Best knowledge base examples (and why they work)

Why these knowledge base examples are worth copying

Strong knowledge bases don’t win because they have more articles—they win because people can find answers fast and the content stays accurate as the product changes. The best knowledge base examples tend to share the same building blocks: clear information architecture, search that actually works, visuals that reduce confusion, and a maintenance process that keeps content fresh.

This post breaks those patterns down into a reusable approach you can apply whether you’re building a customer help center, internal SOP hub, or onboarding library.

What a “great” knowledge base actually is (definition)

A knowledge base is a structured collection of help content—articles, guides, SOPs, FAQs, and troubleshooting docs—designed to help someone complete a task without needing a human.

A great knowledge base does three things consistently:

1. Reduces time-to-answer (people find the right page quickly).
2. Reduces time-to-resolution (the page is actionable, not just descriptive).
3. Reduces maintenance overhead (it’s easy to keep current).

Common formats include:

• Customer-facing help center (self-service support)
• Internal knowledge base (process docs, SOPs, runbooks)
• Product-led onboarding library (training + tutorials)

What great knowledge bases share (patterns that scale)

Across most high-performing help centers and internal hubs, you’ll see the same fundamentals.

1) Clear outcomes per article

Each page answers one primary question. The title matches the user’s intent (e.g., “Reset your password” vs “Account management”).

2) Consistent structure

Readers learn the format, so they can skim faster:

• What this is / when to use it
• Prerequisites
• Steps
• Expected result
• Troubleshooting

3) Strong internal linking

Great KBs “chain” tasks:

• Setup → Configure → Troubleshoot
• Policy → Process → Template

4) Ownership and review cadence

Every article has:

• An owner
• A “last reviewed” date
• A trigger for updates (feature release, UI change, policy change)

5) Visual proof

Screenshots, annotated steps, short clips, and callouts reduce ambiguity—especially for UI workflows.

Secondary keywords you’ll see reflected throughout this guide: help center examples, internal knowledge base, support documentation, customer self-service, knowledge base best practices, SOP documentation, onboarding documentation, troubleshooting guide, information architecture.

Knowledge base examples: 7 common “types” that work (and why)

Instead of naming brands, here are concrete KB patterns you can model immediately.

Example 1: “Getting started” onboarding hub

Why it works: It reduces drop-off by sequencing tasks.

• Audience: new customers / new hires
• Best for: activation, first value
• Must-have pages: account setup, first project, roles & permissions, billing basics

Example 2: Task-based how-to library (the backbone)

Why it works: Matches how people search (“How do I…?”).

• Audience: everyday users
• Best for: product usage
• Format: short intro + numbered steps + expected outcome

Example 3: Troubleshooting decision tree

Why it works: It lowers ticket volume by guiding diagnosis.

• Audience: frustrated users
• Best for: error messages, edge cases
• Format: symptoms → causes → fixes; include “collect these details for support”

Example 4: Visual-first UI guides

Why it works: UI tasks are faster to learn by seeing.

• Audience: visual learners
• Best for: settings screens, multi-step flows
• Format: step + screenshot + annotation + “what you should see”

Example 5: Policy + process KB (internal)

Why it works: Keeps execution aligned across teams.

• Audience: support, ops, success
• Best for: refunds, escalations, incident response, QA
• Format: policy summary + SOP steps + templates

Example 6: Release notes + “what changed” hub

Why it works: Reduces confusion after UI changes and prevents outdated docs.

• Audience: power users + internal teams
• Best for: frequent product updates
• Format: change summary + impact + updated screenshots + links to revised docs

Example 7: Multi-language localized KB

Why it works: Reduces support load across regions.

• Audience: global customers
• Best for: scale
• Format: consistent structure across languages; avoid screenshots with embedded text when possible

Information architecture (IA): the structure behind fast answers

Most KB problems are IA problems:

• Too many categories
• Vague labels
• Pages living in the wrong place

A practical IA model

Aim for 3 layers:

1. Category (job-to-be-done): “Billing,” “Integrations,” “Account settings”
2. Subcategory (task cluster): “Invoices,” “Plans,” “Refunds”
3. Article (single task): “Download an invoice”

IA rules that prevent sprawl

• Prefer verbs in article titles (Create, Update, Export, Troubleshoot)
• Keep categories stable; move articles before creating new categories
• Create “index pages” for complex areas (overview + links)

Search: make it work like a product feature

A knowledge base is only as good as its search experience.

What to implement (even with basic tooling)

• Synonyms (e.g., “2FA” and “two-factor authentication”)
• Error message indexing (paste exact error text into the article)
• Result hygiene (avoid duplicates; retire old pages)
• Zero-result tracking (what people search that returns nothing)

Quick search QA

Open your KB and try these:

• Search “can’t login” (do you have a page?)
• Search your top 3 features by name (do the right pages rank?)
• Search an exact error code (does it return the fix?)

Visuals & video: reduce ambiguity without bloating maintenance

Screenshots and short videos are leverage—when you use them intentionally.

When screenshots are enough

Use annotated screenshots when:

• There are 3–8 clicks
• The UI is stable
• The goal is “find this setting”

When video is better

Use video when:

• The workflow has timing (recording, exporting, review)
• The UI changes often (video can be regenerated faster than rewriting)
• You need to show “what good looks like” (examples, not just steps)

Keep visuals maintainable

• Use fewer, higher-signal screenshots
• Avoid screenshots for simple confirmations (“Click Save”)
• Add a note like “UI labels may vary by plan” if relevant

Step-by-step: how to create a knowledge base that doesn’t rot

This is a practical process you can run in a week, then repeat monthly.

