How to Create a Knowledge Base From Scratch in 2025

The average enterprise employee spends over 5 hours a week just searching for information. For a five-person insights team, that adds up to more than $84,000 a year in lost productivity.

Now multiply that across global teams, then add duplicated research and decisions delayed because no one could find the slide they needed.

That’s the real cost of not knowing how to create a knowledge base that works. A well-structured internal knowledge base can save time, reduce costs, and significantly improve employee productivity by making information easy to find and use.

But here’s the good news: You don’t need a massive IT rollout or custom development. In 2025, it’s entirely possible to create an internal knowledge base that’s searchable, scalable, and ready to use—without the complexity.

When you're done reading, you'll know:

• How to create a knowledge base from scratch (and skip the common pitfalls)
• What makes an internal knowledge base structure effective (and what makes it break down)
• How to build an internal knowledge base that grows with your team
• Why AI is changing how enterprises organize, search, and share insights
• What tools like Stravito make possible, without the shelfware risk

If you’re ready to stop reinventing the wheel and start making your insights actually work for your business, this one’s for you.

Why your organization needs a knowledge base

When we wrote our Enterprise Guide to Choosing a Knowledge Management Solution, we found that even the best systems go unused. Only 45% of employees actually use their company’s internal knowledge management systems.

Why? Because people can’t find the insights they need.

In many enterprises, knowledge is spread across old folders, disconnected platforms, or buried in personal drives. Even when research is available, teams struggle to find it. 

And when they can’t find it, they recreate it, which wastes time, budget, and strategic momentum.

Most importantly, knowledge becomes tribal, becoming accessible only to those who “know where to look.” At Stravito, we believe data doesn’t equal insight, but that structure is what makes it actionable.

Here are a few reasons a well-structured knowledge base supports your organization:

• Faster onboarding
  New hires can ramp up quickly with access to past campaigns, research playbooks, and customer insights, which benefits both customer experience and customer satisfaction by ensuring customers receive consistent, informed support from day one.
  
  
• Better collaboration
  Cross-functional teams align faster when they’re pulling from the same source of truth.
  
  
• Smarter, faster decisions
  When teams can instantly retrieve relevant insights, they move from guesswork to evidence-based action.

Both employees and customers benefit from an internal knowledge base. You'll see improved efficiency, collaboration, and overall customer satisfaction. When employees gain easier access to the information they need, customers get faster, more accurate support.

So, don’t dump everything and forget about it. Here’s how to create a knowledge base from scratch so your team uses it.

Step-by-step: How to create a knowledge base from scratch

Creating an internal knowledge base doesn’t mean you have to launch a massive change initiative. The most effective systems start small, then grow with your organization.

Taking an iterative approach is key to building an effective knowledge base, as it allows for quick deployment, continuous learning, and ongoing improvements based on user feedback.

Whether you’re centralizing insights, replacing outdated tools, or launching your first knowledge hub, these steps will help you create a knowledge base that’s easy to maintain and scale.

Let's start.

Step 1 – Identify use cases and stakeholders

Before you upload a single file, take a step back. A knowledge base isn’t just a place to store information. It’s a tool that should serve specific goals, teams, and workflows. If you skip this step, you risk building something no one uses.

Start by asking: What problems are we trying to solve?

Are you trying to:

• Improve onboarding for new team members?
• Support campaign planning with reusable research?
• Reduce duplicated efforts across markets or departments?
• Make past UX studies easier to find and apply?

Each of these use cases will shape what content you prioritize, how you structure it, and which features matter most. You’ll also need to determine the access levels and content needs for each group to ensure the right people see the right information.

Next, map out who’s involved.

You’re likely dealing with a mix of contributors and consumers.

For example:

• Contributors: Global insights managers, UX researchers, analysts, research ops, sales team
• Consumers: Brand teams, marketers, product managers, executives, marketing team

Understanding these audiences will help you create an internal knowledge base that works for everyone, not just the people uploading content.

💡 Pro tip: Involve a few key stakeholders early on. Ask what they struggle to find, what insights they often reuse, and how they’d like to search.

When you identify your use cases and stakeholders upfront, you build with purpose and set the foundation for long-term adoption.

Step 2 – Audit what you already have

You probably have more knowledge than you think. But without visibility, it’s as good as gone.

Before you build anything new, take stock of what already exists across your organization. This is your chance to avoid uploading junk, duplicating content, or missing high-value insights that deserve to be reused.

Time to get clear with a few questions:

• Where does research live right now? (Think: Google Drive, SharePoint, Confluence, hard drives, old vendor portals.)
• What’s still helpful and what’s outdated?
• Are there gaps in your knowledge base already? (e.g., missing regions, product lines, audiences)
• Who owns this content? Do they still need to?
• Is there company information, such as internal policies, procedures, or onboarding documents, that should be reviewed?

