Help Article Template

A help article answers one question about your product: how to do one task, or how to fix one error. People paste error messages and “how do I” questions into Google and AI chats, and a help article written in their exact words is what they find. Done well, it also prevents support tickets.

The most common mistakes are covering several tasks in one article, describing buttons by a different name than the product shows, and leaving out the error messages people actually see. The page that matches the exact error text is the one that gets found.

The template runs top to bottom in this order. Each block is there for a reason: search, trust, AI answers or conversion.

• Breadcrumb: Help center grouped by the user's jobs, not your menu.

• Task as H1: The exact task in the words users type. The date and plan show it is current.

• Answer in One Paragraph: The full path with exact button names. Most people need only this, and AI answers quote it.

• Requirements: Plan and permissions first, so nobody follows 6 steps to hit a wall.

• Steps With Screenshots: One screenshot per step, cropped to the button. Alt text names the button.

• Troubleshooting: Each known problem with its exact error text and the fix. This section catches the most searches.

• Related Articles: The next task people do after this one.

• Support Link: A way out with a reply time. Track which articles lead to tickets and fix those first.

Publish only when:

• Tested in the current version, with the date shown.

• Button names and error messages are written exactly as the product shows them.

• One task per article.

The one thing that matters most: Write the error message exactly as the product shows it. People paste errors into Google and AI chats, and an exact match is what finds you.