Google Workspace Intranet Guide

Learn how to create your Google Workspace intranet from the very start. As an intranet designer and consultant we are approached at many points in production, but typically we engage with a client at the beginning. So here's a roadmap to share the adventure of creating an intranet on Workspace (formerly G Suite & Google Apps for Business).

What is a Google Workspace intranet?

A Google Workspace intranet is an application, or system of tools, which serves domain users to securely present company information and resources. The requirements for a Google Workspace intranet are that it:

Integrates with Google Workspace, specifically apps such as Google Drive
Authenticates domain-only user access for a secure environment

Make a Plan

We already discussed planning and the three pillars of good planning: aesthetic, organization, functionality. Review your company's goals for the intranet? What is the intranet's purpose?

What kind of intranet does your company need? There are many types of intranet-type sites:

- true intranet - multi-faceted that combines all the below concepts of resources, news and information
- wiki - a company encyclopedia, pure knowledge base, also called source of truth within a company
- apps dashboard/portal - a landing page or resource database to connect employees to resources or apps
- team/project site - encompassing only a team or project as the primary subject
- help desk - support, contacts, resources, FAQs, tutorials, articles and so forth
- extranet - designed to serve clients, contractors and their needs related to your organization

2. Find Intranet Inspiration

You wouldn't believe how many queries we get traffic for involving searching for Google Sites intranet examples. Why is that? Because internal communications directors, managers and advisors all want a reference point for what to expect from an intranet in Google Workspace on the Sites platform. So find examples of intranets, wikis and portals. Take note of what works or what could be adopted by your organization.

An intranet doesn't always need to be a complete reinvention of the wheel. There are many common elements in design and development. So go explore inspiration in a few ways:

- Google around for examples, like by using an image search
- Review your company's own public-facing website
- See what different platforms do like Office 365 with Sharepoint, or Notion, and then don't be afraid to borrow good ideas
- Check out any existing Google Sites on the domain that might be for team or project sites

We have a lot of intranet inspiration for you

3. Determine Your Project Team

Every intranet-building project has a team. That team can be as simple as a project manager and a contractor. Here are some factors that may determine your team size and approach:

- A project manager or a steering committee
- Site owners, collaborators, content managers and overall site governance

And here are some common departments that get involved in the process:

- IT for the technicalities, security and possible development needs
- Marketing for ideas about brand, aesthetic, look and feel
- Internal Communications for guidance on messaging
- Designers for input regarding UX, user experience

4. Gather Knowledge & Content

Typically the project manager takes on a role like a middleman or coordinator. The individual in this role will need to remind and nudge departments for content or input. Therefore, strive to set expectations clearly for content managers and department heads. Make it easy for them to submit content, this leads us into our next point: content management.

5. Choose a Content Management Strategy

When you've gathered the content for the intranet, you need a place to dump it. Pick the CMS that is the most intuitive for your organization. Since we are usually working with Google Workspace clients, we recommend starting a Shared Drive. This team drive will be a backend parallel universe to the Google Site architecture. Use a combination of these tools in your CMS:

- Folders to denote sections or pages
- Google Docs for on page content
- Google Spreadsheet for links, data and resources

Some teams lean more heavily into spreadsheets to share their thoughts, others use Google Docs. Do what feels most comfortable for the long term, because you'll be using this system the next couple weeks or months.

6. Organize Everything Site Wise

Organization has a strong correlation with points 4 and 5. The project manager is usually tasks with filing all this content, putting it into logical categorical buckets. Brainstorm about the hierarchy of the site. Here are useful tools for organization:

- Mind mapping is the most organic means of mulling over your content, link your thoughts together
- Sitemap Diagraming will help you bucket out your content
- Considering a need for subsites? private sites? Basically, do you need break away sites with different permissions tied to them?
- Wireframe / Mock Ups will put flesh on that metaphorical sitemap skeleton
- Create a Sandbox Google Site is a great exercise that brings you closer to building the real thing

7. Assign or Hire a Designer / Developer

This is one or two individuals with strengths in graphic design, UX, HTML, CSS, Google Workspace Admin, Apps and API integration. Put simply, this is the primary builder of your intranet. The role is looking for content and guidance to go forth and create.

Your Google Sites designer/developer can be sourced from within your organization or brought in as a contractor. Our experience is that KWD is hired as a Google Sites intranet consultant because experience or bandwidth are lacking within the client company. It actually might be the most cost-efficient solution to hire this out because Google Sites experts work with such speed and efficiency that makes it worth it.

