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An external knowledge base, also called a customer service knowledge base, stores information your customers and clients can use, such as:
An internal knowledge base, also known as an intranet or company wiki, stores your company’s private or confidential information and is accessible only by employees. Internal knowledge bases help employees easily find the information they need to do their jobs well, which usually includes:
Your company’s knowledge base will contain information that can help whoever is searching find answers to questions and resources to better understand a topic. Info you can capture in your knowledge base. Any of the following can be considered a knowledge base:
Why you need a knowledge baseCompanies create knowledge bases to provide their employees and customers convenient access to important information. Implementing a knowledge base can streamline service and ensure consistent support, all while helping employees do their jobs faster and more efficiently. Knowledge management solutions let subject matter experts (SMEs) “brain dump” their expertise into an online resource that can be updated and edited as they see fit. That way, when team members have questions, they can go straight to the source for answers without having to bother the actual source. Plus, a verification feature like Guru’s tells users that the information available is trusted and up-to-date, eliminating any need to double-check with the SME. Benefits of knowledge basesSoftware that is intended to be used as a knowledge base has specific benefits over solutions that can be used many other ways, like long documents, PDFs, internal wikis, shared drives, or spreadsheets.
How to create a knowledge base1. Conduct research to determine knowledge base needUnderstanding the utility of a knowledge base is one thing. Deciding on the purpose your knowledge base will fill for your organization is another. The first step in setting up a knowledge base is to determine the need your knowledge base will fulfill. Think about your audience. Do you want your knowledge base to support your employees, your customers, or both? Once you know which audience(s) you want your knowledge base(s) to serve, research where the biggest gaps in knowledge exist.
The answers to those questions will help you understand if you do need a knowledge base and to begin thinking about how it should be structured. 2. Determine what type of knowledge base you needOnce you know that you need a knowledge base, you must determine what type of knowledge base would best serve your needs. There are five common types of knowledge bases. To decide on the type of knowledge base you may want to create, think about the audience the knowledge base will serve, how accessible you want the knowledge base to be to the general public, and whether you will host the knowledge base on your company server or rely on a provider to host it. 3. Outline a simple knowledge base structureYou’ll want to ensure your knowledge base is organized so all users can quickly and easily find what they are looking for. Developing your knowledge base structure at the beginning will not only help you organize your content as your knowledge base grows, but will inform navigation design and help make it more intuitive for users. There are a number of different ways you can organize your knowledge base:
Your knowledge base will constantly change as your content expands, is edited, or archived. That’s why it is important to make your categories broad enough to encompass an array of content that can be subcategorized by topic or theme. 4. Gather content and establish who will maintain itYour knowledge base requires a constant inflow of interesting and engaging content that specifically meets the needs of your audiences. SMEs should be responsible for developing the content to ensure the quality, accuracy, and efficacy of all content in your knowledge base that’s distributed to your employees and/or customers. Here’s how that process could work:
5. Upload resources to your shared platformA shared knowledge base platform is a software system that makes it easy for information to flow from your knowledge base to those who need it. The shared platform you choose will include the tools that extend the functionality of your knowledge base. For example, the shared platform software could include search tools, file sharing, analytics and reporting, a user feedback system, and more. The shared platform you choose should also be able to scale with the growth of your knowledge base. What makes a good knowledge base?It doesn’t have to be a chore to keep your knowledge base in good shape. In fact, much like great pizzas, the best knowledge bases…
1. Update content oftenUpdating content will be a regular activity in order to keep your knowledge base relevant and useful. Rely on your knowledge base software system’s built-in analytics to help. The data you review will help you better understand:
Plan to have your SMEs review all content (on a rolling basis) throughout the year in order to update, optimize, or retire content as necessary. In addition, you should plan to update relevant content any time your company policies, products, or changes to your services. Guru's verification engine ensures your knowledge is always up-to-date. 2. Make pages consistentBecause you will likely have more than one subject matter expert writing content for your knowledge base, you will need a style guide to make sure your content is consistent in look, tone, and feel regardless of who is writing or editing that content. Stick with a consistent structure and include (at a minimum) these elements on each page:
