How to Build a SharePoint Site from Start to Finish
You want to start by creating a SharePoint site for your team. Creating SharePoint Site helps your team collaborate effectively and keeps important information secure. According to Microsoft, over 250,000 groups use SharePoint, and more than 85% of large companies trust it. Most users rely on SharePoint to work together quickly, manage files, and connect employees across different locations.
SharePoint supports teams in communicating and collaborating remotely.
It assists with task management, secures files, and serves intranet needs.
Choosing the right site type is key when creating a SharePoint site. Team sites are designed for ongoing collaboration, while communication sites are ideal for sharing news and updates with a broader audience. When creating a SharePoint site, you can customize its appearance, control who has access, and easily add content.
Key Takeaways
Pick the right SharePoint site type. Team Sites help people work together. Communication Sites share news with others.
Use templates and clear names to make your site fast. This keeps your site neat and easy to use.
Change your site’s look and navigation to fit your brand. This helps users find things easily.
Set permissions with care. This controls who can see or change things. It keeps your site safe.
Update content often and check how people use the site. This keeps your SharePoint site helpful and working well.
Site Types
Picking the right SharePoint site type helps you organize work. It also helps you share information in the best way. You can choose a Team Site or a Communication Site. Each type works for different goals and groups.
Team Site
A Team Site lets your group work together on projects. You can share documents and manage tasks. Everyone can help and edit content. Team Sites connect with Microsoft 365 Groups. You get tools like Teams, Planner, and Outlook for teamwork.
Key features of Team Sites:
Made for group collaboration and staying connected.
Members can create and edit tasks, events, and projects.
Left-hand navigation helps you find things fast.
Security is set by Microsoft 365 Group membership.
Good for project teams, departments, or event planning groups.
Tip: Team Sites keep files, lists, and chats in one place. You can set sharing rules for your team. You can let partners join or keep things private.
Communication Site
A Communication Site helps you share news and updates with many people. You use it to send messages, show services, or share company news. Only a few people add content, but many people read it.
Key features of Communication Sites:
Made for sharing information with lots of people.
Top navigation makes browsing easy.
Permissions are set with SharePoint groups.
Looks good for news, policies, and announcements.
Good for HR news, company rules, or training guides.
Site owners control the site and set permissions.
Content publishers add news or updates.
Most users can only read content.
Note: You cannot turn a Team Site into a Communication Site later. Pick the right one for your needs. Communication Sites keep content high quality by limiting who can edit and publish.
The site type you pick changes how your team works together. Team Sites help with teamwork. Communication Sites help share information with many people.
Creating SharePoint Site
You can start Creating SharePoint Site fast if you follow steps. You should know where to start. You need to pick the right site type. You must set up your site well. This section shows you each step.
Start from Office.com
First, sign in to office.com with your Microsoft 365 account. Open the App Launcher. Find SharePoint. If you do not see it, click "More apps" to look for it. When you open SharePoint, you will see a "+ Create site" button.
Tip: If you cannot create a site, ask your administrator for help. Administrators set permissions and turn on self-service site creation in Central Administration. This keeps your organization safe.
Step-by-step process for Creating SharePoint Site:
Sign in to office.com.
Open the App Launcher and pick SharePoint.
Click "+ Create site."
Administrators can also use the SharePoint admin center. This gives more control over site settings and permissions.
Select Site Type
When you Create SharePoint Site, you pick Team Site or Communication Site. Team Sites help groups work together. Communication Sites share news with more people. Pick the type that fits your goals.
Note: You cannot change the site type after you Create SharePoint Site. Pick the right one for your needs.
Choose Template
Templates make Creating SharePoint Site simple. Microsoft gives templates for common business needs. Your company may have custom templates too. Templates help keep your site neat and the same.
Common SharePoint site templates:
Intranet homepage: Main spot for employees.
Employee engagement campaign: Helps employees join in.
Knowledge base: Shares company facts.
Employee onboarding: Helps new workers.
Employee benefits: Shows benefits info.
Templates save time and help you add good content. Custom templates can have themes, apps, lists, and layouts. They help you build sites faster and keep branding the same.
