The Ultimate How-To Guide on How-To Guides

It’s quite ironic that I find myself writing a guide on creating how-to guides. But with my experience writing for HubSpot, including guides like “How to Give a Persuasive Presentation” and “How to Write a Request for Proposal,” it just seemed natural.

If you’ve never delved into creating a how-to guide, it can be a bit intimidating. They require detailed and specific instructions to be effective, but that doesn’t mean they have to be complex to create.

In this article, we’ll explore the structure and writing process of crafting a comprehensive how-to guide. We’ll also showcase some impressive examples to inspire you and offer tips to elevate your own guides. Let’s dive in.

Benefits of How-To Guides for Businesses

A how-to guide offers numerous advantages for businesses. They can be used internally for training staff or as part of content marketing strategies to educate and empower customers.

Supporting and Empowering Customers

How-to guides can help customers troubleshoot issues independently and answer common questions without the need for support teams, leading to a better customer experience.

24/7 Access to Help

How-to guides provide assistance around the clock, ensuring that customers can find solutions to their problems even when support staff are unavailable.

Saving Support Team Time

By offering comprehensive guides, support teams can focus on more complex issues, increasing efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Educating Your Audience

How-to guides are valuable opportunities to reach new audiences with high-quality content, positioning your brand as an authority in the field and building trust with potential customers.

Challenges of How-To Guides

While how-to guides offer numerous benefits, they also come with challenges. Guides need to be detailed and specific, which can be time-consuming to create. Guides can quickly become outdated, requiring regular updates to remain relevant.

How to Create a How-To Guide

1. Identify your topic
2. Understand your target audience
3. Research your topic thoroughly
4. Create a step-by-step outline
5. Add valuable images, videos, and descriptions
6. Review your outline and research from the reader’s point of view
7. Test the process
8. Link to other resources

9 Tips for Writing Effective How-To Guides

1. Open with an overview
2. Start each step with a verb
3. Show examples all the way
4. Keep the steps simple and concise
5. Make your how-to guide easy to skim
6. Write for a specific skill level
7. Tell an exciting story
8. Write with empathy
9. Stay positive

How-To Guide Examples

Here are some examples of impressive how-to guides:

• How to Write the Perfect 90-Day Plan
• How to Master Lead Generation in HubSpot
• How to Make Honey Pie
• How to Drive More High-Quality Leads With Google Ads
• 11 Ways to Quickly Stop Stress in Your Life

Creating a great how-to guide takes planning, research, and a touch of creativity. Your guide has the power to change someone’s life, so make it worth sharing!

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2021 and has been updated for freshness and accuracy.