Build Help Articles in Intercom

Prerequisites

• Intercom account with Help Center enabled
• List of common user questions and support tickets

Steps

1. Organize your help center structure. Create 4-6 top-level collections that match your product areas. Example: Getting Started, Account & Billing, [Core Feature 1], [Core Feature 2], Integrations, Troubleshooting. Each collection should have 5-15 articles. More than 15 per collection signals a need to split.

2. Write articles from support data. Review your last 50 support conversations. Group the top 10 questions -- these become your first articles. Write each article to answer the specific question. Use the format: one-sentence answer up front, then step-by-step instructions with screenshots.

3. Structure articles consistently. Every article should follow: Title (the question users ask), Quick Answer (1-2 sentences), Detailed Steps (numbered list with screenshots), Related Articles (links to 2-3 related topics). Keep articles under 500 words. If longer, split into multiple articles.

4. Add articles to the Messenger. Enable Help Center in Intercom Messenger settings so users can search articles without leaving your app. Intercom surfaces relevant articles based on the page the user is on and their search query.

5. Use articles in automated responses. Configure Intercom's Resolution Bot via the API to suggest relevant articles when users ask common questions in chat. Map common question keywords to specific article IDs. This deflects simple questions from your support queue.

6. Maintain and improve. Review article metrics monthly: views, helpfulness ratings (thumbs up/down), and search queries with no results. Update outdated articles, add new articles for frequent "no results" searches, and archive articles for deprecated features.