Effective marketing teams understand the opportunity that knowledge base offers. A strong knowledge base can position a company as an authority in their field for clients. Even more importantly, knowledge bases allow companies to store insights and information over time. 

A knowledge base can also provide value to customers, giving in-depth information on your product or service. This, in turn, causes customers to see your business as a thought leader and authority in your space.

But knowledge bases aren’t just for external customers. Employees can also utilize them to find answers, saving the time and effort it takes to search for answers independently. Likewise, salespeople can use the knowledge bases to learn about the product and prove their expertise to prospective customers. 

Internal knowledge bases can provide the same value. For internal employees, contractors, and clients, knowledge bases are key to accomplishing business tasks with minimal resistance. Link for Work was created for this purpose - a simplified interface with a single link for all tools that enables employees to be more agile and increases productivity.

What is Knowledge Base?

Just as it sounds, a knowledge base is a collection of links, bookmarks, and documentation. Within the knowledge base, employees or clients should be able to find how-to guides, answers to common questions, instructions for troubleshooting common issues, and links to any related content. A strong knowledge base provides solutions, so the reader doesn’t have to ask for assistance. 

Companies are now using knowledge bases as a marketing technique. With a knowledge base, companies can:

• Position themselves as an expert and authority. A strong, well-organized, and solution-oriented knowledge base will showcase their expertise in their industry. 

• Enable their sales team to use the knowledge base as a resource to answer client questions, share content, and re-engage with cold leads.

• Prospects can reference the knowledge base for answers that would normally require answers from sales, freeing up the sales team’s time to work on more active leads. 

• Lower employee overhead by giving clients a place to find self-service tools. Companies can then reduce the staff on support teams.

• Lower customer churn by providing a self-service tool for those who prefer minimal social contact for smaller issues. Plus, a knowledge base can help solve issues before they escalate, improving client approval of the company.

While knowledge bases can be time-intensive to create, they are well worth the investment. For customers, they provide self-service options and valuable information. For employees, knowledge bases give clarity on internal processes. Companies can build upon their insights and keep them stored for learning, all in one place.

How to Create a Strong Knowledge Base

Consumers and employees alike prefer to find information on their own and as quickly as possible. According to a HubSpot study, 90% of customers want an immediate answer to their inquiry. Knowledge bases can provide these answers.

1. Cover All Areas - Whether you’re selling a product or service, cover every aspect of it. If there’s a question someone might have about it, make sure it’s covered in your knowledge base.

1. Be Relevant - All information in the knowledge base should tie back to one main topic - whether it’s a knowledge base that ties back to your business as a whole or a singular product. Decide what your knowledge base is about and stick to it.

1. Be Concise - People are coming to your knowledge base for answers, so avoid flowery language and keep it to the important information only.

1. Include Images - Add relevant images that can provide further insight and help with searchability.

1. Make It Easy to Find - Your knowledge base can be used to assist sales, help create marketing content, and assist support teams. It should be accessible by all so that it can be used for the most value.

1. Finishing Touches - Make sure your knowledge base is readable and accessible. Test links, check mobile-friendliness, consider removing colors that are hard to see, and add alt text to images. 

Link for Work allows you to share knowledge bases with a singular link, so no one will ever be left in the dark. Through the secure link, employees can review and easily search for the information they need in seconds.

Single-Purpose Knowledge Bases

Businesses can also separate knowledge bases to keep content organized and focused on a single pillar. Having a single-purpose knowledge base for clients, contractors, and internal employees allows for zeroed in content and increased searchability.

For client knowledge bases, product and service content is key. In this instance, include all the self-service tools that customers may need to answer frequently asked questions. Add articles for troubleshooting how-tos, screenshots, and videos that clients will find useful. Sales teams will also utilize this type of knowledge base as they work closely with clients.

Next, a contractor knowledge base allows you to share the necessary information to outsource projects and collaborate with those outside of your company. Since these people are not internal, full-time employees, you don’t want to provide access to all internal information. Here, you can create contractor-specific guides and FAQs.

Finally, create a knowledge base for internal employees. This is where you would share all of the links to tools and proprietary information. By keeping this interface organized and stocked with key information, you streamline the process and encourage productivity. 

If you can’t afford help authoring platforms and require collating links from different sources to create your knowledge base, Link for Work is the perfect tool for single-purpose knowledge bases focused on links. Never worry about sharing bookmarks or searching for common tools again.

Companies Use Link for Work to Create Effective Internal Knowledge Bases

In the information-heavy world we live in, having strong knowledge bases is more important than ever. Link for Work enables companies to create link-only single-purpose knowledge bases. Rather than wasting time searching for relevant links, employees are empowered to grab links and go.

Additionally, Link for Work is safe. Company data is secure from public access, and you’re in control of who can access what. Organize links into categories and add images and descriptions to optimize your dashboard for your specific needs. Then, share all of your company tools with a single link - it’s that easy.