User documentation as a software product

promotion tool

Dennis CraneCEO

Indigo Byte Systems, LLC

Documentation: unity and struggle

Support existing users

Acquire new users

Documentation’s marketing functions

• Increase the visitor-user conversion rate by improving your project’s image

• Generate an inflow of new users

• Provide a social platform for existing and prospective users

Generating an inflow of new users

• Use a separate topic for each feature

Generate targeted traffic from search engines to your online documentation by using relevant content (SEO)

• Do not password-protect access

• Create a How-To section

• Relink all sections (provide navigation)

• Use videos in your online documentation

• Give meaningful names to files

• Create links to the other parts of your project site

• Highlight key phrases and conceptual blocks

• Make sure that structure and layout are good

Generating an inflow of new users

• Publish topics in a separate catalog or subdomain

Generate traffic from search engines ... #2

• Refer to the documentation from your main site

• Use unique URLs for webpages

• Add web counters and web analytics

• Implement search and index

• When updating the site, either do not modify file names or redirect to new URLs

• Make the documentation match the site's design and style

Generating an inflow of new usersGenerate targeted traffic from social networks and social platforms (SMO)

• Add popular social networks’ “share” buttons to your webpages

• Share your online documentation’s topics describing your application’s useful and unique features with social network users

• When discussing something in social networks or on forums, leave links to the relevant sections of your online documentation

Increasing the visitor-user conversion rate

Documentation = brand image, status, substantiality, trust, etc.

• Your site is not empty

• You show the history of development of your product

• Good documentation gives weight to your project and team

• A good FAQ indicates that your product is alive and in demand

• Relevant use cases indicate the usefulness of your product

Social platform for usersEncourage users to discuss things on your online documentation’s pages

• Let users leave comments

• Let users sign via their social network

• Take part in discussions, do not ignore questions

• Add polls and votes to your site

• Invite users to your online documentation pages and ask them to express their opinions

Does your user documentation help you promote your product?

Indigo Byte Systems, LLC has developed Dr.Explain, an application for quick creation of user documentation and help fileswww.drexplain.com

Dennis CraneCEO,Indigo Byte Systems, LLC

info@drexplain.com