SharePoint is a highly flexible and scalable solution from Microsoft that helps people create out-of-the-box intranet websites. 

From small businesses to large enterprises, you can use SharePoint to create intranet sites that suit various needs and are highly successful. That’s the reason why we’re gonna show you real-world examples of different intranets today, so you can get inspired for your own SharePoint website. 

In a nutshell, you’re gonna discover the key SharePoint platform features and some good alternatives to it, as well as explore the different possibilities you have with this tool. 

What Is Microsoft SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint is a tool with many uses. It can be a document-sharing platform or a business intelligence (BI) tool. At the same time, you can use it as your content management system (CMS) or a collaborative website. 

The flexibility Microsoft SharePoint offers makes it valuable in a business setting and for a wide range of organizational needs. 

For instance, you can develop a knowledge base where employees can access tutorials, best practices, guidelines, etc. 

And that’s just the beginning.

But before we get to the examples and explore SharePoint’s uses in greater depth, let’s see what a SharePoint site is. 

What Are SharePoint Sites?

In simple terms, SharePoint sites are workspaces that contain your content, such as documents, links, events, images, or videos. Their main purpose is to serve as a collaborative space for your team to work together efficiently – for example, sharing documents and calendars with each other. 

But SharePoint sites can also be websites designed for wider consumption, usually for sharing news and reports. 

What this means is that you can create as many SharePoint websites as you want. For example, you can build a site that only your HR department can access, while there’s also a more general one for your entire organization. 

What are SharePoint pages?  

A SharePoint page is part of a SharePoint site (not to be confused with one another). Think of them as the building blocks of your SharePoint site; a website is made up of one or more pages filled with content. 

A page is a place where you can display your content in a structured, clear, and visually appealing manner. 

For example, you can have wiki pages that enable real-time collaboration between your employees. With this collaborative platform, users can create content and get updates more quickly. 

One more thing: you don’t have to cram all your information into a single page. You can let the design of the website breathe by segmenting your content into different pages. 

What are SharePoint parts?

SharePoint web parts are modular components that let you add features and functionalities to your SharePoint site. Think of them as elements that make the SharePoint page visually engaging and interactive. 

The purpose of SharePoint web parts is to incorporate dynamic content and interactive elements to structure and optimize the page. 

For instance, you can use web parts to display content from various sources, such as news articles, announcements, or reports. But you can also use web parts to store files and organize them into folders. 

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What Are the Key SharePoint Site Features?

You might think that Microsoft SharePoint stayed in the past — but you’d be surprised by how many innovative features it has. Let’s see what capabilities make SharePoint such a powerhouse: 

• Content management: One thing Microsoft SharePoint does well is help users create and manage content. You can organize it in folders, upload documents in different formats, and store them in a central location. This way, it ensures everyone works with up-to-date info. 
• Collaboration capabilities: Using SharePoint makes it easier for your people to collaborate and share information with each other so they can work together more productively. Plus, you can keep track of your projects easier, organize documents, and work on the same version of the doc. 
• Business intelligence: With SharePoint’s BI tools, you can craft useful and powerful reports and dashboards. Aside from creative interactive charts and other visualizations, you can also make better data-driven decisions.
• Workflow automation: Another great thing Microsoft SharePoint does is automate mundane and repetitive tasks and streamline workflows. For instance, you can set a flow to send notifications whenever someone makes changes to a document. 
• Search functionality: Through powerful search capabilities, SharePoint allows you to find relevant content super easily, whether it’s a certain document or a project. 
• Social features: SharePoint puts an emphasis on social. That’s why it has social features that allow users to connect with their colleagues and easily share knowledge. Moreover, SharePoint allows you to create environments (similar to a community) where people can share ideas and work together on projects. 

In conclusion, SharePoint is useful in maintaining a collaborative workspace and streamlining your workflow so it meets all your needs. 

We’ve finally arrived at the part you’ve been aching for: the examples. 

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10 SharePoint Site Examples to Inspire You

Let’s go through 10 SharePoint site examples of different types that’ll spark your creativity. 

1. Event planning sites

This type of SharePoint site is for presenting corporate events, meetings, or conferences. The purpose of this is to share event information with people interested, such as what they’ll learn, the date, where to register, etc. It can even answer FAQs. 