Tip: Pick templates that fit your business. Custom templates help you follow company rules and save time.
Name and Settings
Naming your site is important for Creating SharePoint Site. Use a short, clear name. Long names make URLs hard to use. Pick a name that is easy to remember. Do not use special marks like dashes or apostrophes. Skip words like "Visitors," "Members," or "Owners." These words can confuse people about site roles.
Best practices for naming and settings:
Use short names for easy URLs.
Make names clear and simple.
Avoid special marks.
Give each site type a unique name.
Do not use dates or changing words.
Use prefixes or suffixes for order.
Site URLs can be seen by outside users.
After you name your site, write a description. Set privacy options. Pick the site language. Add members by typing their names or emails. Click "Create site" to finish.
Note: You can change the site name later. Only administrators can change the site URL.
Common mistakes to avoid when Creating SharePoint Site:
Bad file order makes your site hard to use.
Too many pages confuse people.
Wrong permissions can lose data.
No search setup makes finding files tough.
No growth plan makes your site messy.
Creating SharePoint Site takes a few hours for a basic setup. You can launch your site fast if you use templates and best practices. Bigger sites take longer if you need custom workflows or extra features.
Customize Site
Appearance
You can make your SharePoint site look nice and match your company’s brand. Start by picking a theme. Themes let you change colors and fonts. You can use the default themes or your company’s special ones. You can also change the site header. Pick from Minimal, Compact, Standard, or Extended layouts. You can change the header background color or add a background image. You can also change the site logo to fit your brand. Change the site title font to make it stand out. Always look at your changes before you save them.
Making your site look the same as your company helps everyone feel like a team. This makes employees and customers trust your site more. A branded site helps your team feel proud and connected. It also makes your site easier to use and more friendly.
Tip: Using the same branding on all sites helps people know they are in the right place.
Navigation
Good navigation helps people find what they need fast. You can set up links based on what your team uses most. Use clear names so everyone knows where each link goes. You can add, remove, or move links to help users. Pick horizontal or vertical menus. For communication sites, you can add a footer with important links.
Personalized navigation lets each group see the links they need. This saves time and helps everyone work better.
Add Pages
You can add new pages to share news, files, or resources. Go to your site’s home page. Click + New and pick Page. Type a page name in the title area. Add web parts like text, pictures, or videos by clicking the + button. Arrange sections and columns to organize your content. Save your work as a draft if you want to check it first. When you are done, publish the page so everyone can see it.
Custom pages help you show important updates. You can use layouts and web parts to make each page interesting. A good page keeps your team up to date and involved.
Note: Always preview your pages before publishing to make sure they look right.
Manage Permissions
Managing permissions in SharePoint keeps your site safe and neat. You choose who can see, change, or control things. Good permission rules protect your data. They also help your team work better.
Add Users
You can add users to your SharePoint site in many ways. Each way works best for different needs. Here is a table to help you pick:
Tip: Always use groups for permissions. This makes it easy to add or remove users later.
Set Access Levels
SharePoint gives you different access levels. Each level lets users do certain things. Pick the right level for each person. Here are the main access levels:
View Only: Users can look at pages and documents but cannot download or print some files.
Limited Access: Users can see some lists or items but not the whole site.
Read: Users can view things but cannot change anything.
Contribute: Users can add, change, or delete items in lists and libraries.
Edit: Users can manage lists and list items.
Design: Users can change pages and approve content.
Full Control: Users can do everything, even manage site settings and permissions.
Note: Always give users only the access they need. Check permissions often to keep your site safe.
Best practices are using groups, setting security at the site level, and removing users who do not need access. Teach your team about permission rules to stop mistakes and keep your data safe.
Add Content
Adding content to your SharePoint site helps your team work together and stay organized. You can use document libraries, lists, and web parts to build a site that fits your needs.
Document Libraries
Document libraries let you store, share, and manage files in one place. You can upload documents, organize them in folders, and set permissions for each file. SharePoint document libraries support version control, so you can track changes and restore older versions if needed. You can choose major or minor versioning to keep a history of edits. Content approval lets you control when documents get published. Check-in and check-out features help you manage drafts and add comments about changes.
