Your intranet's homepage is more than just a landing page; it's the digital front door to your organization, the central hub where employees access and interact with essential information and colleagues. It should be the first point of contact each day, which is why its design and content are critical for a positive experience and efficient workday.
We understand that creating the "best" homepage can feel overwhelming, especially with diverse structures and user needs. This article will walk you through best practices for building an effective and engaging homepage on your platform.
Why your homepage matters
Firstly, your homepage should set the tone, provide immediate value, and guide users to what they need most. A well-designed homepage will:
- Improve communication: Centralize critical announcements, news, and updates, ensuring everyone is informed.
- Boost productivity: Provide quick access to frequently used tools and resources.
- Enhance engagement: Foster a sense of community and connection by showcasing relevant content and encouraging interaction.
- Reduce information overload: Present a curated overview, inspiring users to explore further without feeling overwhelmed.
- Support personalization: Cater to each user with tailored content and navigation.
Determine your content
Before you even think about how to build your homepage, the most critical step is to determine what content should be on it. Focus on what truly matters to your employees: your homepage should be a hub of relevant, useful, and engaging information that helps them do their jobs, stay informed, and feel connected.
To identify this core content, ask yourself:
| What are the most frequent questions employees ask? | This helps you determine what content to make easy to find. |
| What critical announcements or news do employees absolutely need to see immediately? | This helps you determine what content should be prominently highlighted. |
| What tools or applications do employees use most frequently? | This helps you determine what quick links or navigation elements to display. |
| What information fosters a sense of community and shared purpose? | This helps you determine any interactive content to include. |
By focusing on these questions, you can prioritize the information that will provide the most value to your users.
Design your homepage
Once you've determined the essential content for your homepage, the next step is to consider how you want to display it.
1. Choose your widgets wisely
Widgets are the building blocks of your homepage, allowing you to display various types of content. Select widgets that align with the purpose of your homepage and the needs of your audience.
Common and useful widgets include:
- Multichannel posts/Blog articles: Displaying the latest company news or blog posts.
- Upcoming events: Highlighting important events.
- Launchpad links: Providing shortcuts to frequently used applications or internal pages, in a personalized way.
- My profile: A personalized greeting to help users feel more connected, plus links to their bookmarks and profile.
- Subscriptions: Showing subscribed pages and communities at a glance.
- Timeline: Acting as a personalized newsfeed based on user subscriptions.
2. Embrace the power of hero teasers
A hero teaser is an excellent visual tool to draw the eye to the most important topics at the very top of your homepage. This prominent banner can showcase key announcements, campaigns, or initiatives with an engaging image and a clear call to action, allowing users to click to access more detailed information.
Remember to refresh your hero teaser often with new styles and content to keep your users engaged and make sure their attention stays on it.
3. Structure with rows and columns
How you organize your homepage, using rows and columns, decides which content gets the most attention. You have different row layouts to choose from to control the width of your widgets. When selecting a layout, consider the importance of the content inside each widget.
- Prominent content: Widgets that are critical for all users or for the primary purpose of that specific homepage should be placed in larger, more central columns or at the top of the page. This ensures they are immediately visible without needing to scroll.
- Less prominent content: Supporting information or less frequently accessed widgets can be placed further down the page and underneath prominent widgets.
Experiment with different approaches to find the one that fits your needs best.
It's also a good idea to group similar topics together, making it easy for users to find what they're looking for. For example, you could put important news on one side and personalized content on the other.
4. Try not to clutter your homepage
This is crucial. An overloaded homepage can be overwhelming and counterproductive, making it difficult for users to find what they need. Prioritize clarity and simplicity.
If you find yourself with too much content you want to include, consider these strategies:
- Global Widgets on Other Pages: Instead of cramming everything onto the homepage, use global widgets on other relevant pages. For example, you can highlight upcoming birthdays on the colleagues list or showcase suggested pages on the Pages overview. This allows you to distribute information strategically across your intranet.
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Dedicated Homepages: Create additional homepages tailored to specific use cases and target groups. If a single homepage becomes too crowded, or if different user groups have vastly different information needs, you can create additional, specialized homepages.
- For example, you could create a "Newsroom" homepage that serves as the central hub for all key blog articles. This way, users always know where to find news without cluttering the main landing page, which can be dedicated to a more prominent timeline for interactions and discussions.
- Keep a close eye on your news flow and how much content you're creating per homepage. Dedicated homepages can be a great choice, but make sure each one stays dynamic. A steady stream of fresh, relevant content will draw users in.
Put 'em together and what have you got? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo: A full homepage!
Click on the image to see it in a larger view.
Continuously improve and iterate
Building a successful intranet homepage is an ongoing process. Gather feedback from your users, monitor engagement metrics, and be prepared to iterate. Your intranet should evolve with your company's needs, and your homepage should always reflect the most important information and tools for your employees.
Further tips & tricks
- Step-by-step: Explore our in-depth articles on popular homepage use cases! We offer a deep dive into the choices of widgets and tips on building a homepage tailored to each specific use case: