Whether you are implementing a new intranet or redesigning an old one, there are best practices to consider when developing your new intranet home page.
Many customers have embraced these concepts and created home pages that engage and excite their employees, enhancing their use of the intranet and ensuring they keep coming back for more.
Below are five best practices:
1. Keep it simple.
When your employees land on your intranet home page, you want it to be a welcoming experience. Bombarding them with too many links or too much information will overwhelm them and cause most people to jump to the search bar or leave your intranet altogether.
Before plunging into your home page to add content, prioritize what important information should be front and center. For most organizations “What’s New” is a no-brainer.
Other featured items depend on your industry and company culture. For example, O Bee Credit Union features its Top Dog Blog, whereas Gold Coast Hospital highlights new staff members.
Related: Download this practical guide on how to audit your internal communications.
2. Make it engaging.
What exactly does an “engaging” home page mean?
Examples include:
- Bold bright colors: Verity Credit Union uses bright orange and blue to draw the attention of its employees and provide a fun look.
- Home page imagery: Bonnier uses large images on its home page to draw attention toward noteworthy updates and need-to-know announcements. Gold Coast Hospital goes for a dynamic approach by using a rotating banner.
- A vibrant top banner: Homewood Health implemented a vibrant orange sunrise at the top of its home page, creating an inviting space for employees.
Making your home page engaging helps improve overall intranet adoption.
3. Provide robust navigation.
Although you want to keep your navigation simple, you also want employees to find the information they need. Depending on the size of your organization, there could be a lot of it.
Using both side and top menu navigation is a great way to distinguish types of content. Use side navigation for quick links for staff, saving the top menu navigation for important intranet content such as department sites, policies and online forms. Northfield Hospital offers a great example of how to design simple yet effective home page navigation.
Within your top menu navigation, you can take advantage of drop-down menus and mega menus to organize your content. Mega menus are a great way to add content to your top menu navigation without taking up too much real estate.
4. Encourage feedback.
Your employees are a great source of assessments, so make it easy for them to tell you what they think about your new home page. Set up an anonymous online form for submitting ideas, or create a more public suggestion box, using the idea share exchange, where employees can post and collaborate on ideas.
Whichever feedback method you choose, ensure that it is accessible directly from the home page. O Bee Credit Union added a suggestion box image that links to its online suggestion box for employees. This image stands out and makes it easy for employees to provide feedback.
5. Drum up employee chatter.
Encourage employee conversations by changing your home page design for different seasons and company events, or you might come up with a catchy intranet name.
Some clever intranet names include:
- Dwight (Pima Federal Credit Union): The Employee Know-It-All
- The Pantry (New Seasons Market) Describes everything you’ll find on the intranet
- InSight (InTouch Credit Union): Describes what you’ll gain from using the intranet
- Fetch (San Diego Humane Society & SPCA): Describes retrieving information and resources on the intranet
- The Glove Box (Bob Moore Auto Group): Everything you need right at your fingertips
- Emergency Web (Gold Coast Hospital): Quick information on the go
- VERN (Veridian Credit Union Intranet): Veridian Employee Resource Network
Do you have more ways to make your intranet home page more engaging? Please leave your comments below.
Related: Download this practical guide on how to audit your internal communications.
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