Transforming SharePoint from ‘Meh’ to ‘Must-visit’
Is your SharePoint homepage just another system noticeboard, or is it a vital daily workspace for your organisation? Sequel’s Head of Creative, Nigel Wood, shares his top tips for a well-used and well designed digital front door to your organisation.
For many employees, SharePoint is the first place they go to find information, complete tasks, and stay connected. 75% of organisations using Microsoft 365 also use SharePoint as part of their core digital workplace.
And when it’s designed well, SharePoint directly supports productivity, engagement, employee experience and good governance.
“But in our work with clients, we frequently see SharePoint sites that are missing out on these opportunities,” says Sequel’s Head of Creative, Nigel Wood.
“All too often SharePoint is treated as ‘just another system’ and used as a noticeboard that’s quickly ignored by colleagues. It’s designed for content owners not for users, with too much content, too little structure, and a lack of ownership.”
Here’s Nigel’s top tips to freshen up your SharePoint in 2026 to be a more valuable daily workspace:
1 Keep it clean & focussed.
- Your SharePoint homepage is a shop window so content needs to be noticed, has to surprise and delight and get people in the front door. A clean, efficient homepage that feels custom-built will be used every day. Make it modular, fast, and clearly user-first.
- Place your hero web part up front. This grabs attention instantly with bold key messages, top news, or big announcements.
- Feature targeted quick links. Deliver the daily tools people actually need, right where they land.
- Viva Connections dashboard. Add smart, dynamic tiles for personalised files, events, policies, and more to create tailored magic for every user.
2 Supercharge your quick links.
- Feels custom, saves clicks, boosts speed. Instant win!
- Use a tile or button layout with clear and relevant icons for the top 6-8 most-used resources (e.g., Teams, HR portal, expense claims, etc). Leverage audience targeting so that users only see their must-have shortcuts.
3 Feature news that pops.
- Fresh, well-presented news encourages daily check-ins.
- Stale content kills engagement so keep your news dynamic and prominent. Use the News web part in a small carousel or feed layout to highlight key updates, announcements, and important company news.
- Thumb-nail it! Choose relevant, eye-catching images. Crop them cleanly and avoid images with text to avoid visual clutter.
- Pro tip: Plan your posts for the week ahead and schedule them in advance. This keeps the homepage consistently fresh without daily effort.
4 Personalise with Viva Connections
- As well as being a shop window for your content, it should also feel welcoming for each user. By integrating the VIVA connections dashboard webpart into your homepage you can make it a far more personalised experience, with user targeted tiles that surface information such as recent files, user tasks, and calendar updates. This helps the homepage feel more dynamic and promotes return visits.
5 Branding & Accessibility
- A branded intranet does more than look good, it reinforces culture, boosts pride, and makes employees feel like they belong to something intentional and cohesive.
- By customising your SharePoint theme and using the SharePoint Brand Centre, you can transform your SharePoint homepage into a seamless reflection of your brand – just as polished, consistent, and inspiring internally as it is for the outside world.
- Pro tips:
- Add your brand colours and fonts to differentiate your homepage from the standard SharePoint out-of-the-box look and feel.
- Check for WCAG AA compliance to ensure your homepage and site is accessible for all.
- Test on mobile – a slick phone experience increases adoption in hybrid/remote teams.
- Harness page templates for instant consistency across your intranet.
Want to make your SharePoint the trusted entry point for your organisation’s tools, content and updates? We can quickly and simply refresh your SharePoint for a better digital employee experience. Contact us at hello@sequelgroup.co.uk
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