How To Create a SharePoint Site: A Step by Step Guide

Many business leaders wonder if “going to the office” will ever be the same as it was before the internet. As we speak, new tools and processes continue to be developed to help with this migration. Microsoft SharePoint is often at the top of that list.

Many organizations have seen the importance of digital collaboration grow rapidly.

Remote collaboration is a key feature that companies are seeking, as well as better cybersecurity practices.

Microsoft states that “empowering employees through the creation of a digital and collaborative space has rapidly become a key factor in determining the pace of digital transformation for a company.”

Microsoft SharePoint, also known as the Content Services Platform, is an essential element in this transformation. It provides a wide variety of solutions, including:

  • Data storage
  • Document management
  • Tools for team collaboration
  • Project management tools
  • You can do so much more!

SharePoint is an attractive choice for many organizations as a CSP. SharePoint has been a multi-year Gartner Magic Quadrant’ recipient and is used by more than 400,000 organizations. It also has more than 100 million monthly active commercial users.

What’s SharePoint?

SharePoint allows team members to collaborate on projects and files through a website.

SharePoint integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and is used extensively for document storage. SharePoint is flexible and easily deployable for many different applications.

(*Note: Microsoft changed the name for Microsoft Office 365 to Microsoft 365 April 21, 2020.

SharePoint users can easily create an Intranet (internal site) using minimal design skills. These sites can be used for personal or team purposes, as well as general company websites.

SharePoint allows organizations to manage information access and automate workflows across the enterprise or teams.

Why use SharePoint?

SharePoint has its pros and cons. However, SharePoint is, like Microsoft’s OneDrive arguably the best tool for consolidating information, and improving communication within your company.

SharePoint is an excellent option for remote teams as it can be easily integrated with any existing Intranet.

Remote collaboration is the heart of Sharepoint. It makes it easy to share, update, and find content no matter where you’re located.

SharePoint can be integrated with many Microsoft tools that you already use, it can scale up and down to fit any business, you can brand it, the cloud-based service SharePoint Online is very cost-effective, and it can integrate well with many other Microsoft tools.

SharePoint Server Versus online – What’s The Difference?

SharePoint can be used locally (server) and cloud-based online. Although they share many of the same features, each version offers unique customer benefits.

SharePoint server is a locally hosted platform that can be deployed and managed by organizations using their own infrastructure. SharePoint Server allows companies to manage most aspects of the platform including active directory, server architecture and file storage.

SharePoint Server offers more flexibility and autonomy over design and architecture than its cloud-based counterpart. Some organizations may prefer the more hands-on security approach.

To configure, install, and manage your SharePoint server you will need to be a certified expert!

SharePoint Online, a Microsoft cloud-based service, is available. All businesses can subscribe to SharePoint Online as a standalone service or as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription.

SharePoint Online has many advantages that are especially attractive for small businesses.

  • Management of servers, architecture or other resources is not possible
  • Easy integration with all Microsoft Office products (Exchange Word Excel Excel etc.).
  • Secure features with a single sign-on
  • Per-user licensing charges — you only pay what you use
  • All the latest SharePoint features are available with all Microsoft updates

SharePoint’s Top Ten Features

Let’s now look at both platforms.

These are the top ten Microsoft software features, SharePoint 2019, 2019.

  1. SharePoint Home Page. This reorganized page shares a look and feel with Microsoft 365 and presents all news and sites relevant to the user in one location.
  2. Modern Communication Sites in SharePoint. Communications sites can be used to broadcast news, reports or information to multiple departments or an entire company. SharePoint gives users the choice of creating a blank website, or using easy-to-use ‘topic’ and’showcase templates.
  3. Modern team sites. SharePoint Teams Sites allow users to connect and share information, applications, or other content. Members of teams can share, collaborate, and store data. They can also manage information lists. Users can quickly access and view links to important files, applications, and the activity feed to view site activity.
  4. Modern Libraries & Lists. SharePoint 2019, which has improved libraries functionality, allows for more efficient ways to organize, upload, and manage files. Microsoft OneDrive integration allows document uploading and sharing.
  5. Create a user-friendly web page and site. Traditional web-authoring tools can be difficult to use and lead to human error. SharePoint 2019’s interface is intuitive and simple, making it easy for users of all technical backgrounds to create content quickly.
  6. Enhanced sharing experience. SharePoint 2019 allows you to share SharePoint content easily with other users without requiring a SharePoint license. SharePoint 2019 offers all of the flexibility sharing features found in Office 365.
  7. Better Integration with OneDrive. SharePoint 2019, which supports both personal and corporate sites, provides reliable file synchronization using OneDrive Sync Client.
  8. SharePoint Mobile Application. SharePoint’s mobile app lets users perform the most important SharePoint tasks including:
    1. Search SharePoint sites — see listings of sites that users follow
    2. Document management — Access, view and share Office, PDF and other documents
    3. SharePoint People — This screen gives access to contact information and profiles pages. Users can create and manage contacts.
    4. Flexible site views — Switch between full-screen or mobile views
  9. Support for hybrid environments. Allows organizations to use both cloud-based and onprem SharePoint versions. This allows them to seamlessly integrate the two and provides data access. SharePoint Server Hybrid is the ideal solution for companies who want to slowly transition from their on-premise SharePoint services to cloud.
  10. Integration with PowerApps and flow. These two applications are used by many organizations to automate workflows or create custom applications. SharePoint integrates business processes, team documents and data into one site. Users can create and launch flow flows from SharePoint lists.

