SaaS Knowledge Base: The Actual Meaning and Best Examples

What would you rather do if you faced a product/service issue and your Internet provider, a movie streaming service, or *insert your option* had no communication channel? Or the ones that they provide, like, a live chat or email, are, nicely put, not the case? 

I, for one, would prefer scouring their SaaS knowledge base (software as a service). Why? It’s not time-consuming but is convenient and there’s no need in talking to a person. If you support my idea, congrats: we’re among 91% of users who would do exactly the same! 👏 

What’s a knowledge base in a SaaS language? What should it look like? These questions might not have been on your mind, but if you are on this post, you definitely seek answers. And we’re here to provide you with them. Read on!

What is a SaaS knowledge base?

A SaaS knowledge base is a well-packed company resource center that can encourage both customer self-service and expand employee expertise. It contains specific information about a product/service, its technical specifications, and solution approaches. 

What materials can you add to this help center? Anything you may find useful to your audience and staff:

• Basic documentation – here, you can include the list of its key features, press releases, and general docs explaining the crux of a product.
• Product/service usage tips – everything from pointers, common tricks, and shortcuts on how to get the hang of your product. In a nutshell, they could relieve users’ efforts when they surf for the info on your website.
• Video tutorials – this is my favorite section, as it’s better to show how everything works rather than throwing thousands of incomprehensible words at a user. 
• Updates – many SaaS businesses have either a stand-alone page, release notes, or a website section called What’s new or alike, where they inform users about recent developments and improvements. Give your customers a heads-up before launching something new so that they catch on to it faster.

Key attributes of a stunning SaaS knowledge base

SaaS knowledge base software gives more than just self-service opportunities. It walks a user through the product’s behind-the-scenes. At the end of the day, everything comes down to how quickly people can find your library, how you store info, and if the UI/UX is smooth. Let me dive deeper into the major attributes a badass knowledge base for SaaS should possess:

Overall appearance

Just like customer support is the “face” of a company, a knowledge base is the “window” to your brand’s identity. And I mean its color scheme, motto, fonts, and copy style – everything that would tell a user “This is it! This knowledge base is definitely part of the X company!“.

Visibility 

You can’t let users get lost in broad daylight. Your help center should be easy to see, be it on your website, in-app, or anywhere else. For instance, we at HelpCrunch – a full-house customer communication platform worth your attention – provide our knowledge base not only as an independent website page but also as a chat widget integration (more on that coming later on 😏). 

Navigation  

I doubt you could surf a SaaS knowledge base without a clear navigation system (unless you would want to find yourself in a maze). For that, consider a strict division of categories/subcategories and sections/subsections, and name articles properly, so that your users won’t rack their brains once they land on the page. No clue how to architect them? Wait for our SaaS knowledge base examples – you’ll love them!

Easy search 

From where I am standing, the search function of a knowledge base is usually underrated. Business owners tend to turn a blind eye to it, relying solely on users and their magical skills to comb through stuff. To make your resource hub a success, provide a noticeable search bar and set up SERP-like mechanisms for a better customer experience at the very least. 

Brushed-up content 

A SaaS company can say goodbye to the clientele if its knowledge base content is stale and outdated. Analyze and review it on a regular basis and make it a “windmill process”: new bits of information arrive, you check them out, post it, and return to them later. This is the only way to preserve credibility in the customer’s eyes.

9 top SaaS knowledge base examples to pick up

Finally, we’re approaching the funniest (and most important) part of the story: SaaS knowledge base examples. There are 9 great software-as-a-service companies that we split into two broad categories – the first one could assist you in creating a knowledge base, and the second is for arousing your inspiration and creativity. Multiple variations of assembling a help center – you should see them! 👀

Tools to create a killer knowledge base 

1. HelpCrunch

Who else would top the list of the greatest SaaS knowledge base examples? 😇 I don’t mean to brag, but let me share nuanced details on HelpCrunch.

Except from a multilingual knowledge base (which is already a huge pro point for a SaaS business nowadays), we work hard to deliver a live chat, a code-free chatbot, a shared inbox, a popup builder, and email marketing specs. 

I know, I know: you would want me to tell you everything about each of them. However, we’re here to break down the help center.

HelpCrunch’s knowledge base is all about convenience and a smart approach to storing and processing data:

• Convenient text editor where you can monitor the changes made in an article;
• Easy-to-digest information tree with sections, categories, and subcategories for a proper knowledge management system;
• Multilingual content for building bridges with different audiences across the globe and speaking your crowds’ languages;
• SEO optimization for making articles rank high in SERP;
• Live chat widget integration for extra convenience for customers when they’re looking for information on your website (you can also localize your knowledge base in the widget!).

In case you’re wondering, the HelpCrunch knowledge base for SaaS will cost you $12/month for the Basic package. Take my word for it: this pricing is as transparent as anything could ever be. Sure thing, you get a widget, auto messages, and a shared inbox for your correspondence, to name a few. How about signing up for a free 14-day trial and seeing everything for yourself? 😉 

2. Confluence by Atlassian

Next up is Confluence by Atlassian. By the way, this giant has always had a brilliantly developed knowledge base SaaS environment. When in the main Atlassian resource center, customers can search info product-by-product, for instance, if you have troubles with Trello, there is a specially made Trello board, if it’s Jira that puzzles you, go ahead and check out the Jira knowledge base. And the content changes as you jump on the products, too.  