Tip: Use document libraries for team files, project documents, and shared resources. Version control keeps your work safe and helps you recover lost changes.
Document libraries also allow co-authoring, so multiple people can edit files at the same time. You can create custom views to sort and filter files, making it easier to find what you need.
Lists
Lists help you track information like tasks, contacts, or inventory. You can create a list by selecting New and then List from your site. Name your list and add columns for different data types, such as text, dates, choices, or people. You can format columns to highlight important items, set validation rules, and use version history to track changes.
You can add, edit, or delete items easily.
Custom views let you filter, sort, and group data.
Alerts notify you about changes.
Permissions control who can see or edit the list.
Integration with Power Apps and Power Automate lets you build custom forms and automate workflows.
Lists work like spreadsheets but offer more control and security. You can manage data for projects, events, or team tasks.
Web Parts
Web parts add features and content to your pages. You can use web parts to display documents, show news, highlight events, or add quick links. Here are some common web parts and what they do:
Note: You can add web parts by editing a page and selecting the + button. Pick the web part that fits your needs.
Web parts help you build a site that is useful and easy to navigate. You can mix and match web parts to create a custom experience for your team.
Maintain Site
Review and Update
You should check your SharePoint site often. This keeps your content new. Give each page an owner before publishing. Save the owner's email in a special column. Use Power Automate to check pages every day. If a page does not change for six months, send an email to the owner. The email has a link to the page. It asks the owner to look at and update the page. Keep sending emails until the owner updates it. This stops old or forgotten content from staying on your site.
You can make a Policy Workspace site for policy files. Keep files you can edit in the workspace. Put final PDF versions on another portal. Only policy owners can edit files. Other people can only read them. Use SharePoint’s versioning to watch changes. Add comments when you change documents. Turn on major and minor versioning to keep a clear record.
Tip: Give clear jobs for who owns content. Make rules for managing content and tell your team.
Monitor Usage
You can watch how people use your site with built-in tools. Go to Settings → Site usage to see numbers like viewers, visits, and popular pages. Use Microsoft Purview audit logs for more details. Power BI’s app shows data and trends. Export reports from the Microsoft 365 admin center to track activity and storage. PowerShell scripts can make reports for deeper checks.
SharePoint tracks things like edits, downloads, permission changes, and searches. You can turn on activity auditing and look at logs with ULS Viewer. The SharePoint Site performance page helps you check page health. Add the Page diagnostics extension for Chrome or Edge. Run checks to find problems and make pages load faster.
Note: Always watch and check your site to keep it working well.
Troubleshoot
You might have problems when you take care of your SharePoint site. Here is a table to help you find and fix issues:
You can fix most problems by checking settings and updating software. Use SharePoint’s tools to help. Regular care keeps your site safe and working well.
You can make a good SharePoint site if you follow steps. First, plan how your site will look and work. Pick the type of site that fits your team. Add people to your site and set who can do what. Change colors and pictures to make your site look nice. Check your site often to keep it up to date. Use tools to see how many people use your site. Try cool features like workflows and BI tools. Connect your site with Microsoft 365 to help your team do more.
Keep learning by reading guides and joining forums. Take classes to get better. Build a site that helps your team work better every day.
FAQ
How do you change your SharePoint site logo?
Go to your site. Click Settings > Change the look > Header. Click Change under Site logo. Upload your new logo. Click Save. Your site now shows the new logo.
Can you add external users to your SharePoint site?
Yes, you can invite people outside your company. Go to Site permissions. Click Invite people > Share site only. Enter their email. They get an invite to join as guests.
What should you do if you cannot create a new site?
Check your permissions. Ask your SharePoint administrator if self-service site creation is on. Only users with the right permissions can create sites.
How do you restore a deleted file in SharePoint?
Open your document library. Click Recycle Bin on the left. Find your file. Select it. Click Restore. The file returns to its original place.
Can you change your SharePoint site type after creation?
No, you cannot switch between Team Site and Communication Site after setup. Pick the right type before you create your site.