User help guides

Do you need to create user help guides or manuals for your customers or employees?
If so, I can help. And not just with the words.

With my help, your user help guides will be clear, helpful and concise.

I’m not a technical author … churning out dull text for geeks … like how to replace a double-axle sprocket on a G656 angle-mincer MK2.

I’m a copywriter … I create light, easy-to-read user help guides that anyone can understand. Normally these guides become PDFs or HTML pages that users can access.

What makes good user help guides?

I don’t normally advertise this service. But regular clients keep asking me to write their user guides, so now I’m offering this as a service.

The key to writing a good help guide or manual is down to two things:

• Having a good grasp of your product/service
• Understanding the thought process of users and what they’ll understand.

Copywriting experience: User help guides & manuals

As a young whippersnapper, I worked for NTL Internet (now Virgin Media), writing a user guide for their funky new Internet TV service.

Since then, I’ve produced user help guides for a wide range of business and consumer services for UK and global companies.

There’s a direct business benefit: The better I make the guide, the fewer calls are made to your helpdesk. This boosts profitability and customer service.

Which kind of service do you need?

Option 1 – Editing your copy
Some companies send me draft copy that’s technically OK but just needs turning into good English. No problem.

Option 2 – Writing from scratch
Ideally, I’d like to try the service myself. Give me a login to your test area and I’ll get started. I’ll be happy to sign any non-disclosure agreements.

I can take the screengrabs too …
As well as writing your guide, following your approved company style, it makes sense if I take online screenshots at each step. I can also highlight buttons and links in the image that I’m talking about in the text – making it much easier for your audience to follow.

… and sort the layout in PDF or HTML
I can supply your text in Word and your images as JPEGs. But there’s another option that could save you time and money.

I use leading-edge software that stores all the text and grabs in one place. You simply press a button and it automatically turns your guide into a PDF guide and/or an HTML micro website (complete with index and search window).

There’s no need to spend hours coding or sorting the layout. It’s done in moments. And it’s very easy to update later (I’ll give you the source file if you want to make changes yourself).

By Steve Fountain