Include both quantitative and qualitative inputs here:

• Do a quick inventory of core folders and tools
• Interview frequent contributors and request consumers to find out what’s missing or hard to locate
• Identify permission or access issues that slow down sharing

For example, your audit should include documents like company handbooks, process guidelines, training materials, and customer feedback reports.

These examples help ensure you capture all relevant company information and avoid missing critical resources.

You don’t need to move everything.

Part of knowing how to create a knowledge base is knowing what not to include. Prioritize content that’s strategic, reusable, and relevant to your current goals.

This audit will not only help you decide what to migrate, but also inform your structure, taxonomy, and tagging. Now your future system isn’t just full, it’s findable.

Step 3 – Choose the right knowledge base platform

This is where many organizations go wrong. They try to create an internal knowledge base in Excel, hack together folders in SharePoint, or repurpose a Notion workspace—and then wonder why no one uses it.

The truth? Generic tools might work for storing documents. But they’re not built for searchability, relevance, or reuse at scale. And they definitely weren’t designed with insights teams in mind.

Selecting the right knowledge base tool or software is crucial. Look for key features such as advanced search functionality, scalability, and ease of use to ensure your knowledge base meets your team's needs.

When evaluating platforms, ask:

• Can users find what they need without knowing the exact file name? The right knowledge base software should make this possible through effective search functionality and smart use of search terms.
  
  
• Does the platform support AI tagging, search, or content suggestions? Leading knowledge base tools and knowledge base software offer these key features to improve content discoverability.
  
  
• Will it scale with your team as you grow, reorganize, or adopt new workflows? The right tools should support your evolving needs.
  
  
• Can we launch it fast without relying on IT? The right knowledge base tool should enable quick deployment and easy updates.

At Stravito, we’ve seen firsthand what happens when companies build their knowledge base on the wrong foundation: low adoption, duplicated work, and growing frustration.

That’s why we designed Stravito as a plug-and-play solution specifically for insights, UX, and strategy teams. You can:

• Launch quickly—no IT project required
• Connect existing sources like Mintel, Kantar, or Google Drive
• Automatically tag and organize content with AI
• Discover insights through search that understands meaning, not just keywords

💡 Pro tip: Looking for how to create an internal knowledge base free of IT headaches or shelfware? This is where to invest, not compromise.

You wouldn’t expect marketing to run global campaigns from a spreadsheet. Don’t expect your research to scale in one either.

Step 4 – Set up a knowledge base structure that works

You’ve done the hard part; now it’s time to build the bones of your system.

A well-designed internal knowledge base structure is what turns a pile of files into a tool people trust and use.

Here’s the key: Structure should reflect how your organization works, not just how your files are organized today.

Think about how your teams search for insights:

• Do they look by project type, region, brand, or business unit?
• Are there common research themes or stages in the workflow?
• Do different stakeholders need different access levels? Access management is essential here. It allows you to control who can view or edit specific content, protecting sensitive information and ensuring only the right people have the appropriate permissions.

From there, define:

• Clear categories (e.g., Product Launches, Consumer Trends, UX Reports)
• Team spaces or workstreams (especially helpful for decentralised orgs)
• Consistent metadata like tags for market, method, audience, and year

Establishing a style guide for your knowledge base content helps maintain consistency and professionalism, supporting company branding by ensuring all articles align with your organization’s branding strategies.

At Stravito, we make this easy with AI-powered tagging and customizable spaces. Our platform supports smart defaults while still giving teams the flexibility to localize structure when needed.

If you’re wondering how to create a searchable knowledge base, the answer starts with structure.

Make it simple. Make it intuitive. Make it consistent. That’s what sets the foundation for discovery and usage.

Step 5 – Populate and curate content

This is where many knowledge bases fall short. They launch with a flood of documents, lacking tagging and prioritization, which makes it harder to find anything useful.

If you want to create an internal knowledge base that gets used, don’t dump everything in. Curate.

Start with high-impact content that teams search for:

• Foundational research reports
• Strategic insights used in key decisions
• Reusable playbooks or competitor analyses
• Campaign retrospectives or UX testing highlights
• Troubleshooting guides, video tutorials, and highlights of new features

Regularly update your knowledge base content and knowledge base articles to ensure everything remains accurate, relevant, and easy to navigate.

When writing articles, follow best practices such as using a consistent style and always providing accurate information.

Leave out the clutter. Expired files, duplicate versions, or generic templates dilute the value of your knowledge base and frustrate users.

Think of it like building a playlist, not a library. You’re creating pathways to discovery.

With Stravito, it’s easy to curate collections around common needs like product launches, brand planning, and customer personas. Our AI Assistant helps auto-tag documents and generate summaries, so your teams spend less time uploading and more time applying.

Add images to your articles to make them more engaging and easier to understand. Use prompts like 'Was this article helpful?' to gather feedback and continually improve your content.

