE would be the only way of getting things done?

I am sure the figures stated above aren’t hair-raising or are they?

The advent of digital obviates the dire need of customers to get what they want instantly, in a single swipe. The bars are raised so high that businesses are toiling hard to formulate strategies that can help them nail the ever-evolving needs of internet users or millennials to be precise.

Let’s see what history has to say on this:

Once upon a time (Read: The Paper Age), there existed businesses that –

• Resorted to creating physical documents
• Suffered productivity loss
• Repetitive work and
• Business growth that went downwards

Well, thanks to the wave of paperless age, things have taken a U-turn.

Online self-help documents are the new weapons to deal with customer complaints. Although you might have taken the big step to create such web-based help docs, you need to be aware of the fact that, they too can go wrong. Non-compatibility with mobiles, incorrect facts and figures, rough interface are just some of the reasons that can give your help document – a thumbs down from customers.

These 5 actionable strategies are sure-shot ways to succeed while creating online help documentation.

1. Use the Right Software

I know choosing the right software to build user documentation can be a real pain. It’s tedious and confusing, for the online market is thronged with much such software that portrays a promising picture of an effective help doc. While on the spree to find the perfect software for your business, make sure you –

• Gauge the pros and cons of different software
• Shortlist a few software that you feel are suitable
• Consider the value for money they offer
• Take a deep look at the kind of features they offer
• Go for the trial versions
• And then, finally take the call

2. Structure it Well

While building a web-based document, it’s paramount that you structure it meticulously. Be organized and specific while creating content. Include a table of contents to have separate sections for each topic.

Make your document highly searchable so that readers don’t get lost while browsing it. Use the intelligent search functionality to suggest relevant pages, links, and articles to your users. This will give them a seamless search experience.

3. Make It Eye-Catching

Trust me, surviving the online race is as easy as it is difficult. To sell something you have to make sure that quality content is presented in the most attractive way. It has to be appealing to the eye.

Paint your document beautifully with suitable fonts, designs, and themes such that its appearance complements the content. Plain text, how much ever beneficial fails to grab eyeballs. Package it well for best results.

4. Keep It Interactive and Engaging

It’s not plausible for you to go and meet each customer personally, given that your clients are spread across the globe. How will you explain what your product or service is all about? How it works and how they can make the most out of it?

HubSpot has confirmed that come 2020, there will be zero human interaction between a company and its clients, proving that the online will be the only medium to stay connected with your customers.

Create the help documentation in a way that it personifies your business. Include images, infographics, how-to videos to make your document engaging and interesting to read.

5. Track Search Behavior

 Creating an online document once won’t suffice. You have to keep updating it with new information and continue making improvements to make it better.

Some software offer integration with Google Analytics which help in gathering insightful data around the information that is most searched or the frequently visited pages. You can leverage this information to constantly improve the performance of your document.

Creating a structured, effective, user-friendly and professionally-designed online help documentation is challenging but the right documentation software can make this task a cakewalk for you.

Long story short, the ultimate aim of engineering an online document is to simplify things and satisfy customers.

Create online documentation using software that houses unparalleled features and promises exceptional performance.

Settling for anything less will not only keep your customers dissatisfied but will also negatively impact your goodwill in the market.

A below-average online documentation can result in a dwindling customer base and a downward growth graph which obviously is not desired by any business.

With customers being the kings and keeping them happy being the only solution to survive in the online world, why not tread on a path that yields you the best outcomes.

Buy the right online documentation software to create a best-in-class document that reeks of your business’s obsession with customer satisfaction.