by: Craig Haiss

faq Most questions have been asked before.

This isn’t a profound statement; most of us would consider it obvious. Just ask anyone on your Product Support team. Chances are the majority of calls they receive are fielded with canned answers.

Why? Because we all seem to ask the same questions. By providing answers to those questions, you can help the majority of your users get back on track quickly.

FAQs are timeless

The frequently asked questions format has the benefit of familiarity. It has a strong history in documentation.

For example, in 1647, Matthew Hopkins felt inclined to include an FAQ in The Discovery of Witches. His was entitled “Certaine Queries answered.” Apparently the standard criteria for discovering a witch (Does it float? Does it weigh the same as a duck? Did it turn you into a newt?) weren’t clear enough, and Hopkins was getting annoyed at people asking the same questions over and over.

Hopkins could have made a windfall as a consultant, but thankfully he put all answers to frequently asked questions in one place for all to read, and there was much rejoicing.

The lesson to be learned? Strive to answer common questions first, and your job will be easier.

The FAQ format allows writers to provide answers to common questions in a highly efficient manner. And since we have the advantage of being “technical” writers, we can be even more efficient via …

Analysis of data (or reading your users’ minds!)

OK, so we’ve established that users all tend to ask the same questions. But are they asking those questions in the same way?

In some types of documentation, such as a help system or anything with an index, semantics are essential. Users can easily miss relevant answers to their questions.

For example, let’s say your document has an FAQ entitled “How do I copy data from one folder to another?” Will a user find that topic if they enter “move files” into the help’s Search field, or look under “move” or “files” in an index? Neither of those terms appear anywhere in the FAQ title.

To increase the efficiency of your FAQs, you need to make them easier to find by studying the types of language your customers use when asking questions. A Support representative can usually determine what a caller needs even if the terminology doesn’t match up. However, most written documents cannot.

You can reduce the semantic mismatch with a bit of research. By studying user search data, you can tell exactly what search keywords are commonly used, and make sure your FAQs include those words.

Here are some great resources for gathering such information.

  • Server-side tools, such as RoboHelp Server Engine, that store and report search data
  • Titles of posts in product forums (“Hey, how do I…“)
  • Support reps who speak to users on a daily basis
  • Search keyword reports from the department that manages your web-based product forums
  • Data from search engines (check out WordTracker and Google’s free keyword research tools)

When you have an idea of how users phrase questions, you can do a bit of grunt work to make sure they find the appropriate FAQs.

Helping users find appropriate FAQs

Here are several tips for using search data to help users find relevant FAQs.

  • Use cross-referencing in your index to account for synonyms. For example, include files: moving (see data: copying).
  • Use a help authoring tool that allows you to define synonyms for keyword searches. (RoboHelp 8, for example). Even if your FAQ doesn’t include the keywords your users type into the search field, the search results will still list the FAQ.
  • If you can’t define custom search keywords, try using synonyms in the content of your topics, so that they show up in full-text search. If this isn’t an option, consider other workarounds, such as putting synonyms in a DIV tag and using CSS to set the display for that DIV to “none.” Users won’t see the synonyms in the topic, but at least the topic will be listed in the Search results.
  • Create a high-profile list of FAQ topics, so users can scan for appropriate answers.
  • Use the data from your analysis to add more FAQs to your help. Chances are you’ll find many common questions that weren’t previously answered by an FAQ.

With some research and strategic implementation, you can provide answers to most common questions. That way your users can get back to work quickly.

About the author: Craig Haiss is a senior technical writer in the financial software industry. Between dusty novels and fishing trips on the Huron river, he blogs at HelpScribe.com.

  • Share/Bookmark

Related posts:

  1. Social tech support
  2. Advice for the novice tech writer: writing isn’t enough
  3. Weekly links roundup

Related Posts