Finding searches that return nothing

The most useful report in your help centre, and the one almost nobody opens. A list of articles you should write.

The most useful report in your help centre, and the one almost nobody opens. A list of articles you should write.

Build it

1. Open Explore and use the Knowledge dataset.
2. Choose the metric for searches without results.
3. Add the search term as a row.
4. Filter to the last month or quarter.
5. Sort by frequency.

What you are looking at

Every row is somebody who came to your help centre, typed what they wanted, and found nothing. In their own words, at the moment they needed it.

No survey and no workshop gives you that quality of information.

Two kinds of row

You have no article

Write one. The search term is your title, near enough.

You have one and it was not found

The more common case, and the more valuable. Your article exists under different words. Add the searched words as labels, or retitle it.

You cannot tell which kind a row is without searching yourself, and that check takes seconds.

Per language

Where you run more than one, look at each separately. A term searched often in Dutch and never in English tells you precisely what to translate next.

Make it a habit

Once a month, twenty minutes. That single routine keeps a knowledge base aligned with what people actually ask, which no amount of planning achieves.

See also

• Using labels on articles
• What happens to an untranslated article
• Which knowledge base numbers matter