Step 1: Define your audiences and top jobs-to-be-done

List 2–3 audiences (customers, support agents, onboarding cohorts). For each, capture the top 10 tasks.

Step 2: Start with ticket-driven content

Pull:

• Top tagged ticket reasons
• Most common onboarding questions
• Known failure points (errors, permissions, billing)

Turn each into one article with one outcome.

Step 3: Design your article standard (before you write 50 pages)

Decide:

• Required sections
• Screenshot rules
• Tone (direct, task-first)
• Naming conventions

Step 4: Build your IA and navigation

Create categories only after you have 20–30 real articles. Group by task, not by your org chart.

Step 5: Add search keywords and link paths

For each article:

• Add synonyms
• Link to prerequisites and next steps
• Include exact UI labels and error strings

Step 6: Add ownership + review triggers

Minimum:

• Owner
• Last reviewed date
• Update triggers (release, UI change, policy change)

Step 7: Measure, prune, and improve

Monthly:

• Update top 20 pages
• Fix zero-result searches
• Merge duplicates
• Archive obsolete content

A concrete example: turning one workflow into a KB article

Let’s say you need an article for: “Invite a teammate and set permissions.”

What the final article needs to include

• Who this is for: admins
• Prerequisites: admin access
• Steps: invite → choose role → confirm
• Expected result: teammate receives invite email; role shown in users list
• Troubleshooting: invite email not received; role missing

Example outline (usable as-is)

1. Go to Settings → Team
2. Click Invite user
3. Enter the email address
4. Select a role (Admin / Member / Viewer)
5. Click Send invite
6. Confirm the user appears in the team list with the correct role

Where teams lose time (and how to prevent it)

• Rewriting the same steps for every UI update
• Manually capturing screenshots
• Copying content into multiple formats (article, training doc, internal SOP)

If your team records the workflow once, you can standardize outputs (article + subtitles + voiceover + localized versions) rather than doing everything by hand.

Template: knowledge base article (copy/paste)

Use this as your default support documentation template.

## Summary
One sentence describing the outcome and when to use this.

## Who this is for
- Roles / plans / permissions required

## Before you start
- Prerequisites
- What you’ll need

## Steps
1. …
2. …
3. …

## What you should see
- Expected result
- Confirmation checks

## Troubleshooting
### Problem: …
- Likely cause: …
- Fix: …

### Problem: …
- Likely cause: …
- Fix: …

## Related articles
- Link to prerequisites
- Link to next steps

Checklist: audit your knowledge base in 30 minutes

Use this checklist to spot quick wins.

• Every top task has a dedicated article
• Titles match how users search (“How to…”, “Fix…”, “Troubleshoot…”)
• Each article has one clear outcome
• Steps are numbered and scannable
• Screenshots are annotated (when used)
• Every article has an owner and last reviewed date
• Duplicate articles are merged or redirected
• Search terms with zero results are tracked and addressed
• Troubleshooting sections include exact error text
• Internal links guide users to prerequisites and next steps

Metrics: what to measure (without vanity reporting)

You don’t need complex analytics to improve your KB. Track a few operational metrics consistently.

Core metrics

• Ticket deflection signals: fewer repetitive tickets for documented issues
• Top pages by views: are these pages accurate and up to date?
• Search terms: especially zero-result searches
• Time-to-update: how long does it take to revise docs after a UI change?

Qualitative signals

• Support agents linking to KB articles more often
• Fewer “where is this setting?” follow-ups
• Onboarding questions shifting from “how do I” to “best practice”

Tools: build vs buy (high-level comparison)

There’s no single “best” tool—choose based on volume, complexity, and maintenance constraints.

Build (custom KB in your product or site)

Good for: fully custom UX, deep product integration. Trade-offs: engineering time, slower iteration, content workflows often lag.

Buy (help center / documentation platform)

Good for: faster setup, permissions, search, templates. Trade-offs: less control, content migrations, varying search quality.

Add workflow automation for upkeep

No matter where your KB lives, the hidden cost is ongoing production: updating articles, capturing new screenshots, and producing training materials.

If your team relies on video for internal SOP documentation or customer tutorials, an automated workflow can turn a single recording into:

• a step-by-step help article
• subtitles
• voiceover
• localized versions
• screenshots with annotations

That’s where a platform approach helps—reducing the “everything after is slow” part.

Related Vidocu workflows

• Vidocu home — see the platform overview
• Turn recordings into publish-ready docs with the AI knowledge base generator

FAQ

How many articles should a knowledge base start with?

Start with 20–40 high-impact articles based on top tickets and onboarding tasks. Expand once your structure and templates are working.

Should we organize by feature or by task?

Prefer task-based organization (“Export data”) over feature-based (“Analytics”). Users search for outcomes.

How often should we review KB content?

Review your top pages monthly and run a broader audit quarterly—especially after UI changes or policy updates.

What’s the fastest way to create consistent SOP documentation?

Standardize an article template, then capture workflows once and reuse the same source for docs, training, and troubleshooting content.

Do screenshots or video work better?

Screenshots are great for stable UI steps. Video is better for complex, time-based workflows and training—especially when you need context.

Turn one video into an SOP in minutes

If your knowledge base relies on walkthroughs, the bottleneck is usually everything after recording: writing steps, grabbing screenshots, and keeping it updated. Vidocu helps you turn one video into consistent, publish-ready documentation you can edit and maintain. See how it works with the AI knowledge base generator.