Guided walkthrough: Creating an organization site

In this article, we show you elements of an example SharePoint enterprise landing site to inspire you and help you learn how to create similar sites for your own organization. In this example, the site emphasizes news, resources, and personalized content. You'll see which web parts on used in different sections, along with links for more information on each web part.

First, if you haven't already created a Communication site, check out the Create your site section in this article.

Once you have your created your site and know how to edit pages, you can use the steps below to add the elements shown.

Example SharePoint enterprise landing site

Web part Description
Image of an example enterprise landing site 1 Navigation
Quickly guide visitors to the information they're looking for with site navigation.
Learn how


2 News and events
Keep everyone up to date on the latest happenings.
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3 Quick links
Format the Quick links web part with icons, images, and descriptions.
Learn how


4 Important information
Display important documents and files.
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5 Personalization
Use web parts designed to dynamically provide personalized information for the user.
Learn how

Create your site

To make a site like the one shown here, you'll create a Communication site. To do this, select Create site from the SharePoint start page (or, if you're going to associate this site with a Hub site, navigate to the hub site and select Create site there so that the communication site is automatically associated with that hub site).

Image of the command bar

Next, choose Communication site, and then the Topic layout. Fill out your site name, description, and other information, and select Finish. Then you'll get a template with the same type of layout as the example in this article.

Image of the edit pane for the Topic layout

For more information, see Create a communication site in SharePoint online.

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Manage sections and web parts

Sections make up your page, and are where you place one or more web parts. While editing the page, each section will show controls to edit the layout, move, or delete the sections.

If your page isn't already in edit mode, select Edit on the top right of the page.

Image of the edit button at the top of the page

The + symbol before or after a section will add a section using one of several layouts.

Image of the available section layouts

For more information on working with sections, see Add or remove sections and columns on a page.

To add a web part to a section, select the plus symbol Image of the plus symbol, which may appear before or after a web part in a section. For more information on all web parts, see Using web parts on SharePoint pages.

Image of the featured web parts that appear when you select the plus symbol

Web parts may be edited, moved, or deleted within sections. The Edit web part icon opens detailed controls unique to each web part type.

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You can quickly and easily customize the organization and navigation of your SharePoint site.

Image of a custom navigation bar

Select Edit on the top menu to add and arrange links.

Image of the edit menu for navigation

Learn more about customizing the navigation on your SharePoint site.

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Keep everyone up to date

The Enterprise Landing page uses two different News web parts. One uses the Carousel layout, and the other uses the Top story layout. In the example at the beginning of the article, these layouts are both in the first column of two-column sections on the page. The second column contains an Events web part that you can use to display upcoming events and activities. The second example photo below includes the Countdown timer web part to generate excitement for things like an upcoming event, activity, or launch.

Image of a News web part using the Carousel layout

Image of the Countdown timer web part

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You can use buttons, icons, and descriptions to turn simple links into engaging guidance to help visitors find the sites they need.

In the example below, the Quick links web part is in a separate, one-column section.

In this Enterprise landing site example at the beginning of the article, this web part uses the List layout with icons and descriptions added. To get this look, choose Show descriptions when you choose the List layout for the Quick Links web part. Then, use the Edit pencil under each individual link where you can add your own description. Then, use the Edit pencil icon under each individual link to add your own description.

Image of the Quick links web part

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Documents and files

Display a file on the page with the File viewer web part. You can display Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, and 3D model files, and many more types. In the example, two File viewer web parts are shown in two columns. One displays a Word document, and one displays a PowerPoint presentation.

Image of the File viewer web part displaying a Word document

Image of the File viewer web part displaying a PowerPoint

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Personalized web parts

Recent sites (left column), Highlighted content (middle column), and News (right column) web parts are in a separate, three-column section. Each can filter content based on the current viewer of the site. These kinds of web parts used in this way can help draw viewers back to the page to see their latest visited sites, content, and news.

Image of a three-column section showing recent sites, Highlighted Content, and News

For more information on using these web parts, see Use the Sites web part, Use the Highlighted content web part, and Use the News web part on a SharePoint page.

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Want more?

Get inspired with more examples in the SharePoint look book.

See other guided walkthroughs for creating sites for your organization.