Common Mistakes in Creating, Populating, and Publishing SharePoint Pages and Strategies to Avoid Them
SharePoint serves as a robust platform for collaboration and content management within organizations. However, errors in the creation, population, and publication of pages can lead to inefficiencies, security vulnerabilities, and reduced user adoption. Based on established best practices, the following outlines the most prevalent mistakes, accompanied by descriptions and recommended avoidance measures.
Common Mistakes in Creating, Populating, and Publishing SharePoint Pages and Strategies to Avoid Them
SharePoint serves as a robust platform for collaboration and content management within organizations. However, errors in the creation, population, and publication of pages can lead to inefficiencies, security vulnerabilities, and reduced user adoption. Based on established best practices, the following outlines the most prevalent mistakes, accompanied by descriptions and recommended avoidance measures.
1. Starting Without a Clear Purpose or Information Architecture
- This occurs when pages are created without defining their objectives, audience, or structure, resulting in disorganized content, overlapping functions, and difficulty in navigation.
- Avoidance: Conduct discovery workshops to identify key use cases and map content by function and audience. Develop a structured site plan prior to creation, grouping related elements and deciding on essential migrations to ensure alignment with organizational needs.
2. Over creating Pages Without Defined Purposes
- Users frequently generate excessive pages lacking focus, leading to redundancy, user confusion, and a cluttered site resembling an unorganized collection.
- Avoidance: Assign a single, specific purpose to each page during creation. Prioritize simplicity and test the layout with end users to confirm it addresses intended needs without unnecessary complexity.
3. Neglecting Permissions Management
- Failing to configure appropriate access levels exposes sensitive drafts or content during population and publication, risking unauthorized views or edits.
- Avoidance: Implement role-based permissions from the outset, adhering to the principle of least privilege. Perform regular audits to validate access and use tools like Information Rights Management for additional controls on sensitive documents.
4. Poor Content Organization and Readability
- Populating pages with dense, unstructured text—such as long policies without sections—or inconsistent branding diminishes usability and professional appearance.
- Avoidance: Utilize collapsible sections for lengthy content, apply brand colors uniformly, and position quick links prominently at the top. Structure navigation by function rather than departments to maintain consistency as the site evolves.
5. Ignoring Optimization for Search and Mobile Accessibility
- Pages are often populated without keywords, tags, or mobile testing, making content hard to locate and inaccessible on various devices.
- Avoidance: Incorporate relevant keywords and metadata during content addition. Test pages on multiple devices and connections, ensuring mobile-first design and avoiding unsupported formats like certain document types that hinder searchability.
6. Blurring Collaboration and Publishing Boundaries
- Mixing draft collaboration areas with final published content erodes trust in document versions and complicates approval processes.
- Avoidance: Designate separate sites—such as Teams-connected sites for collaboration and Communication Sites for publishing. Establish clear ownership and use automation tools like Power Automate for content progression and approvals.
7. Excessive Customization Leading to Inconsistency
- Prioritizing creative variations in layouts and navigation over standardization causes user disorientation across pages.
- Avoidance: Develop and enforce standard templates and brand guidelines for all pages. Conduct periodic reviews to ensure predictable experiences and group similar sites using hub sites for unified themes.
8. Failing to Plan for Ongoing Maintenance
- Publishing pages without strategies for updates results in outdated content, permission drift, and storage issues over time.
- Avoidance: Schedule quarterly reviews to archive inactive content and validate permissions. Provide ongoing training and monitor usage metrics to adapt to changes, ensuring long-term relevance and efficiency.
Adhering to these practices enhances SharePoint's effectiveness as a tool for organized content delivery.