By
Mark Abramowitz
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Date Published: July 29, 2020 - Last Updated September 08, 2020
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Throughout the pandemic, customers have understandably had a lot of questions. Their first stop for answers? Think search engines. Salesforce research found that customers are most likely to go to these before a company’s owned channel.
When someone types a query into a search engine, you want them to see your help center page first. A great help center gets customers the information they need when they need it. Spend some time ensuring it is optimized to serve as many customers as possible.
Step 1: Get a sense of frequently asked questions
Meet with team members on a regular basis to learn about common customer questions across your call center and digital channels. Are new patterns starting to emerge?
Have your team members populate a shared document with new customer questions. You can set one up easily with Quip and collaborate in real time. Ask them to document detailed steps on how they resolved the case. This information can become fodder for future knowledge articles in your help center.
Review feedback channels as well. Survey customers. Ask them if they found the content on your site or their overall service experience helpful. Look deeper by monitoring social channels. You can learn what customers are looking for, gauge their level of satisfaction, and discern the kind of information they want readily available.
Step 2: Update content based on search behavior
Evaluate your current list of SEO keywords. What are people really searching for that’s relevant to your business? Look at what customers are searching for specific to your industry and the effect of COVID-19. This will clue you in on the content that may capture attention.
You can use open tools such as Google Trends and AnswerThePublic to identify search trends and emerging keywords. Then, optimize existing content for SEO by infusing top keywords into it — and create new content based on search trends to ensure your expertise is well-positioned in search results.
Step 3: Add timely content and helpful steps
Update your help center with relevant information and answers to the most common questions. Add new knowledge articles and edit existing ones to keep customers up to date on new processes — and insert the right SEO terms to ensure they surface in search.
Take your updates a step further with options for customers to help themselves. Chatbots, for example, are a great way for customers to check on an order status or ask a quick question. If they need more help, an agent can jump in to resolve the case. You can also add automated workflows to your help center to guide customers through step-by-step processes, like how to initiate a return.
If it makes sense for your business, stand up a dedicated COVID-19 section on your help center. Include details on your ongoing response to the crisis. Add a channel menu to show all available support channels and provide a web-to-case form or a knowledge base to provide further support.
Make your service channels a go-to for customers
Did you know that 30% of customers are contacting customer service more due to the pandemic? Your help center is just one valuable resource for customers.