Building a Knowledge Base That Actually Works

Key Takeaways

• A successful knowledge base serves both human users and AI chatbots, acting as a single source of truth for customer support.
• Regular content audits are crucial to identify and eliminate outdated, inaccurate, or underperforming articles, a process that can be broken down into actionable steps.
• Writing for both humans and AI requires a focus on clear, concise language, structured formatting, and the use of relevant keywords.
• A well-defined categorization framework and a consistent maintenance schedule are essential for keeping your knowledge base organized and up-to-date.
• Measuring the effectiveness of your knowledge base through metrics like ticket deflection and customer satisfaction is key to demonstrating its value and identifying areas for improvement.

Introduction

In today's fast-paced digital world, customers expect instant answers to their questions. They don't want to wait on hold or send an email and wait for a response. They want to find the information they need, when they need it. This is where a well-crafted knowledge base comes in. A knowledge base is a centralized repository of information about a product, service, or topic. It's a self-service portal where customers can find answers to their questions, troubleshoot issues, and learn more about your offerings.

But a knowledge base is no longer just for human consumption. With the rise of AI-powered customer support, your knowledge base now serves a dual purpose. It's the brain behind your AI chatbot, providing it with the information it needs to answer customer queries accurately and efficiently. A high-quality knowledge base is the foundation of a successful self-service support strategy, and it's a critical component of any modern customer service operation. In this guide, we'll walk you through the practical steps of building and maintaining a knowledge base that actually works for both your customers and your AI.

What Makes a Good Knowledge Base?

A good knowledge base is more than just a collection of articles. It's a carefully curated and organized resource that is easy to navigate, understand, and use. Here are some of the key characteristics of a high-quality knowledge base:

• Comprehensive and Accurate: Your knowledge base should cover a wide range of topics and be the single source of truth for your customers. The information must be accurate, up-to-date, and consistent with your brand messaging.
• Easy to Navigate: A clear and logical structure is essential. Use categories, subcategories, and a powerful search function to help users find what they're looking for quickly and easily. As stated by a guide from Atlassian, a well-organized knowledge base is a key to self-service success [1].
• Clear and Concise: Write in plain language and avoid jargon. Use short sentences, bullet points, and headings to make your content easy to scan and digest. According to Salesforce, a clear title and an easy-to-follow structure are key elements of a good knowledge base article [2].
• Visually Appealing: Use images, videos, and other visuals to break up text and make your content more engaging. Visuals can also help to explain complex topics more effectively.
• Optimized for Search: Your knowledge base should be optimized for both internal and external search engines. This means using relevant keywords, writing descriptive titles and meta descriptions, and building a strong internal linking structure.

The Content Audit Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

A content audit is the process of systematically reviewing all the content on your knowledge base to identify what's working, what's not, and what's missing. It's a critical part of maintaining a healthy and effective knowledge base. Here's a step-by-step guide to conducting a content audit:

1. Define Your Goals: What do you want to achieve with your content audit? Are you looking to improve customer satisfaction, reduce support tickets, or identify content gaps? Having clear goals will help you to focus your efforts and measure your success.
2. Create a Content Inventory: The first step is to create a complete list of all the content on your knowledge base. This can be done using a spreadsheet or a content audit tool. For each piece of content, you should record the title, URL, author, publication date, and any other relevant information.
3. Analyze Your Content: Once you have your content inventory, it's time to start analyzing your content. You should be looking for content that is outdated, inaccurate, or underperforming. You should also be looking for content gaps – topics that are not covered on your knowledge base but should be.
4. Take Action: Based on your analysis, you can now take action to improve your content. This may involve updating, rewriting, or deleting existing content. You may also need to create new content to fill any content gaps that you have identified.
5. Measure Your Results: After you have taken action to improve your content, it's important to measure your results. This will help you to see what's working and what's not. You can measure your results by tracking metrics such as customer satisfaction, ticket deflection, and search volume.

Writing for Both Humans and AI

In the age of AI, your knowledge base has two audiences: your human customers and your AI chatbot. This means that you need to write content that is easy for both to understand and use. Here are some tips for writing for both humans and AI:

• Use Clear and Concise Language: This is important for both humans and AI. Avoid jargon, acronyms, and technical terms that your customers may not understand. Use short sentences and paragraphs to make your content easy to read and scan.
• Structure Your Content: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to structure your content and make it easy to follow. This will help both humans and AI to quickly find the information they need.
• Use Keywords: Use relevant keywords throughout your content to help both humans and AI to find your articles. You can use a keyword research tool to identify the keywords that your customers are using to search for information about your products or services.
• Write for a Global Audience: If you have customers in different countries, it's important to write content that is easy for them to understand. This means avoiding slang, idioms, and cultural references that may not translate well. It also means providing translations of your content into different languages.

