The day I started using SharePoint for my personal work, I completely ignored how important SharePoint site types really are. In my initial phase of using SharePoint, I created a site without any planning and thought that every SharePoint site worked the same way. Over a period of time, I have realised that the SharePoint environment depends on choosing the correct site type from the beginning.
In this article, I will explain everything based on my experience with SharePoint, and also clarify how SharePoint Online types of sites offer different business goals. If you have any confusion about which site suits you best, this guide will surely clear up your confusion.
Understanding SharePoint Site Types from a Practical View
Personally, SharePoint Sites are designed to support different workflows, such as communication and content organization. Microsoft developed modern SharePoint more simpler way by offering fewer but powerful and flexible site options.
In SharePoint types of sites, modern sites are the default. These sites are much faster and closely integrated with Microsoft 365 apps. Once I learned this modern approach, I stopped looking at SharePoint as just a document storage tool and started using it as a full collaboration platform. Whenever I plan a new site, I first understand who is going to use it and how they will work with the content. Once I get my answer, I will choose the right site type to proceed with. There are four different types of sites. Let’s understand them one by one.
Related Guide: SharePoint Site vs Page
Team Sites
Among all SharePoint site types, Team sites are the ones that I use for my daily workflow. They are best for collaboration. Talking about myself, I use Team Sites for project files and shared documents. Basically, Team Site in SharePoint Online types of sites are built for teamwork. Let’s learn more:
Microsoft Teams integration: Team Sites work smoothly with Microsoft Teams. Bringing all the tasks into one place, and this thing keeps the communication smooth, and app switching will be less.
Central team workspace: It provides you with a shared space where all the teams and team members can store documents and control access all in one place. This is an easier way in learning SharePoint site types
Easy collaboration tools: Teams members can easily edit any files, track the development of the projects, and discuss work directly within the site.
Secure file management: Team Sites are good at supporting large file libraries with permission control and version history of the work.
Workflow and customization: Approvals get automatically approved, smooth connection with other business tools, and news to fit your team’s needs.
These are some features that impress me the most when I use Teams Site.
Communication Sites
As we understand that Team Sites supports collaboration, on the other hand, Communication Sites offers a completely different purpose within SharePoint site types. Personally, I use Communication Sites when I need to share information on a large scale, but not all have the access to edit it. In SharePoint Online types of sites, this site is ideal for company news and other updates. Let’s learn more:
- Wide reach across the organization: It is built to share updates to a large audience. Communication sites consistently deliver messages to everyone and make sure that the right messages are delivered to the right person.
- Focused on reading, not editing: The main purpose of this site is to view content. The goal is to present information clearly so users can easily read and understand it.
- Flexible and attractive design: These sites are good for personalising layouts that help you in creating your branding as per your choice, so you can easily highlight key information. Clean visuals and smart layouts make the content attractive and engaging.
- Built-in interaction options: It is the best site to use if your organization does regular polls, surveys, and question & answer. By using these features, you can gather feedback.
I use this site because Communication Sites are great for sharing information and keeping everyone informed.
Additional guide: How to Archive SharePoint Site
Hub Sites
The growth of workflow is directly proportional to the increase in the number of sites, making them hard to manage. That’s when I depend on Hub Sites because this is a valuable asset in this kind of situation. Hub Sites in SharePoint Online types of Sites offer me the privilege to group Team Sites and Communication Sites under a unified structure. For example, if I have set up a department-level hub site that is responsible for linking multiple sites together, so that everything feels familiar and easy to navigate.
The biggest advantage that I have noticed is discoverability. People don’t get confused or lost, and the content feels tied up instead of being spread across separately in disconnected sites.
Classic SharePoint Sites
I have seen that modern sites have the upper hand in SharePoint site types, but there are organizations that are still using the classic sites. I have mostly come across them during legacy system maintenance or older migrations.
Classic sites in SharePoint Online types of sites don’t have that many modern features if we compare them with modern sites, and they are slow in response, but they are still useful in a custom workflow or working with a third party. Personally, I use them as temporary solutions.
I always recommend to many organizations that it is better to switch to modern sites sooner rather than later, because one day they need to switch to improve performance and security.
Related article: How to Change Site Owner in SharePoint Online
How I Decide Which SharePoint Site Type to Use
Choosing the correct option among SharePoint site types has saved me many times from many future problems. I simply follow these tricks:
- Choose a Team Site when working together with others is required
- Pick a communication site when you need to share information on a large scale
- I use Hub Site when managing multiple sites get hard for me
Understanding SharePoint Online types of sites this way always helps you in choosing the right site for your workflow. If in the initial phase you mistakenly choose the wrong site, then it can lead to many problems in the future.
Migrating Content Between SharePoint Site Types
In real life, SharePoint environments evolve. I personally worked on many projects where the situation was created in a way that I needed to move the content between different SharePoint sites. Migrating data within SharePoint Online types of sites requires handling many things carefully, like permissions, version history, etc. When I got trapped in that situation, I used a professional and reliable tool, that is the SharePoint Online Migration Tool, to move the content securely and safely without disturbing any structure and preserving the data integrity in less time.
A well-planned migration approach makes sure that there will be no data loss and everything goes smoothly during the transition.
Relevant Guide: Migrate SharePoint Site to Another Site
Author’s Verdict
After a decade of working with SharePoint site types, I strongly believe that proper planning before choosing any sites as per your requirements can make a huge difference and is key to long-term success. SharePoint is a very powerful tool, but only when its structures suit your business needs.
By understanding SharePoint Online types of sites, I helped many teams in better collaboration and improved the overall user experience. If you are creating a site for the very first time or restructuring the existing one, always take your time to choose the right site type because in the end it decides SharePoint site is good or bad.
FAQs
Q. Is there any SharePoint Site best for teamwork?
A SharePoint Site that is best for teamwork is Team Site.
Q. When is a Communication Site the right choice?
The Communication Site is best when you want to share any information in large scale.
Q. Are Classic SharePoint sites still in use?
Some of the organizations are still using it, but mostly replaced it with modern sites.
Q. Is it possible to convert one SharePoint Site type to another?
It is not possible to convert it directly, but you are able to migrate the content between them.
Q. What are sites in SharePoint?
Sites in SharePoint are Online workspaces where one can store, organise, and manage content like documents.