Customer service is drowning. Overwhelmed agents, frustrated customers, and inconsistent information are sinking your support team. It’s time to throw them a lifeline. A robust knowledge base software is your first step towards a happier customer and a more efficient support team.
Think of it as a self-service oasis where customers can find answers quickly, and agents can focus on complex issues. But with countless knowledge base software options out there, choosing the right one can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Let’s change that.
In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know to select the perfect knowledge base software for your business.
Checklist for Choosing a Knowledge Base
Here are the steps you must take to ensure that you have the right knowledge base software:
Analyze Your Business Situation
Knowing the knowledge base definition isn’t enough. Now you have to focus on what you want. To determine where you want to go, you have to understand where you are before choosing a knowledge base software.
Assess your current situation for the business. You don’t need an in-depth analysis with fancy charts and graphs here. Just do a knowledge audit to see where/how the knowledge is stored and why. Questions to ask include:
- How is the knowledge accessed right now?
- Where does the knowledge base reside?
- How much documentation do you currently have?
- Who can access it?
- Is it updated? How often?
- What challenges might you face with your knowledge management practices?
- Should it be external (customers) or an internal knowledge base software?
List Down the Features You Want for Your Knowledge Base, Depending on Your Needs
There are tons of features you probably want from your knowledge management software. Here are just a few things to ponder:
- Multi-language support
- Create languages easily
- Trash box with the ability to restore
- XHTML code availability
- Customization services
- Free updates for at least a year
- Money-back guarantee
- Cost for unlimited admin users
- Prices for annual maintenance and support subscription after the free period
- Collaboration on articles for staff and admins
- Online demo for the general public
- Detailed reports and KB statistics
- Basic edition with client accounts
- Can users subscribe to the full knowledge base to receive email notifications when new articles are published?
- Can you generate complete and selective SQL backups of the knowledge base?
- Protection of intellectual property (can it be copied?)
- Ability to disable comments and ratings for particular articles
- Allow for custom fields on the contact page of the knowledge base
- Free installation of the internal knowledge base software on the server
Explore Knowledge Base Demos from Different Providers
Before choosing a platform, take time to explore demos from multiple knowledge management software providers. A demo, short for “demonstration,” gives you a firsthand look at how the internal knowledge base works and what it can do for your team.
Keep in mind that many sales demos focus more on listing features than showing how the tool fits into real workflows or improves daily operations. That’s why it’s helpful to test several options yourself. Comparing different tools side by side helps you understand their strengths, limitations, and unique capabilities so you can confidently choose the one that meets your team’s specific needs.
Designing Your Knowledge Base: Structure and Discovery
Although the concept of a knowledge base seems simple, the reality involves a wide range of software options. To make the right choice, you need a clear plan for how your knowledge base will be designed and structured.
Think of your knowledge base like a website homepage. It’s often the first impression and should guide users effortlessly. Whether you’re building an internal or external knowledge base, discoverability is essential. Users should be able to find answers quickly without feeling overwhelmed or lost.
Highlight your most popular articles and fine-tune the search function to make information easy to access. The goal is to create a knowledge base that feels intuitive, efficient, and genuinely helpful.
Determine What Type of User Experience You Want to Implement
This is the part where you ask yourself how the users might use the knowledge base. Though they aren’t using the knowledge management software to create content, they must benefit from your efforts.
Therefore, you probably want a search function where they can type in what they’re looking for. This means choosing an external or internal knowledge base software with AI capabilities.
You may also want to create categories of content, grouping everything. For example, things related to billing are in one section while sign-in issues are in another.
Consider Accessibility and Mobile-Friendliness
Your website isn’t your only digital space. Everything you have online should follow the right accessibility standards, and this includes the knowledge base.
Consider adding alt text for the images, screenshots, and videos in your articles. You should also be able to change contrasting colors to make readability a breeze.
Check to make sure the knowledge management software offers clear, large fonts for headers and ensure that it lets you use bullet points. This is great for breaking up lists and makes them easier to read.
The external or internal knowledge base software should also add jump tags within the table of contents (hyperlinks) so that people can easily go to the information they want to read about. This helps readers navigate through longer articles.
With that, mobile-friendliness is key here. When people are scrolling your website and have a question, they don’t want to get off their smartphone and use their computer to visit the knowledge base. Ensure that it works on all devices; the knowledge management software you choose should automatically format it.
Identify Your Non-Negotiable Requirements
When you’ve got a list of three or so vendors to check out, make sure you know your list of requirements. These are non-negotiable and must be included with the knowledge management software. Typically, this includes:
- The type of installation (on-premise or cloud-based)
- Specific functionality (full-text searches and user-friendliness)
- Integrations (Zendesk and Salesforce are the most popular)
- Budget issues (specific price range)
- External or internal knowledge base software
You can go ahead and send this information directly to the vendors. They can determine if their products work for you or not. If so, they can present you with a demo.
Activate Your Team to Help You Choose
Your team is likely to help you create the knowledge base, so they must be involved. Ask them to view the product demo with you and see what they think. You may also ask them for feedback on what the knowledge management software should include.
Ensure that they know the knowledge base definition first and how it can benefit them! That way, they want to choose the best software for everyone’s needs.
What’s Next?
Once you’ve finally chosen your knowledge base software, you must:
Measure its Effectiveness
It’s often challenging to measure how effective your knowledge base is. Do your customers leave it happily with the information they wanted? Are they leaving frustrated and have no answers, pondering the idea of visiting a competitor?
How can you know if you’re creating the best content and answering the questions your customers want to know?
There are a couple of ways to measure your knowledge base and its effectiveness, such as:
1. Ask for Feedback and Reviews About Your Knowledge Base
The easiest way is to include a one-question survey at the end of your articles. They don’t have to be complicated and shouldn’t be!
In fact, many companies use the question: “Was this article helpful?” You can even provide thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons to make it easier for customers to respond.
If you want to get a little more technical, you can create a popup to ask them to elaborate on the knowledge management software you’ve chosen. Most customers don’t do that, but if they were really upset or happy, they might.
2. Provide Contact Information
Another great way to get feedback on your knowledge base is to provide a phone number or email address. People can ask other questions or provide more feedback through those means.
Conclusion: Choosing Your Knowledge Base
Although the idea of a knowledge base sounds simple, the reality involves choosing from many software options. To make the most of it, you need a clear plan for how your knowledge base will look, feel, and function.
Think of it like a website homepage. It’s often the first impression users get, and it should guide them effortlessly. Whether you’re creating an internal hub for your team or an external help center for customers, discoverability is what makes it work. People should find what they need quickly, without digging through layers of information.
Highlight your most visited articles, organize content logically, and make sure your search feature delivers accurate results. The goal is to build a knowledge base that feels simple, intuitive, and effective.
Ready to create one that actually works for your team? Sign up on Klutch Knowledge Base today and start designing a workspace where knowledge flows freely and answers are always easy to find.
