Hi, I'm Tom from HelpfulDocs (we create and manage your help content)

Introductions
#1

Hi all, I’m Tom Sylvan from the HelpfulDocs team. I’m very excited to be here :slight_smile:

Here is what we do:
Good help content (such as knowledge base articles and product updates) is crucial for the success of any product. This is especially true for serve-serve products where users have to onboard themselves, and learn how to use the product on their own.

We’ve worked for quite a few companies and almost every team struggled to build the necessary workflows that ensured the help content was always correct and updated. And when they did, there was a human resource bottleneck: who will write and update the content on a recurring basis?

Having old or inconsistent documentation impacts directly every product business, even though it’s hard to measure this. It impacts conversion rates and churn, as it makes it harder to use and learn the product. It also makes both sales (if you do sales) and support more demanding as you need to spend more time explaining the same things and answering the same questions.

So HelpfulDocs is the solution to this problem: a help content creation agency that builds automated workflows for ensuring help content always correct and updated. We focus on help content both in-app (e.g., onboarding guides, product updates, changelogs etc.) and in external tools (e.g., your website, help center, CMS, email marketing tool, etc.)

#2

Welcome Tom!

I agree with the premise of your business - helpdocs are too often neglected, poorly done, or out of date. Good help docs give you an SEO kick, impress new customers, and reduce support. They’re also a great resource for team members, especially new ones.

2 Likes
#3

Thanks Steve :slight_smile:
I appreciate your feedback.

#4

I’m torn between using a CHM file for my help docs, or using an online HTML version. I feel that online may be better because info can be corrected and updated in real time, but an offline file has its benefits, too. To those reading this: what do you think is best? Thanks.

#5

Hi Paul, thanks for the question, here are some thoughts:

  • I would focus on HTML 100%.
  • I assume you may be familiar with CHM but nowadays, users expect help content to be discoverable through a Google-like search experience that’s available only if you use HTML.
  • The above applies to both public help content as well as private (it can only be accessed by the people you want).
  • User experience is key and with CHM I believe you can’t meet today’s standards.
  • Users use both mobile and desktop devices and HTML allows for much greater UX on all devices.

I hope this helps

#6

Very helpful answer, Tom! I totally overlooked the fact that Google can be used to search my online manual (and makes for better SEO too), which is a big plus. Thanks for the idea.