And don’t forget to think ahead as you expand your knowledge base. Be sure to:

• Keep an eye on usage data to see what’s working
• Archive outdated content to reduce noise
• Add new material intentionally, not automatically

Step 6 – Launch, evangelize, and iterate

Don’t treat launch like the finish line. It’s just the beginning.

The most successful enterprise teams don’t just roll out their knowledge base. They focus on maintaining and regular maintenance to ensure a strong knowledge base that remains current and valuable. They build rituals, create champions, and keep improving.

1. Make the launch matter

Don’t just send a Slack. Host a live walkthrough. Share a “What’s Inside” deck. Show teams where to find the insights they care about—so they don’t default back to old habits.

2. Build rituals around reuse

This is how you drive adoption. Create a research roundup every Friday. Share relevant insights in campaign kickoffs. Add collections to your onboarding flow. The more visible your knowledge base is, the more likely it is to stick.

3. Track usage and evolve

With Stravito, you can see what teams are searching for and what they’re not finding. Use that data to refine structure, fill content gaps, and continuously improve the experience.

4. Empower internal advocates

Designate “knowledge champions” within teams to help curate content, encourage usage, and collect feedback. When knowledge sharing becomes part of team culture, your base grows stronger over time.

💡 Pro tip: Need to know how to keep your knowledge base up to date without overloading one person? Automate where you can—and distribute ownership across your org.

A strong rollout plan ensures your platform becomes indispensable, not just another shelfware tool. Next, we'll talk about what you'll need to create sustainable success without the headaches.

Best practices for long-term success

Creating an internal knowledge base is just the beginning. To keep it useful, relevant, and in use, you need to plan for long-term sustainability, not just initial setup.

A well-structured knowledge base enables self-service, helps customers solve problems, and answer questions efficiently, empowering users to find solutions on their own.

Here’s how to build a knowledge base that grows with your organization:

1. Design for discoverability, not just storage

This is where most systems fail. Uploading content isn’t enough. You need to make it easy to find and use. That means smart search, meaningful tags, and collections that reflect how your teams think.

You’ll also need to optimize your knowledge base content for search results and search engines to increase visibility and accessibility for users searching for relevant information.

💡 Pro tip: If you’re wondering how to develop a knowledge base that drives impact, start by focusing on the user experience. Think Netflix, not network drive.

2. Maintain structure and metadata

Outdated content is worse than no content. Regularly audit for expired research, missing tags, and version confusion.

Regular maintenance is essential to ensure the knowledge base remains current, accurate, and user-friendly by scheduling routine updates, editing content, and removing outdated information. With Stravito, you can track usage trends and automate suggestions to keep your structure fresh and aligned.

3. Share the load

Don’t centralize everything with one “knowledge owner.” Assign content contributors in each department. Train them on how to upload and tag consistently. Use role-based permissions to keep things secure without creating bottlenecks.

4. Appoint knowledge champions

These internal advocates are the people who ensure the knowledge base stays active, discoverable, and valuable. They gather feedback, surface blind spots, and help drive adoption across teams.

5. Make iteration part of the culture

No structure is perfect on day one. Use real-time feedback, search analytics, and evolving business needs to improve. A knowledge base isn’t static—it should evolve as your organization grows.

💡 Pro tip: Wondering how to "feed" your knowledge base without overwhelming teams? Focus on high-value content, automate tagging, and integrate it into daily workflows.

That’s where the right platform makes all the difference.

How Stravito helps you build a better knowledge base

Most knowledge management tools are built for storing files. Stravito is built for using insights.

Stravito leverages artificial intelligence to enhance knowledge management and user experience, making it easier for users to quickly find answers to their questions and improve employee productivity.

We designed Stravito specifically for insights, UX, and strategy teams inside large, global organizations. That way, you can create a knowledge base that’s actually useful, not just another platform people forget about.

Here’s how we help you go from document chaos to insight clarity:

Purpose-built for insights, not generic documents

Stravito isn’t a retrofitted intranet. It’s designed to help teams discover, share, and reuse research across departments, markets, and time zones. Your knowledge hub has to spark action!

AI that works for you

From automatic tagging to AI-curated collections and summarized key findings, Stravito’s built-in AI helps scale your knowledge base without scaling your workload. That’s what building an internal knowledge base with AI should feel like: fast, useful, and human-friendly.

Fast, frictionless deployment

No IT project. No six-month setup. Most teams launch in weeks and start seeing value immediately.

Built for global enterprise

We meet the highest security and compliance standards (SOC2, GDPR), support multilingual search, and integrate with your existing systems—from Google Drive to premium sources like Mintel or Kantar.

Trusted by global leaders

Companies like Heineken, Electrolux, and Coles use Stravito to centralize research, enable cross-team collaboration, and build an insight-driven culture. 

Stravito also supports customer success by making it easier to share knowledge across teams, leading to more informed decisions and improved customer satisfaction.

Ready to build a knowledge base your teams will use? Book a demo and see how Stravito can help.

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