When writing support articles for the Help Center, our main goals are to:
Someone reading a support article is usually looking for a specific answer or tutorial. That question might be broad or narrowly focused, but either way our goal is to provide answers without distraction. We don’t want to overload our audience with unnecessary information or complex ideas or phrases when we don’t have to.
At Surfshark, we generally have two different types of support articles:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Troubleshooting | Troubleshooting articles address a specific problem and offer a solution. They should focus on a single task and all the information contained in the troubleshooting article should be related to helping the user solve a single problem. |
| Informational | Informational articles help to review a specific system, function, or feature within your product. They are not designed to describe problem-solving steps or get into the technical nitty-gritty of a particular feature. Instead, they educate the user on something they aren’t familiar with and provide an overview of any features or options available within it. |
When writing support articles, follow the points outlined in the General guidelines below as well as in the Help Center Article Checklist.
Keep titles sweet and simple. Avoid using “how tos” and “surfshark” in titles. If the keyword we’re aiming for has “how to” in it, ask the full question in the introduction or in a subsection heading rather than in the title. E.g., Instead of a “How to set up a VPN” title, say “Set up a VPN”.
Consistency is extremely important in support articles. Each article should use the following structure: Introduction → Prerequisites → Instructions. More specific information about each section can be found in the Help Center Article Checklist.
One of our main goals is to answer all the users’ questions through Help Center articles (so they don’t have to contact support). Therefore, stay away from technical terms that could scare them away. If there is no way to avoid that, make sure there is an explanation or at least a hyperlink to an article explaining the term.
Make sure sections don’t step too far outside the topic or appear redundant to the main intent. Instead of going into too much detail, link to relevant posts.
Use words like “you” or “your” over “the user” to make it seem like you’re talking to the reader one-on-one.
Do your best to eliminate paragraphs that are longer than 2-3 sentences; split them if necessary (it's ok to make one-sentence paragraphs).