If your knowledge base will be customer-facing, you will want to ensure you follow any style guidance from your marketing or communications team. Your marketing or communications department likely has a style guide that includes guidelines for punctuation, brand style, formatting, and more. See how a knowledge manager can help create and enforce guidelines. 3. Make consuming content convenientYou want to be sure your content is easy to understand and access. These writing guidelines ensure your content is clear:
For your internal knowledge base, consider a tool that brings your content right into the apps you love so you don’t waste time switching contexts. Get in-context information.Measure the impact of your knowledge baseSo, how do you know if your knowledge base is actually working the way you want it to? The main impact metric you should be measuring here is usage. If your software offers them, take a look at your analytics and see how frequently team members are searching for, consuming, updating, and sharing information. If your software doesn’t give you clear analytics, try to take stock of how new the information in your knowledge base is. At the beginning, this might be easy but check every month or so to see when information was last added or updated. If it’s been weeks with no changes, your information is going stale. Another way to check is to see how frequently people at your company are asking questions in chat and how often your agents can resolve customer service requests at first contact. If you see the volume of questions relative to what’s been captured in your knowledge rise or you think your first-contact resolution rates could improve, people are ignoring or bypassing your KB, lowering its overall impact. Audit your knowledge baseIf your impact metrics show that your content isn’t having the impact it should be, it’s time for a knowledge base audit. The main goal of an audit is to improve usage by improving content. That can mean consolidating existing information or breaking it into smaller, bite-size pieces, getting rid of information that’s no longer needed, and updating knowledge that’s still relevant. While an audit might feel overwhelming — especially if you have thousands of articles or pages — going through it methodically and intentionally will allow your company to function more efficiently in the long term. Looking for a place to start? Discover how healthy your knowledge base is with our quick assessment. What is knowledge base software?Knowledge base software helps you capture, share, and update the right knowledge at the right time. Before you purchase a particular software offering, make sure it’s designed for your particular need. Need some help figuring out what that is? We’ve got your back: What is internal knowledge base software?Internal knowledge base software supports your employees by giving them a one-stop shop where they can search for the resources they need to best do their jobs. An effective internal knowledge base reduces employee frustration and promotes productivity by reducing the need for repetitive searches, integrating with employee workflows, encouraging contribution and collaboration, and ensuring content relevance and accuracy. Some additional examples of software that could be considered internal knowledge base software include documents and spreadsheets, content management systems (CMSs), web portals, FAQs, or wikis. Some questions that can help you choose the best software for your team are:
What is customer service knowledge base software?Customer service knowledge base software, also known as a help center software or external knowledge base software, is designed specifically for external, non-expert users to navigate and find information quickly. While it’s maintained by internal experts, the software should be publicly accessible and/or embedded into a customer-facing webpage. Let’s face it - planning and creating a knowledge base can be overwhelming. That’s why we created over 200 free, remote-friendly knowledge base templates to save you time. These done-for-you templates organize internal information to facilitate collaboration across your company. 1. Help Center articleFrom Guru's article on Content Migration: 2. Employee benefits summary template3. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) template5 types of knowledge basesThere are five main types of knowledge bases. They include the following: 1. Internal knowledge baseAn internal knowledge base is created by your organization strictly for employees to access information as needed. Discover how a knowledge base integration with Guru can be so much more useful for your team than a traditional knowledge base. 2. Hosted knowledge baseA hosted knowledge base collects and stores information for both your (internal) team and your (external) customers or stakeholders, keeping data well-organized and easily searchable. 3. Self-hosted knowledge baseThis type of knowledge base is hosted on your organization’s own servers. This approach gives you more control over security, privacy, and uptime but also means you are responsible for handling concerns and fixing any issues that arise. 4. Open-source knowledge base softwareOpen-source knowledge bases are openly accessible to the public and may or may not be free of charge. Open-source knowledge base software can be helpful if your organization wants to allow developers or programmers to customize the source code according to business needs. 5. Customer service knowledge baseA customer service knowledge base organizes information to make it easy for your customers to access and use. Also called a customer knowledge base, it contains publicly accessible knowledge about a product and/or company. Because this is customer- or public-facing, it would not be appropriate for confidential or private information. Learn more about external knowledge bases here. How do I choose a knowledge base?First, determine whether you need an internal knowledge base or an external knowledge base. Then, consider your knowledge management strategy. Those two factors in combination should give you sense of your technical requirements.
