On August 12, the Zendesk team hosted the last delivery of our series 5 steps to get started with self-service - Step 5: Optimize your help center and plan ongoing maintenance.

In this Zendesk session, our experts Patty and David guided attendees through advanced strategies for optimizing and maintaining a Help Center as part of a broader self-service series. The focus was on enhancing knowledge base articles with multimedia, managing content efficiently using article lists and context panels, and leveraging enterprise features like team publishing and article verification.

What we learned

• Multimedia: The team showed us how to add images & videos to improve clarity and engagement; always include text too. Our speakers showcased how to upload attachments and embed videos in articles using Zendesk Guide.

• Article Lists: The team reviewed how to filter and save views to manage articles easily by status or topic.

• Knowledge Panel: We talked through how agents access, link, flag, and create articles right from tickets.

• Create Articles from Tickets: The team showed us how to turn support tickets into knowledge base content.

• Knowledge Builder: We reviewed how AI tools suggest articles based on recent ticket trends.

• Article Comments: The team showcased how to collect feedback and convert comments into tickets as needed.

• Enterprise Features: We reviewed team workflows, article scheduling, verification, reusable content blocks, and multi-placement.

• AI Content Tips: The team discussed how to write clear, easy to search text alongside multimedia for both users and AI.

• Analytics: Our speakers showcased how to track content usage, publishing activity, and verification status through dashboards.

Webinar resources

• Webinar recording: 5 steps to get started with self-service - Step 5: Optimize your help center and plan ongoing maintenance

• Presentation deck: 5 steps to get started with self-service - Step 5: Optimize your help center and plan ongoing maintenance

• Recordings of other episodes in this series

• Sign up for other Zendesk essentials webinars

Useful resources

Article verification

• About article verification and how it works

Article lists

• Using article lists to view, manage, and update articles

• Using article lists for different views of your knowledge base content

SEO

• About search engine optimization (SEO) in the help center

Multimedia

• Attaching media to articles

• Working with images in the media library

• Inserting videos and embedded files from the article editor toolbar

KCS & knowledge feature

• Knowledge-centered service (KCS): The basics + benefits

• Using help center content in your tickets without leaving Agent Workspace

Other

• Creating a ticket from a comment on a knowledge base article

• Archiving an article to move it out of your knowledge base

Training

• Guide/Self service training