Such SharePoint sites usually have features like event calendars, attendee lists, or a countdown.

Example highlights:

• It displays the schedule in its entirety so people can plan their day accordingly. 
• Has a frequently asked questions section, which is useful for those who want to know more about the event. 
• Gives a description of the sessions and who the guest speakers are. 

2. The hub 

There are plenty of hub types, such as resource, social, or topic hubs. Their goal is to connect related sites under a common theme or project. Features include unified navigation, consistent branding, or content aggregation. 

For instance, the common theme of your SharePoint site is retail. You can break down this broad topic into multiple related sites. So, you can have a page dedicated to e-commerce and another to fashion, all connected under the same site. 

You can dedicate an entire SharePoint page to a particular branch of your business and only the people involved can access the resources on that subject.

Example highlights:

• Features a noticeboard where you can see recently uploaded content, as well as the most viewed and liked documents. 
• A search functionality that allows users to find what they need. 
• A “Take a tour” button that new users can click on to be taken on a journey throughout the site and learn how to use it. 

3. Learning and development (L&D) sites

L&D sites are good for hosting training programs and courses, as well as holding educational resources. It’s a hub for your organization’s learning opportunities, especially if you want to onboard new hires or teach employees a new skill.

Usually, L&D sites have training modules, course catalogs, and certification tracking to ensure the emphasis is put on learning. 

Example highlights:

• Features a carousel with important resources that might interest the user. 
• Has a section dedicated to promoting upcoming events. 
• Shares the company’s mission statement and the site’s goal. 

4. Enterprise wiki sites

Also known as the knowledge base, the enterprise wiki SharePoint sites are good for housing company-wide information, such as brand guidelines, FAQs, and many other useful resources for your business. 

Such sites also have content creation and collaboration functionalities, which allow users to manage and organize content however they want. But its most prominent feature is the search, making it easy for people to find the information they need. 

Example highlights:

• The search bar is the first thing people see when entering, so you know the true purpose of this SharePoint site. Plus, it has various filter options for refining results. 
• There is a news section, but it’s not the main focus of this example. 
• The documents are categorized into what was uploaded and favorite files so it’s easier to access them when needed. 

5. Human resources sites

This is a SharePoint site dedicated to the human resources department. Its purpose is to manage HR resources, such as benefits, compensation, and even employee onboarding. As a result, this site’s main features include employee handbooks, onboarding checklists, and benefits information. 

Example highlights:

• Features a FAQ section where people can learn how to take a leave of absence, apply for tuition benefits, and more. 
• Displays events, such as work anniversaries or promotions, as well as holidays so everyone is on the same page. 
• Ask HR section to ask if anyone needs help with anything. 

6. Blog and news sites

What these SharePoint sites are all about is sharing articles, insights, and updates. Usually, they feature articles about certain topics (like welcoming a new employee), the ability to leave comments, and even RSS feeds. 

They’re highly useful for keeping up-to-date with industry trends, as well as seeing what happens in your company. 

Example highlights:

• The example has engagement data, such as views and likes, to differentiate between popular and unpopular articles. 
• It has a separate feed with news based on the user’s location (in this case, London) or preferences, indicating that users can personalize the site however they wish. 
• The lower half of the site features links to resources and apps users might need to complete their tasks. 

7. Project management sites

There are plenty of SharePoint sites that you can use for various projects. What these sites usually do is help teams manage specific projects through features like timelines, document storage, and task assignment. 

They allow team members to collaborate on the same project, see who’s responsible, the project’s milestones, the project’s status, etc.

Example highlights:

• Has a product launch countdown, as well as a section for milestones so it’s easier to keep track of the project’s status. 
• Features recent documents and activity with an overview of  who’s done what and what has been changed. 
• Send due date reminders through SharePoint’s automation features. 

8. Records center sites

If you want a single source of truth that people can go to when they want to access your entire company knowledge, then you might need a records center site – a place that archives and manages your most important records. 

Sites like these usually have features such as record retention policies, eDiscovery, and document holds. 

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Example highlights:

• It has a search box that encourages users to search for a specific file, as well as filter items for more advanced search. 
• The site focuses on personalization, meaning that users can see their collection and search history, as well as popular recommendations or previous searches. 
• At the bottom, users are encouraged to leave feedback or even submit their own content. 