If we glimpse at an article in the Confluence SaaS knowledge base, there are three major points:

• Knowledge management – you can harness your company’s knowledge by creating an information hierarchy of your dreams;
• Collaboration – Confluence lets you team up with your crew and work together on projects with private notes, roadmaps, etc.;
• Social network – here, you can actually communicate with your fellow employees by mentioning them in the docs, get instant feedback, and nurture the company’s culture;
• Templates – Confluence makes it possible to use ready-made content patterns for time-saving’s sake.

The most peculiar thing is that when you land on the Confluence knowledge base, they show only recently created and updated articles. For more, try to use their search bar. 

3. Wix

Being a free website builder, Wix is a SaaS company that provides a knowledge base with simplicity and yet elegance in mind. This black-and-white color range feels rich enough, and the contrasting navigation bar encourages you to start searching.

What I like the most is Wix’s modesty: no images on the page, just a grid layout where the content is vividly shown. When we take a peek inside, there’s In This Article section jumping out at you. It’s a little trick not only for a SaaS knowledge base but for everyone else: to display a dynamic table of contents. 

Besides, Wix made a shrewd move by inserting the blog-inspired Related Content module so that users can see other topics. Take good notice as this way, you can create a comprehensive experience for customers.    

4. Bloomfire

I don’t know about you, but I got the feeling that Christmas is around the corner when I first ran into this help center. 

Bloomfire is a SaaS knowledge management brand that created its resource hub according to all the canons: an easy-to-find search bar, the key components situated right in front of you, and a well-defined structure both outside and inside the knowledge base.

What struck me the most is their Community forum being part of the main ecosystem. Here, you can filter articles by publication or updated date and the content per se. All of it is posted by the Bloomfire Ambassador, which only adds up to this knowledge base brand’s image.

5. Stonly

Stonly proved itself as a valuable player among the SaaS knowledge base teams. On the face of things, their help center is the same as numerous others we’ve discussed here. If we peek under the hood, there are such functionalities as:

• Interactive step-by-step guides for better customer engagement and experience with all kinds of visuals;
• Powerful search so that users can find info in a few clicks;
• Visioning and modular design for keeping content updated;
• Analytics to prevent customers from dropping in time.

Remember the four pillars of a stunning knowledge base? One of them is visibility (read accessibility), that is, the ability for users to get to you as fast as possible. Stonly interprets it quite well. 

At the bottom of their knowledge base website, there’s the GET HELP CTA in case there’s nothing you looked for. Once you click it, you see interactive guidance with possible issues. Should you get no help here, you’ll be offered to create a support ticket for further investigation.

Tools to draw inspiration from while designing a SaaS help center 

6. Figma

Figma‘s SaaS knowledge base is a true masterpiece. Of course, it all comes from the company’s occupation – Figma is a collaborative design tool. Their help center pleased my eyes from the very beginning: how the team chose the color shades, the way the structure is composed, the hard-to-miss search bar, and assembled brand illustrations. In my personal list, Figma comes second after the HelpCrunch knowledge base 😅

Together with their exclusive fonts and stuff, these guys made a smart move and added the Tutorials section into their help center. Furthermore, it’s divided into Figma for Beginners and Build Your First Plugin units. If I were a designer trainee, I would definitely get bogged down into these. 

So the point is, your creativity and the company’s unique appearance, its philosophy, should coincide to reach the greatest results. 

7. Mailchimp

Mailchimp, an email marketing company, has one of the most thrilling SaaS knowledge bases. Should I even mention tailored images and their brand mascot popping up across all the resource center? This is what I call an awesome appearance.   

So, their knowledge base is divided into two major building blocks – Popular guides and tutorials and Help by topic. Plus, you have a chance to watch a special tutorial where Mailchimp’s functionalities are described in all their glory. 

Let’s take a look inside an article. Given that it is nicely written and easy to digest, there is an open question at the end of each piece (and a special technical issue field on your left). This way, the guys gather customer opinions and candid feedback which will help them take action, arrange improvements, and make changes to the knowledge base if need be. So, here’s yet another way to bond with users. 

8. ProofHub

ProofHub is an all-in-1 project planning software with a well-organized knowledge base – ProofHub+. Their SaaS knowledge base is designed in keeping with the best practices. Once you land on it, there are four main categories you can look through and a prominent search bar.     

If you scrutinize it closer, ProoHub+ sticks with a low-profile style. Their articles usually contain minimum texts, numbered lists, and images to illustrate the product’s features. What’s more, they include ways to contact their support as well as the blog link for additional context (in addition to the chat widget, of course).

But there is one more thing this SaaS business has done with flying colors. It’s their Features overview section as part of the knowledge base. Here, you can read in-depth explanations and get pro tips on product usage. How smart is that?

But there is one more thing this SaaS business has done with flying colors. It’s their Features overview section as part of the knowledge base. Here, you can read in-depth explanations and get pro tips on product usage. How smart is that?

9. Reelevant

Last but not least here’s Reelevant and its humble, at first glance, SaaS knowledge base. When I first saw it, this thought came to my mind: “These guys are frugal with their words.” And I wasn’t mistaken.

Just like the others in our list today, Reelevant places a premium on convenience, structure, and even pragmatism. There is one distinctive feature, though – their interactive guides. The team behind Reelevant forgot about mundane knowledge base articles and added progress bars to most of them. If you do this trick, the chances are, you encourage users to read your content even more and make the whole process not so boring.

Go for your SaaS knowledge base software 

Hand-holding customers isn’t a bed of roses. Not only should you know the ropes of proactive communication, but also provide them with decent self-service options. 

No doubt, these SaaS knowledge base samples will inspire you to build one of your own. And just as a quick inkling – you already have the tool to do just that 😉