SharePoint is the leading base technology for intranets. It is a highly flexible and scalable platform that delivers many intranet features straight out of the box, but also has a highly mature ecosystem of additional products that means you can deliver a truly world-class SharePoint intranet.

One of the best qualities of SharePoint is the ability to deliver different types of intranets that suit a wide range of organisational and employee needs. A small organisation with 100 people and a global corporation with 50,000 people can both have a successful SharePoint intranet. It also supports multiple sectors – a retailer with a young, frontline workforce or a legal firm with lawyers who need access to knowledge. Both might use a SharePoint intranet.

In this post we’re going to explore ten different SharePoint site examples to use in 2024 which demonstrate the versatility and flexibility of the platform. From a dashboard intranet for fast-moving businesses to a knowledge base ideal for regulated industries to a SharePoint intranet more focused on building community and engagement.

1. The all-rounder homepage: Perfect for large multinationals, this SharePoint homepage example blends communication, tasks, and business improvements. Features like “My apps” and “Engage” enhance productivity and foster collaboration, showcasing the best in SharePoint design ideas.

All-rounder SharePoint homepage example
  1. The news at the top ensures everyone sees key business information.
  2. My apps helps people quickly locate and launch the apps and services that they need to do their jobs.
  3. The dashboard highlights important tasks that the employee needs to complete.
  4. The middle panel encourages feedback and provides performance data relevant to the organisations’ values.
  5. My news features a personalised set of updates relevant to the individual.
  6. And the Engage panel invites and promotes discussion and collaboration across the organisation.

2. The knowledge base: Designed for engineering or consulting firms, this SharePoint site example makes finding information easy. Its enhanced search and personalised content are prime examples of how SharePoint sites can be customised to meet specific user needs, illustrating SharePoint examples effectively.

knowledge base SharePoint site example
  1. The prominence of search says a lot about the main purpose of the intranet. The filter options offer the ability for refining results based on organisation’s own taxonomy.
  2. News is still a part of the experience but is dialled down in significance with no imagery.
  3. Personalisation and curation of the business knowledge is given a large proportion of the homepage real-estate. Each of these panels allowing the employee to store and quickly retrieve information that they need to do their job.

3. The dashboard: A real-time information hub featuring tools like countdown clocks and milestone trackers. This SharePoint intranet example is ideal for fast-paced environments, providing quick access to essential functions and tools.

Dashboard SharePoint intranet example
  1. More traditional fare of global news and personalised quick links are still a feature.
  2. But as we go down the page we see personalisation features like the welcome bar.
  3. And various search tools which not only cover colleagues and ‘how do I’ guidance, but also a ‘parts finder’ – something more specific to the needs of this particular organisation.
  4. A milestones dashboard gives a snapshot of where the company sits with current deliveries.
  5. And a task list acts as a mini to-do for each employee, nestled conveniently alongside the other information.

4. The community hub: Tailored for the media or marketing sectors, this SharePoint site example integrates external and internal social feeds. The large news carousel and social media feeds make it a vibrant SharePoint website example that actively engages users.

The community hub SharePoint site
  1. A large news carousel at the top gives plenty of room for rich imagery and showcasing the company’s brand and products.
  2. A stock price widget is neatly integrated inside of the news carousel to as not to constrain impact of the look-and-feel.
  3. The events feed is a standard SharePoint feature, but brought to life by the playful iconography and colour selection.
  4. A large proportion of the homepage is then given to a feed of content from the companies external social media feeds – making a point that what the organisation says to those outside is just as relevant to those inside.

5. The media centre: Styled like modern streaming services, this SharePoint homepage example delivers a media-rich interface. Content is tailored to user roles and preferences, demonstrating how dynamic SharePoint sites can be in media-centric industries.

Media centre SharePoint homepage example
  1. The main ‘hero’ carousel at the top features the cherry-picked content which is curated by a communications team. This often links through to an article, but can also feature embedded video or audio.
  2. The tiles below are tailored based on your preferences, but will serve up a range of different information types which are presented in different media formats.
  3. Although the homepage starts as compact and concise, the employee can click the see more button multiple times to load additional content without leaving the page.
  4. On the right panel, more functional and community centric updates roll-in via the Noticeboard.

6. The task master: This sample SharePoint site focuses on productivity. Using the Viva dashboard, it simplifies task management and application access, proving that SharePoint designs can boost efficiency while engaging users.