8 Steps to Create a SharePoint Website

Let’s now move on to the steps for creating your first SharePoint site.

Choose Your SharePoint Site Architecture. You must decide for what purpose it will be used and how it might evolve over time. There are many things to consider:

  • There are many site collections. SharePoint defaults to one data collection. This may not be sufficient for smaller organizations. You should consider organizing your data into multiple collections if your site is going to support many departments or projects.
  • Easy navigation. Users can store and find information intuitively.
  • Limit the user options. Too many types of content can make it difficult for users to use your site and cause errors.
  • Use a simple structure for your folders. Complex structures can make it difficult to locate the information you need.

Decide On Your Site Components. SharePoint allows you to choose from many modules that can be included with your site. These are just a few of the options available:

Library. To save your documents and other information

Tasks. These are used to assign responsibilities and track the progress of individuals.
Announcements. To post important information or news to all teams or the whole organization

Calendar. To create and manage the calendar, meetings or events

Notes. Useful for providing additional information about events or key activities

Contacts. Keeps email addresses, phone numbers and other contact information for employees

  • Create a SharePoint Site. Click ‘Create Site’ to create your site.
  • Select Your Site Type and Option. These are the most popular choices for collaboration and information broadcasting.You have many configuration options for each site type. Communication Sites, for example, can choose from a Topical, Showcase or Blank design.If the site will have a lot of images and text, Topical is used. Showcase, on the other hand, is for more visual information (e.g. a product display page). Blank allows you to design and format your website with total flexibility.
  • Give your site a title and add a description. SharePoint will verify that the title is available and then generate an email for you using that title. Next, fill in the description box with a short summary of your site’s purpose.
  • Choose Privacy Options. Private is for team members or group members only. Public is for everyone in the organization.
  • Add members. Add the email addresses and names of the people you wish to be site members.
  • Click “Finish”. Your website is now complete!

How to customize a SharePoint site?

After you have created SharePoint, you have many options to customize it. You can add functionality or modify the look and feel to reflect your company brand.

  • You can change the theme. SharePoint lets you choose from a default Modern’ theme or a Classic’ theme. Or, you can create a theme that matches your company branding. Each option offers a great deal of customization, including color, fonts and overall layout.

To modify the theme:

Click Settings on your site and click Change the look > Theme.

  • Replace the logo. Your company logo or message can be replaced with the SharePoint theme logo.

To modify the logo:

  1. Click Settings on your site and then click Site information.
  2. Click To change , hover over the site logo.
  3. Browse the logos and click Open.
    then click save.
  • Modify the Site Header. You can change the font, size or background.

To modify the site’s header:

  1. To edit settings on your site, click Header >.
  2. Choose from the Standard or Compact header layouts. This moves all header content onto a single line.
  3. To add a logo to your site, click
  4. Choose a background for your header to change the background color.
  5. Click Save your changes.
  • Add a site footer. Footers can be customized to help with navigation control or branding. Only communication site pages can use the site footer feature.

To create a site footer,

  1. Click Settings on your site and click Change the look > Footer.
  2. Toggle Footer visibility to
  3. To add your logo to the footer, click Upload. The image will automatically be resized.
  4. To create a footer name, switch to on and type the name.
  5. Click To save your changes, click
  6. Once you have added a footer on your website, you can add a label or link to it. You can edit the footer by clicking Edit on the right.
  • Add pages. Copy existing layouts and create your own design.

To add or publish a page:

  1. To go to your home page, click
  2. Select + New and then choose Page.
    You can also go to an existing webpage, click + New, then choose Start from a blank. You can also choose Copy of the page to create a page with the same web parts as the one you are currently using.
  3. Select a page template you want to use as a starting point.
  4. In the title area, add a page name. To save the page, you will need a page name.
  5. Add Web Parts (see below).
    Move your mouse over the title area and you’ll notice a line with an + circled.
  6. To add text, videos, or other content, click + A page can also be divided into sections or columns.
  7. Once you are done editing, click Save As Draft to save your changes. Close Edit Mode. The page will not be visible to your audience until you publish it. Only those with edit rights on your site can view the page.
  8. Once you’re ready for your audience, click Publish
  • Add and Customize Web Parts. These Web Parts are the foundation of your SharePoint site. They are used to enhance the user experience on your SharePoint page. You can add text, images, videos, and other content via web parts to your page. Bing maps are examples of web parts.

To add an HTML Part:

  1. Go on to the page where you wish to add a part to your website.
  2. To edit the page, click Edit in the top-right corner.
  3. Move your mouse over or below an existing web section and you’ll notice a line with a circled +.
  4. Click + to see a list with web parts. Start typing the Search keyword to find the web parts you are looking for.
  5. Click Expand to see a larger view of all web parts by category. This view also allows you to sort the web parts.

Conclusion – Additional SharePoint Resources

You’ll want to know more about SharePoint after you get started.

Spend some time researching before you make a decision to hire the expertise.

This list contains some of the most effective and popular SharePoint training and information resources to help you get started.

We are happy to help you if you are interested in creating a customized SharePoint environment.

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