6 Ways Intranet Templates Make Designing Your Intranet Easier

Intranet Templates

When the time comes together to design a new company intranet from the ground up, you want the process to go as smoothly as possible. Designing a company intranet from scratch can be a long, stressful process that involves many false starts and several stages of testing and development. Intranet templates, on the other hand, can streamline the process of building an intranet and make it easier to get your intranet up and running. If you’re thinking about designing a new intranet for your company, consider the benefits of intranet templates instead of starting from scratch.

Existing Design Makes for Quicker Deployment

When you build an intranet from scratch, your designer has to take care of every aspect of the design process. From creating the home page to designing each of the modules you intend to deploy, all of it has to be done from the ground up. This long, time-consuming process can stretch out the time to intranet deployment substantially which is particularly frustrating if you’re in need of a quick deployment in order to deal with other company issues. Intranet templates, on the other hand, already have an existing design. You simply have to customize them to your unique specifications and put your content in place. That means that the time to intranet deployment is measured in terms of weeks and not in months.

Access to Standard Features

When you’re designing your own intranet, it’s between you and your designer to decide what features you need. If you don’t name them or don’t think of them, they aren’t going to be part of your finished intranet. While your designer will probably have the experience to identify the must-have features associated with typical business intranets, they may not think of lesser-known features or something may slip both of your minds during the brainstorming portion of the session. Intranet templates also remain on the cutting edge of current trends, so you’ll know you’re getting the latest, most important features.

Proven Security

Internal security is becoming a more pressing concern than ever. Whether you’re storing confidential client information on your company intranet or protecting your private designs and innovations, you want to be sure that your intranet is secure from threats from the outside. When you design from scratch, your intranet security starts in the same place. When you work from an intranet template, on the other hand, you already have a variety of security features in place. These include:

• External security: protecting the intranet from threats from the outside
• Internal security: protecting information within the intranet from threats that might arise from within your own network
• Information security: cloud-based security protection that keeps your vital information secure in spite of who attempts to access it
• Layers of security within your structure to prevent lower-level employees from accessing information that they don’t need
• Permission-based access to specific forums and other sections of your company intranet.

All of these are built in from the beginning, so you don’t have to worry about remembering all of them when you create your intranet design. Not only that, you can adapt the security features available on your intranet template to the needs of your company. If you don’t need a specific type of security, you can loosen up those restrictions while still knowing they’re there if you need them.

More Content Control

When you’re working with a designer to create an intranet from the ground up, you’re reliant on them to put in the content you need. In some cases, you’ll never learn how to do more than upload new content as you go along. Any changes are reliant on your designer. Your intranet template, on the other hand, is yours to work with. You’re responsible for customizing color choices to match your company logo, uploading your picture, and changing content yourself. That means that you’ll learn how to work the internal parts of the intranet from the beginning, making it easier for you to change important content when you need to. Upgrade the company’s logo or branding to reflect important internal changes? It’s easy to go in and upload a new logo. Adding new employees or removing old ones and need to update the employee directory? Since you put it together to begin with, you have a solid understanding of how you need to take care of those changes.

Simplified Growth

Growth is inevitable within a successful company. That’s exactly what you want to see for yours: continued growth that increases over the years. An intranet that’s been specifically designed for the current size of your business, on the other hand, may not be able to successfully grow with you. It’s adaptable to a point, but the larger your company grows, the more the odds decrease that your existing intranet structure will be able to support that growth. By using intranet templates, on the other hand, you have a working foundation that will adapt to support the changing needs of your company. There’s no need to add servers, increase your IT staff, or pay a designer to increase the size of your intranet when you work from a template. Instead, you’ll have an intranet that will support your business no matter how far it grows.

Access and Roles are Already Built

When you design an intranet from the ground up, you have to decide how to layer permissions and create access for specific positions within your organization. The ability to customize that access is great and the ideal intranet template for your business will provide that customization without the need for you to come up with your own layers of access. Your HR department may need access to information that doesn’t need to be readily available to other members of the company. The legal team may have their own set of data that’s irrelevant to other intranet users. With an intranet template, it’s easy to set permissions and design access to reflect the unique needs of your users.

Controlled access doesn’t just help restrict classified or sensitive information, either. It also enables you to create a more streamlined intranet with fewer distractions for employees who don’t need access to that information. The more information is available, the harder it is for many employees to remain focused on the task at hand. When information is limited, on the other hand, it’s easier for them to concentrate on exactly the information they need.
Your intranet is a fantastic communication tool for every member of your company. From creating forums that allow employees to collaborate on important projects to designing tools that allow employees access to critical information that makes it easier for them to do their jobs, your intranet helps enhance employee engagement, improve workflow, and streamline the course of your entire day. Working from an intranet template helps ensure that you have an intranet that’s ready to deploy quickly, with less time wasted on the design process and more time spent using the intranet for its intended purpose. If you’re ready to start building that advantage for employees within your company or organization, contact us today. We provide the template. You provide the content necessary to enhance your organization and build a deeper, more interactive company culture that encourages collaboration and enhances efficiency.