Task master sample SharePoint site
  1. A welcome bar at the top contains a page tour which loads automatically the first time the employee arrives at the intranet. It explains what information that they can find there, and how to get the most out of the features on offer.
  2. The common tasks panel uses the Viva dashboard to highlight activity that requires the employee’s attention, or allow them to quickly complete tasks like booking a desk or meeting room. These tiles are usually connected to other applications, and can save the employee the need to access them separately.
  3. A comprehensive set of ‘How do I’ guidance is searchable directly from the homepage. But it is also targeted, so employees see the right set of guidance depending on their location and area of the business.

7. The field worker: Optimised for use in the field with tablets and smartphones, this SharePoint intranet design is practical and accessible, making it perfect for industries like construction or field services.

SharePoint intranet design optimised for use in the field with tablets and smartphones
  1. The icon based app launcher dominates the homepage experience, but avoids being cumbersome by including a contextual quick search feature – similar to that found on smartphones.
  2. The apps and services presented to the employee are targeted based on their role.
  3. Employees can also customise the launcher, just as they would customise the homescreen on their phone or tablet.

8. The newsroom: This SharePoint site example is a comprehensive resource for both global and local news, serving as a hub for corporate communications. It effectively uses SharePoint to keep everyone well-informed and engaged.

Newsroom SharePoint site example
  1. The header area shares the time and weather across the global hubs for the organisation.
  2. The large news feed has all the latest headlines and events, without hiding anything in a carousel.
  3. Content is tagged with the channel that it is being delivered from, allowing employees to click the tag and see more from that channel.
  4. Tasks and guidance is not forgotten, with a large personalised area at the bottom of the page for getting stuff done.

9. The hyper-focused intranet: Focused on project delivery, this example focuses on examples of SharePoint sites that streamline project management. It showcases the adaptability of SharePoint to meet specific operational demands.

Hyper-focused intranet example
  1. The personal notifications feed highlights outstanding tasks and other personally relevant events.
  2. The minimal status dashboard is easy to understand at a daily glance.
  3. The recent documents feed allows the employee to pick-up where they left off.

10. The noticeboard: Encouraging peer-to-peer interaction, this SharePoint sample intranet features a social-media-like feed where visibility is driven by engagement levels. It exemplifies how SharePoint sites can support interactive and democratic styles of communication.

The noticeboard: Encouraging social interaction SharePoint sample intranet
  1. Other traditional features and areas of content are covered in the navigation that remains at the top of every page.
  2. The carousel is a reserved area for the communications teams to share their updates.
  3. The feed below is social-media esque and meritocratic, with content that has a higher engagement score more likely to be seen near the top.

What is a SharePoint intranet?

SharePoint is a mature content management, document management and collaboration platform provided by Microsoft that has been around in one form or another since 2001. Today many organizations have access to SharePoint Online through their Microsoft 365 subscription.

Intranets are mature and well-established workplace channel that help employees to stay informed and get things done through a dedicated site. Intranets enable employees to access and publish content, find information, read news, connect with colleagues and complete simple transactions.

The history of SharePoint and intranets are intertwined; over the past twenty years hundreds of thousands of SharePoint intranets have been created across the world.

Why is SharePoint the best platform for intranets?

For most organizations, using SharePoint for their intranet is a no-brainer, for several reasons:

  • SharePoint is still the leading choice for intranets and is likely to be for years to come.
  • As already noted, it’s flexible, scalable and even customisable, to deliver the intranet that your organization and your employees need – one size does not fit all.
  • Most organizations have already paid for SharePoint Online as part of the Microsoft 365 which significantly reduces costs.
  • It integrates with the rest of Microsoft 365 so you can embed multiple tools such as Microsoft Viva Engage, and also access your SharePoint intranet via Teams, overall extending the ROI of your intranet and Microsoft 365.
  • It has many features (web parts) that are available out of the box, but there is a huge ecosystem of additional products that allow you to extend the power of SharePoint – for example Lightspeed365 fills the gaps in SharePoint so you can create a world-class intranet.
  • A SharePoint intranet provides a great user experience that is also accessible and mobile-ready, as well as being highly secure and compliant with data privacy standards: SharePoint ticks many of the boxes that organisations look for in their intranet software.
  • Modern SharePoint is also relatively easy to use for publishers and there a lot of people already with solid SharePoint experience, so there are relatively low barriers to supporting a sustainable intranet based on a devolved publishing model.
  • Microsoft continues to invest in SharePoint to support intranets, while tech providers (including us) continue to invest in our SharePoint intranet products: Everything keeps on evolving and getting better, future proofing your investment.

We hope you found this article useful in discovering how SharePoint online and intranet solution like Lightspeed365 can transform your company’s internal communications and operations. 

If you’d like help with your intranet then don’t hesitate to get in touch.