SharePoint Site Templates Explained: Which One Should You Choose?
If you’re creating a site in SharePoint and trying to decide which template to use, it can be a bit overwhelming at first. In my experience, understanding the differences between the templates makes this process much easier. SharePoint Site Templates Explained, is a post that will walk you through the main site templates in SharePoint and explain what they’re best suited for, so you can make the right choice for your needs.
The Two Main Types: Team Sites and Communication Sites
When setting up a new SharePoint site, your first decision is choosing between a Team Site or a Communication Site. These are like the foundation of a house – everything you build will depend on this choice. If you make the wrong choice here, you cannot simply swap to the other one, so this decision is crucial.
Team Sites
Team Sites are your go-to for collaboration. Think of them as the virtual hub for your project team, department, or group. They’re all about bringing people together to work on shared goals. Here’s what makes them stand out:
- Features: Team Sites integrate with Microsoft 365 tools like Teams, Planner, and OneNote, making it super easy to collaborate in real-time. You get shared document libraries, task lists, and calendars.
- Audience: Your team! These sites are designed for internal use, where everyone in the group can contribute and access content.
- Purpose: Use a Team Site when you need to collaborate on documents, track tasks, or share updates with a specific group.
When to use a Team Site:
- You’re managing a project.
- You need a space for your department to share and collaborate on files.
- You’re running an ongoing initiative that requires input from multiple people.
Communication Sites
Communication Sites, on the other hand, are all about broadcasting information to a wider audience. They are built for sharing updates rather than collaboration.
- Features: These sites come with web parts designed to showcase content, like news posts, event calendars, and image galleries. They’re more about consuming information than contributing.
- Audience: Typically, the whole organisation or a larger audience who just needs to stay informed.
- Purpose: Use a Communication Site when you want to share content with many people.
When to use a Communication Site:
- You’re launching a company-wide initiative or campaign.
- You want a landing page for a project or program that’s more about sharing than collaborating.
- You’re creating a resource centre for your team or organisation such as an intranet
Quick Tip: If you’re stuck, ask yourself: Is this for working together or sharing updates? Collaboration = Team Site. Broadcasting = Communication Site.
Taking It Up a Notch: Pre-Branded Microsoft Templates
Once you’ve chosen between a Team Site or Communication Site, you can take it further by applying a pre-branded template. These templates are designed by Microsoft and let you hit the ground running with a professional-looking site that suits your purpose.
What Are Pre-Branded Templates?
Microsoft offers a range of templates that you can apply to your Team or Communication Site after creation. These include:
- Department Sites: Perfect for setting up a Team Site for your HR, IT, or marketing teams.
- Leadership Connection Sites: Ideal for creating a Communication Site to share news, updates, and achievements from leadership.
- Project Management Sites: A fantastic option for Team Sites where you’re tracking tasks and milestones.
- Event Sites: A polished Communication Site template designed for promoting and managing events.
How to Use Them:
- Create your basic Team or Communication Site.
- Go to the settings menu and select “Apply a Site Template.”
- Browse the templates, pick one that fits your purpose, and apply it.
- Customise it further to match your organisation’s branding and content.
These templates save heaps of time and help ensure your site looks polished and professional without needing hours of tweaking.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right SharePoint site template isn’t rocket science, but it’s an important first step to setting yourself up for success. Whether you’re building a collaborative space for your team or a polished hub for sharing company news, there’s a template that fits your needs. And don’t forget – those pre-branded templates are there to make your life easier as well.
Hi, I’m Liza 👋
I’ve been working with SharePoint for nearly two decades, across consulting and in-house roles, helping organisations design, clean up, and scale their Microsoft 365 environments.
My focus is information architecture — the unglamorous but critical layer that determines whether search works, governance sticks, and tools like Copilot help… or quietly make things worse.
Through Simply SharePoint, I share practical, real-world guidance on structuring libraries, designing metadata, managing permissions, and fixing the kinds of issues that naming conventions, policies, and “best practice” slides never really solve.
Everything here is based on how SharePoint is actually used — not how we wish it was used — with a strong emphasis on foundations that scale and hold up in the AI era.
