The best SharePoint site design ideas consider an organization’s data, workflow, and systems. Optimally, the company’s structure, for example, Sales, Marketing, Production, Legal, etc. will guide how the site is layed out. Each department can and should benefit from their own Sharepoint landing pages, and have control of what documents are presented and shared, based on departmental need.
The Human Resources department of a medium sized company is a good example. Human Resources often has many standard documents and forms to share with all employees of the company, and needs those documents to be secure and confidential. The types of documents – Health Care enrollment, or form request like reimbursement or W2 – and the division within HR dictate what folders and Groups the HR Sharepoint site should have.
It truly can be said that in SharePoint page design, form truly follows function. The best SharePoint sites would be those thoughtfully accounting for user experience, in addition to accounting for an infrastructure used in the best way possible.
Fortunately, the beauty of SharePoint websites is that they can be made to fit any team or department of your business. And while its primary use is to facilitate internal sites, it’s still an effective way to explore SharePoint site examples as a template for your business.
Trying to design things from scratch is an inefficient way to spend company resources. Pursuing SharePoint designs, on the other hand, supports best practices and helps in transferring those design ideas into your own SharePoint project.
To prevent reinventing the wheel with your SharePoint website, our blog covers:
- SharePoint Basics You Should Know
- How to Outfit Your Business With SharePoint Designs
- How to Gain Expert SharePoint Page Design Support
How Data Impacts Your SharePoint Site Designs
In the business arena, data may be structured or unstructured and stem from many sources.
With big data and data complexity on the rise, an organization’s SharePoint design layouts are bound by its:
- Size
- Needs
- Industry
- Infrastructure
- Data Complexity
For instance, should a company possess inefficient processes (may it be a lack of data organization or outdated workflow processes), then there’s a good chance that they won’t stand out to modern SharePoint sites that don’t share those same structural limitations.
And when you stop to consider how more than 129,000 companies rely on SharePoint monthly, the means to handle first things first becomes an absolute priority to ensure you get the most down the road.
But, what criteria fall under a priority? Let’s take a look.
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How to Make the Landing Page Count
The first page to design within the SharePoint team site is the landing page. As the name implies, this will be the first page visitors with access rights to the team site will see.
Here are a few points to keep in mind when building this essential page:
- Ensure User-Friendliness – Make sure that all links are easy to understand and information is broken down into bullet points, graphs are spaced, and paragraphs aren’t too blocky.
- Understand Your Visitor’s Why (Search Intent) – Make sure the information your visitors are seeking is easy to access and satisfies their original intent. Are they looking up budget reports, current news, or something else? Know this, and you’re already ahead of most.
- Research SharePoint Website Examples – Breaking down the landing pages of other SharePoint sites that you aim to emulate is a great way to incorporate existing SharePoint team site ideas into your design. To add, this can come from within as other departments may already have committed team sites to visit and learn from.
To get the best user experience possible, be sure to sample feedback from the people most likely to visit the internal site. They will be able to report on how easy it was to:
- Access files
- Finder information
- Interact with the site at scale
Incorporating this feedback is also a sign of trust and will be rewarded.
Document Management Requires Ongoing Maintenance
One of the classic mistakes made with SharePoint design ideas would be that information becomes outdated sooner rather than later. That’s why document management is not just about uploading information but also being mindful of how quickly information becomes irrelevant.
From the start, consistent intervals should be established, where the site’s point of contact will work with a select team to keep the information updated. For example, if processes are reviewed quarterly, then it’s wise to make updating the document library a priority after the process review is complete.
It should be noted that this responsibility does not have to fall on the shoulders of any one person in an organization; a team can be selected solely for ensuring that the SharePoint sites remain up-to-date.
Overall, it’s an essential process that must be done right and is also one that is commonly outsourced to IT consulting companies due to its:
- Convenience
- Added support
- Cost-effectiveness
How to Outfit Your Business With SharePoint Designs
What do great site designs look like?
Generally speaking, they are simple designs that focus more on the user experience than winning any potential awards. Modern SharePoint is focused on giving clean interfaces and a document library that is easily accessible.
The SharePoint online experience should leave users feeling like they can access the information they need, modify the information as new data comes into the picture, and be able to handle document management without filling out tech support tickets constantly.
Use Web Parts to Your Advantage
One of the key differences between external online sites and SharePoint Team Sites is the web parts they use.
Web parts are the true building blocks of the SharePoint website experience. They allow users to add virtually any type of content possible, from images to files and even embedded video.
The internal communications team could have a SharePoint team site that features personal information about associates for networking and connection-building while also presenting upcoming events around the company.
The flexibility to shift site designs without needing a full-time designer is quite beneficial for small businesses that really need to maximize their resources.
| Interested in learning more about SharePoint Online? Check out these blogs: |
Keep Security a Top Priority
Like any other website, a SharePoint intranet portal should be handled with care.
Ensure from the beginning that only specified people (such as your SharePoint administrator) have access to the information unless company policy allows for all members of the organization to access the team site.
Unfortunately, internal sites aren’t immune to cyber-attacks and other vulnerabilities. ITPRoToday listed several key security issues with SharePoint Online to keep in mind, but it can be difficult to monitor these issues internally.
Ensure Proper Footing For SharePoint Site Designs With Us
Even though your organization may be well-versed in Microsoft 365 or with Microsoft teams, it can still be challenging to account for all the factors that go into SharePoint designs. With the best SharePoint sites ensuring simplicity and user-friendliness, it can be easy to forget that there’s much going on behind the scenes of SharePoint designs.
When building your SharePoint site, make sure your foundation is in order first. If you need help getting the most out of SharePoint ideas for your business, Power Consulting is ready to assist you.
Your organization’s site designs shouldn’t be limited by anything – and we make sure of that.
At Power Consulting, we’re not only focused on helping companies with SharePoint intranet design but we also prioritize putting in the right security protocols from the start. SharePoint is a strong asset within the Office 365 ecosystem, and Power Consulting is committed to making sure that companies unlock SharePoint’s full potential within their organizations.
Bring the best SharePoint design ideas to your business today, contact us to get started.
