Help article SEO, summaries and FAQs
Help customers find your articles on Google and in search: set a focus keyword, search title and description, follow the live checklist and add FAQs.
Last updated 2 min readPreview
Search is how most customers find a help article, either on Google or in your help center's own search. The editor's Search (SEO) panel helps you write articles both can find.
Before you start
- Who can do this: owners, admins and agents, on any article they can edit.
- Plan: all plans.
- What you need: the phrase customers type, for example "change delivery address".
Step by step
- Open the article in Settings > Help center.
- In Details, write a Summary: "One or two sentences under the title, and in search results."
- In FAQ, press Add a question for each common question. "Questions the way people search them. Each answer stands on its own (40–60 words)."
- In Search (SEO), type the Focus keyword.
- Adjust the Search title (counted with your site name, up to 60 characters) and the Search description (120 to 160 characters).
- Check the Google preview, then work down the checklist until most items pass.
- Press Save draft, then publish.
What happens next
The checklist runs as you type. Its 16 checks include:
| Check | Aim |
|---|---|
| Title is 20–60 characters | Lead with the task |
| Search title fits (≤ 60 with the site name) | Shorten the search title if not |
| Keyword in the title, first paragraph, a subheading, the address and the description | Use the focus keyword naturally |
| Description is 120–160 characters | Say what the reader will be able to do |
| At least 300 words, at least 2 sections (H2), headings in order | Cover the steps fully |
| Links to another article or page | Help readers find the next step |
| Every picture has a description | Screen readers and Google read it |
| At least 3 FAQ answers, short paragraphs (≤ 120 words) | Easy to scan |
Published articles describe themselves to search engines as an article, plus FAQ and step-by-step data when the article has FAQs or a numbered list.
Sitemap for your help center. Your help center's pages are not listed in a sitemap yet. Link to the help center from your store so search engines find it.
Tips
- One focus keyword per article. Two articles on the same keyword compete with each other.
- Keep the address short and keyword-led, for example
change-delivery-address. - Reuse real customer wording from your tickets in titles and FAQ questions.
Troubleshooting
"Keep the summary under 400 characters"
Shorten the summary to one or two sentences.
"Use lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens for the address"
The article's address may only contain a to z, 0 to 9 and hyphens.
"Another article already uses this address. Change the slug."
Two articles cannot share an address. Change the Address in Details.
"Keep the title under 200 characters"
Shorten the title. Under 60 characters works best in search results.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get my help articles found on Google?
Fill in the Search (SEO) panel of each article. Pick a focus keyword people really type, use it in the title, the first paragraph and one subheading, and write a search description of 120 to 160 characters. The live checklist shows what is missing, with a score as a percentage.
What does the SEO score in the help center editor mean?
It is the share of the 16 checks the article passes, such as title length, keyword in the address, at least 300 words, two sections, a link to another page, descriptions on every picture and at least three FAQ answers. Each failed check says what to do. A high score helps, but clear answers matter most.
Do FAQ questions in my articles show up in Google?
Each article's FAQ is shown on the page as a list of questions that open to their answers, and it is also described to search engines as FAQ structured data. Google decides whether to show it in results. Write each question the way customers search and answer it fully in 40 to 60 words.
What is the Summary field in the article editor?
A sentence or two shown under the title and in search results, including the Help tab of your chat widget. If you leave the search description empty, the summary is used for it too. Keep it under 400 characters and say what the reader will be able to do.
Are my help center pages in a sitemap?
Not yet. The sitemap lists the Hushdesk help pages, and listing your own help center's pages is planned. Search engines still find your articles through links, so link to your help center from your store's menu or footer, and link related articles to each other.
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Related articles
- Write a help articlePreviewUse the help center editor to write clear answers with headings, steps, pictures, videos, tables, callouts and click paths, then save a draft as you go.
- Publish, review and restore articlesPreviewTake a help article from draft to review to published, edit a live article safely, unpublish or delete it, and restore any earlier version from History.
- Help center web addressesPreviewHow the addresses of your help center, collections and articles are built under /hc/, what happens when you move or rename an article, and custom domains.
- Read help center reportsPreviewSee how often articles are read, how many readers found them helpful, what they said was missing, and which searches found no answer, so you know what to write.
Still stuck?
Chat with the Hushdesk team. A person answers on every plan.