Categorization Frameworks

A well-organized knowledge base is essential for both humans and AI. A clear and logical categorization framework will help users to find the information they need quickly and easily. There are a number of different categorization frameworks that you can use, but some of the most common include:

• By Topic: This is the most common type of categorization framework. You can organize your content by topic, such as "Getting Started," "Billing and Payments," and "Troubleshooting."
• By Product: If you have multiple products, you can organize your content by product. This will help users to find the information they need for the specific product they are using.
• By User Role: If you have different types of users, such as customers, partners, and employees, you can organize your content by user role. This will help users to find the information that is most relevant to them.

No matter which categorization framework you choose, it's important to be consistent and to make it easy for users to find what they're looking for. A guide from Bloomfire on how to organize a knowledge base suggests using a clear, task-based hierarchy [3].

Maintenance Schedules

A knowledge base is not a "set it and forget it" project. It requires ongoing maintenance to ensure that the content is accurate, up-to-date, and relevant. A regular maintenance schedule will help you to keep your knowledge base in top shape. Here are some tips for creating a maintenance schedule:

• Schedule Regular Reviews: Set aside time each month or quarter to review your knowledge base content. This will help you to identify and fix any errors or outdated information.
• Monitor Customer Feedback: Pay attention to customer feedback to identify areas where your knowledge base can be improved. You can collect feedback through surveys, support tickets, and social media.
• Track Your Metrics: Track your knowledge base metrics to see how it's performing. This will help you to identify what's working and what's not. You can track metrics such as page views, search volume, and customer satisfaction.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Building and maintaining a knowledge base can be a challenging task. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Lack of Ownership: It's important to have a clear owner for your knowledge base. This person will be responsible for ensuring that the content is accurate, up-to-date, and relevant.
• Poor Organization: A poorly organized knowledge base will be difficult for users to navigate. Make sure to use a clear and logical categorization framework.
• Inconsistent Style and Tone: Your knowledge base should have a consistent style and tone. This will help to create a professional and cohesive user experience.
• Not Promoting Your Knowledge Base: Don't assume that your customers will automatically find your knowledge base. You need to promote it through your website, social media, and other marketing channels.

Measuring KB Effectiveness

Measuring the effectiveness of your knowledge base is essential to demonstrating its value and identifying areas for improvement. Here are some key metrics to track:

• Ticket Deflection: This is the percentage of support tickets that are deflected by your knowledge base. A high ticket deflection rate indicates that your knowledge base is helping to reduce your support costs.
• Customer Satisfaction: This is a measure of how satisfied your customers are with your knowledge base. You can measure customer satisfaction through surveys and feedback forms.
• Search Volume: This is the number of times your knowledge base is searched. A high search volume indicates that your customers are using your knowledge base to find information.
• Time to Resolution: This is the amount of time it takes for a customer to find the information they need on your knowledge base. A low time to resolution indicates that your knowledge base is easy to use and navigate.

What to Do Next

Now that you have a better understanding of how to build and maintain an effective knowledge base, it's time to put your knowledge into action. Here are some specific action items to get you started:

1. Conduct a content audit of your existing knowledge base.
2. Develop a categorization framework for your knowledge base.
3. Create a maintenance schedule for your knowledge base.
4. Start tracking your knowledge base metrics.

Related Reading

• Self-Service Customer Support
• Reduce Support Tickets by 80%
• Shopify Support Automation Guide

Ready to improve your self-service support?

Read our guide on Self-Service Customer Support for more strategies.

References

[1] Atlassian. (n.d.). Best practices for self-service knowledge bases. Atlassian. Retrieved from https://www.atlassian.com/itsm/knowledge-management/self-service-success [2] Salesforce. (n.d.). How You Can Write a Good Knowledge Base Article. Salesforce. Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/service/knowledge-base/article/ [3] Bloomfire. (2025, June 16). How to Organize a Knowledge Base: A Step-by-Step Guide. Bloomfire. Retrieved from https://bloomfire.com/blog/how-to-organize-a-knowledge-base/