Moving Your Intranet Design from SharePoint to Google Sites
SharePoint sites look different from Google Sites and there’s no way to exactly import design settings between the two. Consider this migration as a new approach to applying your corporate branding guidelines to the intranet. Revisit what makes your brand special and how it can be implemented as a custom theme in Google Sites.
Google Sites allows for more freedom and flexibility in general of your internal company sites. Whereas SharePoint tends to be boxy and modular, Google Sites can appear closer to a full website experience. Here’s a summary of design points to consider when migrating:
Size and upload your logo
Create a custom theme with your brand colors and customize the 3 styles within, specifying hex codes and color combinations
Utilize Google Fonts to find suitable or near-match fonts to your branding guidelines
Decide on page template layouts and use of imagery throughout the site, like for background images. Keep in mind the grid layout for SharePoint and Sites is different and how images display, wrap or interact with your content.
Wireframe and mock up the design in Google Sites, then get feedback
If you want a quick advantage in the migration and design process, study intranet templates and examples. SharePoint designers and Google Sites designers take different approaches that match their platform’s strengths.
Document Management in Google Sites Compared to SharePoint
Document management is handled quite differently between the two intranet platforms. SharePoint Online has its own file management, but Google Sites connects to Google Drive. These are the sections you might be familiar with from SharePoint, from Access Settings, Site Contents, Content and SubSites areas:
Document libraries
Lists
Events
Apps
Page libraries
Sites
Files
Site Pages > Image Files
Essentially, all of this equates to what’s available from Google Sites and Google Drive working in conjunction. Google has released a new data migration service to streamline the bulk of the file migration. Using their tool from the Admin console allows you to transfer document libraries, folders, files and so forth. They have a 3 step copy process that’s easy to follow. So the transition has never been easier for this part of the project. You can also consider converting MS document file types to Google file types to take advantage of the online collaboration features. Keep in mind you do lose the “my” sites, files, news, lists since following updated items isn’t part of Google Sites.
Differences in Intranet Development Between Google and Microsoft Applications
Now we’ll pin Google Sites vs SharePoint to highlight the key differences for the development of your corporate intranet. Here’s what won’t transfer because a similar functionality isn’t available:
Likes
Public Views counter
Save for Later bookmarking
Following Content option for viewers on pages, documents, etc.
Automatically calculated estimated read time on articles
View comments
@ system to mention, tag and notify persons, embedding their contact info directly from the active directory
Email or chat notifications from SharePoint to users
You’ll also need to consider a different way to embed org charts and directories from Google Sheets, because those aren’t directly natively integrated. What you gain though is a more diverse range of page layouts, design sets and deeper navigation and search options. So next we’ll talk about the content because that’s the heart of the intranet.
Content Management Strategies
Since the way content and pages are managed in Google Sites is more free-form, new procedures will most likely need to be determined by your internal communications team. SharePoint has a CMS which handles news articles like blog posts, allowing for summaries of recent articles of other pages and featuring latest news carousels, also called sliders.
News pages, links to news and carousels will all need to be manually maintained in Google Sites. However there are applications which can be leveraged to make a centralized news command center possible. If you are looking to disseminate news items across multiple pages, embed galleries, summaries and feature new posts, discuss this with your Google Sites migration specialist. Here’s a list of the items to can discuss implementing:
A quick note about the process of saving your news pages from SharePoint, if you have hundreds or even thousands of these, they can be saved in PDF format and uploaded to Google Drive. Therein, Google Search can ensure these pages don’t get lost and precious details abandoned, even though they might be somewhat out of date. If there are pages that can be culled, or deleted, consider this as an opportunity for housekeeping on your internal sites.
The Process of Planning, Scoping and Commencing a migration to Google Sites from SharePoint
Let’s face it, it’s not easy to switch from SharePoint to another intranet platform. See some items in this sample scope of work:
Identify roles for content preparation, project management, design and development
Migrate all relevant content from the Hub SharePoint Site to Google Sites.
Redesign the intranet hub with a modern and user-friendly design.
Ensure all critical functionalities are replicated or improved.
Maintain accessibility for all employees.
Content audit and planning.
Information architecture (IA) and wireframing.
Brand integration and visual design.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT) with the client.
Final adjustments.
Go-live preparation.
Deployment and launch.
Hiring an Agency to Manage Your SharePoint Migration
Hiring a consultant to migrate SharePoint to Google Sites can save your teams from some major headaches. IT teams are typically stretched thin and don’t want to deal with the combination of web design and content coordination. Internal communications teams will benefit from a dedicated resource to actually building the site.
Kirksville Web Design is an example of one company who has spearheaded many such projects, helping consult the transition during every step. A Google Workspace partner, Google Sites designer, intranet developer and web design firm, they understand all aspects of the migration. Also key is the role of knowledge management system designer and administrator, which aggregates data from across the organization.
Helpful tools often used include Google Sheets for timelines, project management and tracking revisions/completions. Google Chat, Spaces, Slack or such applications keep everyone in the loop when the intranet is updated and quick questions need to be answered. Google Docs or Slides can be used for wireframing and visualizing page layouts.
Remember that hiring an outside agency means efficiency, which is important when SharePoint sites have inflated to hundreds of pages that ought to be preserved. Google Sites experts are like knowledgeable guides that can point out upgrades, improvements or aid you in avoiding pain points between the platforms. At the end of the project, they can provide training on how to maintain your Google Sites intranet without need for costly support contracts. Often several custodians can keep your intranet fresh and ensure priority reports are shared at the fore. Contact intranet experts to discuss what’s involved and evaluate your requirements.
How much does it cost to move from SharePoint to Google Sites?
It does not cost much to move from SharePoint to Google Sites when you consider the alternatives on the market. It is a one-time fee to complete and hand over the deliverables. A cost proposal or estimate usually involves hours and milestones. Hourly rates of intranet developers can range from $100-$200.
Cost factors include the scope of your original SharePoint site in number of sites, pages and files.
Complexity can also affect the efforts of your developer team because widgets will need to be coded and integrations made. Ongoing support is not typically required, but offered on an as needed basis. Third party widgets may incur additional costs and require subscriptions to run. Ask your developer for an estimate with these line-items in order to get the full picture. In the end, you’ll be saving your company a bundle in comparison to other intranet software, which easily escalates into the tens of thousands on a monthly basis.
Is there a tool that programmatically recreates the SharePoint site as a Google Site?
Currently there is no program which exists to automatically handle the building of a Google Sites property since a developer API is not available for the product. Files can be moved to Google Drive, but the design of Google Sites webpages from their SharePoint counterparts requires human intervention. Currently AI tools or Workspace Studio also do not have any shortcuts or workflows to tap into.
Is Google Sites a suitable alternative to SharePoint?
Google Sites is a viable alternative to SharePoint for operations running on Google Workspace. From all angles, Google Sites provides an enterprise level solution for internal sites. For instance, Google Sites is equally secure and administrators can control how sites are shared, whether within the domain or externally. Sharing settings are very clear and easy to manage.
