SharePoint Site Architecture: Best Practices for Large Teams

When your team is large or your organization is complex, managing content and communication can quickly become chaotic. Microsoft SharePoint is a powerful tool that offers a central, secure space for teamwork. But simply creating many SharePoint sites without a plan leads to “site sprawl” a confusing mess where employees can’t find what they need.

For large teams, a well-planned SharePoint site architecture is necessary for clarity, governance, and user adoption. It is not just about where documents are stored; it is about how people find information and work together efficiently. This article shows you the best ways to design, manage, and scale your SharePoint sites to support large, busy teams.

Understanding the SharePoint Site Structure Basics

Before you start building, you must understand how modern SharePoint is structured.

1. The Hub Site Model

In modern SharePoint, you should build your architecture around the Hub Site Model.

• Hub Site: This is the main, high-level site that works as a central point for navigation and company branding. You should create one Hub Site for a major division (like “Marketing” or “HR”).
• Associate Sites: These are individual sites (Team Sites or Communication Sites) that link to the Hub. They share the Hub’s main navigation but keep their own specific permissions and content.

This model creates a clear structure where information groups logically, but different teams keep their own separate work areas.

2. Communication vs. Team Sites

When you create a SharePoint site, you must choose the correct type:

• Team Site: You use this for active teamwork among a specific group (e.g., the “Product Launch Team”). It connects to a Microsoft 365 Group, giving you a shared mailbox, calendar, and Teams channel. It is used for working on documents.
• Communication Site: You use this to share information widely with a large audience (e.g., the “Company News Portal” or “HR Policy Guide”). It is used for publishing finished content.

You need to teach your users which type of site to choose to avoid confusion.

Best Practices for Designing Your SharePoint Site Architecture

Effective design focuses on the user experience and ease of maintaining the site over time.

1. Plan for Navigation First

You must define your main navigation structure before creating any sites.

• Global Navigation: The top navigation on the Hub Site should list the main areas of the business, for example, Departments, Major Projects. This way the employees know where to start looking.
• Local Navigation: Each site should have prominent links to its internal sections (e.g., “Project Plans,” “Budgets,” “Meeting Notes”).

2. Standardize Your SharePoint Site Design

When you create a new site, you should always use a consistent SharePoint site design (template) to ensure every site looks and works the same way.

• Branding: All sites should use the same company colors, logos, and fonts.
• Layout: Define standard page layouts. For example, all project sites should have the “Documents” library in the same spot.

Consistency makes it easier for employees to move between different teams or projects.

3. Avoid Deep Site Hierarchies

You must avoid putting sites inside other sites (subsites). Modern architecture uses the flat Hub Site Model instead.

• Flat Structure: Create all sites at the top level and link them to a Hub. This makes permissions easier to manage and improves search results.

Governance: Permissions and Management

For large teams, strong rules (governance) are necessary. You must set clear rules for who can do what.

1. Manage Permissions Easily

You must keep permissions clear and simple to avoid security problems.

• Use Groups: Never give permissions to individual users. Always use Microsoft 365 Groups or SharePoint Security Groups.
• Inheritance: Keep the security settings the same (inherited) for as many sites as possible. Change the inheritance only when it is absolutely necessary for a specific file area. A Powershell script to get SharePoint site permissions can help IT teams quickly check security across many sites.

2. Plan for Site Lifecycle

You must decide what happens to a site after a project is finished.

• Archiving: Set rules for when a site should be moved to “read-only” status.
• Deletion: Define a process for how do you delete a SharePoint site. You must train site owners to identify inactive sites and ask for them to be removed to keep the system clean.

3. Control Site Creation

You need to prevent site chaos by limiting who can create new sites.

• Restrict Access: Do not allow every employee to create a new SharePoint site. Limit site creation to a few key administrators or trained department owners.
• Template Use: If you do allow self-service creation, make sure users must use your approved site templates.

Managing Change: Names and Pages

Teams and projects change over time, and your SharePoint sites must change too.

1. How to Change the Name of a SharePoint Site

If a department’s name changes, you must update the site name immediately for clarity.

• Change the Title: This is easy and instantly updates the visible name of the site.
• Change the URL: While possible, changing the URL of a SharePoint site can break links. You should do this carefully and only when necessary, using the SharePoint Admin Center tools to manage the redirection.

2. SharePoint Site vs Page

You must understand the difference between an entire site and a page within it.

• Site: A site is a container with its own permissions, document areas, and apps.
• Page: A page is a single piece of content within a site (e.g., a news post, a project summary).

You must train users to create a new page for new content, not a new site for every piece of information. How to create a SharePoint site is a much larger step than simply creating a page.

Conclusion:

For large teams, successful SharePoint usage depends completely on a strong SharePoint site architecture. You must organize your content using the Hub Site Model, standardize your site designs, and strictly manage permissions and the site lifecycle. By following these best practices, your organization will avoid site sprawl and create a secure, easy-to-use system that boosts productivity. Start planning your architecture today so your SharePoint environment can grow with your business.

FAQs

Q: What is the difference between a SharePoint site vs page?

A SharePoint site is the main container that holds documents, permissions, and apps. A page is a single piece of content inside that site, like a news post or a project summary. You should create a new page for new content, not a new site.

Q: If a team name changes, how to change the name of a SharePoint site?

You should change the site title immediately in the site settings, as this is easy and clear to users. While you can change the site’s URL, you should do this carefully as it can break links.

Q: How can I make sure all my SharePoint sites look the same?

You make sure they look the same by standardizing your SharePoint site design. Create a standard template with consistent colors, logos, and page layouts, and make new sites use that design.

Q: What is the easiest way to check who has access to a SharePoint site?

The easiest way to check permissions is by using security groups (not individual user names). For large-scale auditing, IT teams can run a Powershell script to get SharePoint site permissions across the whole environment.