Microsoft SharePoint hub sites help you organize your intranet. But, getting the most value from hub sites requires some up-front planning.
SharePoint hub sites play a critical role in building a cohesive intranet. They act as the "glue" that connects related team and communication sites, enabling smooth organization and navigation across your digital workspace.
One of the guiding principles of modern SharePoint-based intranets is assigning each unit of work its own site collection. This setup simplifies governance and supports scalability as your organization grows. Both communication sites and Microsoft 365 group-connected team sites function as individual site collections, each with unique permissions. Similarly, a hub site—usually created from a communication site—should be treated as its own independent work unit, designed to unify and connect multiple related sites.
Historically, organizations often relied on subsites to structure their intranets. Subsites utilized shared navigation and hierarchical nesting to create relationships between sites. However, subsites come with significant drawbacks. Their rigid structure ties content to a physical URL, making reorganization cumbersome. This can result in broken links and disrupted workflows when business relationships evolve. Additionally, governance challenges arise, as SharePoint policies (like retention or classification) apply universally to all subsites within a collection, even when they are only needed for specific subsites.
And let's face it—if there’s one constant in business, it’s change. As organizations evolve, their intranets must adapt to reflect new workflows, structures, and priorities. This is where SharePoint hub sites excel. Unlike traditional subsites, hub sites use dynamic links rather than static hierarchies, allowing them to flexibly mirror the shifts in your organization. In a world of ever-changing business needs, hub sites provide the adaptability required to thrive.
The next step is to configure the Hub navigation. This process does not happen automatically when a site is associated with the Hub. Only the Hub Site Owner has the authority to manage and customize the Hub navigation.
If you are looking for advice on how to get the most of your SharePoint environment (or even your IT as a whole), contact us today for a free consultation!