9. Sales and marketing sites

Even retail, e-commerce, or brick and mortar stores can use a SharePoint site for sales and marketing purposes. In essence, these sites manage sales materials, campaigns, and customer data. 

You can also measure leads and engagement, see valuable resources and materials, as well as nurture relationships with your audience. 

Example highlights:

• This example focuses on the retail management team and showcases team member profiles. 
• Has a news and announcement section and displays upcoming events. 
• Highlights frequently used resources and provides easy access to them. 

10. Innovation and ideation sites

Our last example focuses on gathering and developing new ideas or projects. It’s a place where people can come and leave their ideas through idea submission forms, for example. 

But these sites can also have voting mechanisms (to see which idea is most appreciated by users) and discussion forums for different topics. 

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Example highlights:

• Features a carousel with resources useful for a new hire to help them familiarize themselves with the company’s mission and culture.
• It has a section with news and events, as well as a way to participate in scheduled events. 
• Has an idea submission board and a suggestion box where people can leave their thoughts and concerns. 

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What Are Some SharePoint Alternatives?

SharePoint is great and all; it does the job and has some superb features. 

But it’s rather complicated to use, especially for beginners, and can be hard to understand, maintain, and configure. Plus, it’s rather costly compared to  other alternatives.

In translation, using SharePoint is not very user-friendly and intuitive. If you want to look at alternatives, here are some of the best options. 

Guru

Guru is a solution that helps companies of all sizes manage their internal knowledge and search for relevant documents and information whenever they want. 

You can think of Guru as your home base for all your apps, chats, and docs. Since it centralizes all knowledge in a single library, you’ll always have relevant information at your fingertips. 

Moreover, Guru integrates with SharePoint so you can have the best of both worlds. With this powerful duo, you can enable AI-powered searches and access information within SharePoint easily. 

Key features:

• No context-switching: With Guru, you don’t have to switch between apps or chats. Due to Guru’s integration with SharePoint, you can get contextual suggestions and improve productivity without leaving your workflow. 
• Customization features: You can customize the home base however you want to give users a more branded experience. Users will see only the things they want to see, which helps improve engagement. 
• Enterprise AI search: Get answers from anywhere through enterprise AI search, courtesy of Guru. As a result, your users will find answers to every question faster, improving productivity. 

Confluence

Another great alternative to SharePoint is Confluence, a remote-friendly and shared collaborative space that allows teams to collaborate and share ideas. Since Confluence’s focus is on collaboration, it’s an ideal solution for creating and managing anything, from marketing campaigns to product launches. 

What makes Confluence awesome is that you can get everyone on the same page through sharing and harnessing knowledge. Through its whiteboard, users can capture free-flowing thoughts and brainstorm ideas easily. 

Key features:

• Real-time editing: You can easily take notes and refine ideas with this tool, as you can edit content together with the team, even if they’re in different time zones. 
• Dynamic databases: Confluence offers a collaborative space where you can organize your knowledge and keep teams in sync with real-time updates. 
• Commenting: Streamline your feedback process with Confluence as it allows you to comment on designs. You can also add visual elements like images, emojis, and GIFs. 

Igloo

Igloo is an intranet tool built for frontline and home workers, enabling them to enhance their productivity and improve communication. This cloud-based platform serves as a content management system and a knowledge base, so you can train, engage, and retain workers while shrinking costs. 

Igloo is the perfect house for supporting your distributed workforce and enhancing collaboration across your entire company. 

Key features:

• Assignment features: With Igloo, you can easily assign tasks or to-do items to different users, and keep track of them as they progress.
• Permissions: Igloo allows you to change permissions anytime. So, if you don’t want someone to view and edit your content, you can change the permissions as needed. 
• Notifications: Igloo shows only the most important messages to the users involved in the project, so it’s easier to keep track of changes. 

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Over To You!

You want to know why Guru is such a great SharePoint alternative? Because, in the words of one of our lovely customers: 

“Guru makes it easy to find quality knowledge cards quickly, it is very user-friendly, easy to update existing info, seamless to create new cards, and its SEO capabilities within our organization are great.” 

And if that’s not convincing enough, then why not try it? Sign up for Guru today and experience it for yourself. 

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