How to know if you need an internal knowledge baseIf your sales team wants to improve customer satisfaction and their own productivity, being able to answer customer questions-on-the-fly can help save time and increase their confidence in the information they’re sharing. Maintaining an internal knowledge base with this information can serve this purpose and help companies provide employees with accurate information on-demand. The same holds true for a manager who wants to efficiently onboard and train new employees, or for a member of your team who needs information about their benefits, compensation, or company policies. To eliminate having them spend part of their day on hold with the human resources department to get answers to those questions, an internal knowledge base can help increase productivity by providing them with the answers they need and an efficient way to get them. The less time employees have to spend seeking out answers and handling reopened tickets, the more time they can devote to building relationships with customers and bringing value to your company. If you see opportunities where your organization can save time, enhance productivity, and create greater cohesion and accuracy of the knowledge disseminated to employees, your company can benefit from internal knowledge base software. Ways to use internal knowledge base softwareMaintaining a well-organized, easily searchable, and accessible internal knowledge base means your employees can find answers quickly, without re-asking common questions. Example: An internal knowledge base is incredibly versatile in the way it can be used. Some ways to make the most of your internal knowledge base software include bringing in key information, such as:
Internal knowledge base software enables your company to focus your communications on new and critical information. Time spent introducing new employees to company policies and procedures, as well as training those taking on new roles, could be significantly reduced. Easier and faster access to information means that your customers will be happier with your sales team’s rapid response to their questions and concerns, and you will know the collective expertise of your employees is stored in a safe, searchable location for future use. Get started on your new knowledge baseTo grow, innovate, respond to customers, manage suppliers, and achieve organizational objectives, you need effective knowledge management. A quality knowledge base provides employees or customers with quick access to answers they need. Internally, a remote-friendly knowledge base saves valuable time and ensures they deliver consistent, quality calls. Guru can help you organize internal knowledge and facilitate knowledge-sharing across your company and beyond. Get started today with Guru for free, and harness the power of integrated knowledge management for your business. Knowledge base FAQsWhy create a knowledge base?Companies create knowledge bases to provide their employees and customers with convenient access to important information. Implementing or improving your internal knowledge base can help employees do their jobs in less time, streamline service and ensure consistent support, get new hires up to speed in far less time, and improve the way teams communicate about new products and features. Customer-facing knowledge bases empower self-service and improve support team productivity. Why is a knowledge base important?A knowledge base is a single source of truth that empowers employees or customers to find the information they need. Done well, implementing a knowledge base increases efficiency, speeds onboarding time, deflects repeat questions, streamlines employee communications, improves employee satisfaction, and/or improves access to information that helps employees and customers self serve. Who uses knowledge base software?The content in an internal knowledge base is authored by employees, often with the support of a knowledge manager who governs quality standards and how knowledge base software is used. A high-quality knowledge base serves employees, ends team time spent on repeat questions, ensures a consistent support experience, and improves internal alignment. A customer-facing knowledge base is managed by a help center manager, often employing writers who ensure pages are consistent, high-quality, and on-brand. These knowledge bases deliver customer value and save the team time by enabling customer self-service. What is the difference between database and knowledge base?The difference between a database and a knowledge base is that a database is a collection of data representing facts in their basic form, while a knowledge base stores information as answers to questions or solutions to problems. A knowledge base allows for rapid search, retrieval, and reuse. Information in a knowledge base is typically fully developed and ready to be applied. |