8. Build, Collaborate, Review, Repeat

This is where the bulk of time and effort are spent. Ideas become reality and content finds a home. There will be emails, comments, chats and weekly meetings surrounding the building process.

9. Request Feedback and Input

Feedback can and should be requested at many points in intranet conception and creation. Up to this point, the project manager has received approvals from management like the CEO, CIO or similar. When milestones are completed it is appropriate to reach back out and gather input so that the intranet development is not a surprise and expectations are realistic for the final product.

In addition to feedback from administrators and management, general requests for input can be sent out in the forms of:

- Naming contests for the intranet
- Questionnaire input (needs/wants/gripes)
- Beta access

10. Train Editors and Visitors by Making a Google Sites Intranet Tutorial

Google Sites permissions effectively creates two groups: site editors and site viewers. You want both of these groups to be confident when interacting with the site. Knowledge, instruction and training promotes confidence. Therefore, you can produce materials for this goal such as:

- Video tutorials uploaded to Google Drive or private in Youtube
- Written tutorials, how to's and instructional type articles
- Training sessions with Google Meet, which can be recorded and Q&A format opportunities
- Google Spaces or Google Groups for Business for help desk support and communication

This intranet documentation can address questions like: How do I navigate the intranet? How do I upload a news article? You will find plenty of support article documentation available from Google which can be borrowed and customized for your specific instance.

11. Launch the Intranet

The day has finally come and you can share your hard work freely with the company. There are a few ways to go live with your intranet:

- Soft launch to a few departments and they might help you troubleshoot it.
- Publish in a phased approach which will reveal results without diving in too hard to all areas. Also good for budgetary or timing constraints.

Also, before you launch, consider a few ways of increasing adoption, engagement and analysis:

- Prepare an official announcement, like an email blast
- Custom URL like intranet.company.com, hub.company.com, wiki.company.com all subdomains.
- Make sure Analytics is up and running

12. Test & Quality Control

- Get feedback from users with Google Forms, Google Spaces, etc.
- Review updates from content managers via Version history
- Send recurring calendar events for regular review sessions perhaps on a monthly or quarterly basis. On initial release this could be daily or weekly to immediately address issues, gaps in content or errors with third-party apps.
- Make back up copies of the Google Site
- Install Google Analytics to measure engagement

Regarding Google Analytics, employee engagement can be measured in objective terms via web traffic data. Using Google Analytics 4 installed on the client intranet I can track key statistics for engagement like page views, content engagement time, scrolling, clicking, goals, event counts and conversions.

To increase employee engagement I send weekly reports to content managers automatically via Google Analytics. This helps them to identify where users are engaging and where they are bouncing. These content managers can then identify anomalies and weak points on the intranet.

Studying engagement metrics and analytics for the site

FAQ

Does Google Workspace have an intranet app?

Yes. The intranet app that comes by default for Workspace is Google Sites. It is accessible and responsive to viewers on all devices. Editing Google Sites requires a desktop computer, or using a desktop mode on a mobile device.

Related intranet apps include:

Google Chat
Google Spaces
Google Drive
Google Groups

Formerly, Google Currents and Google Plus Communities were leveraged in a social media capacity, but they are now deprecated/retired.

Can you create an intranet with just Google Workspace?

Yes, you can create an intranet using just Google Workspace. Although third-party providers may advertise their product as a recommended intranet solution for Google Workspace, it is often more feasible, simple, and fiscally-responsible to develop from core applications. Google Sites, Google Chat and Google Drive are all core applications.

How much does an intranet on Workspace cost? Is it free?

Here is the pricing for Google Workspace intranet:

Google Sites is free.
Google Drive is free.
Google Spaces comes with Google Workspace for Business Standard tier pricing (currently $12/user/year).

Third Party Solutions Pricing:

Happeo - Not published
LumApps - Not published
Papyrus - Four tiers, starting at $89/month with restrictions

Important Features of a Google Workspace intranet

Integration of key applications across the domain
Collaboration for content management and sharing
Engagement with employees about goings-on
Transparency regarding performance and goals
Adoption with easy onboarding policies
User friendliness for easy navigation and search
Empowerment with knowledge sharing
Productivity with instant access to all company resources
Internal Communication from operations, management and administrators
Employee Satisfaction & Recognition opportunities

Third-Party Intranet Providers that support Google Workspace

Happeo
Lumapps
Papyrus

Does your company need an intranet?

If your company is already utilizing Google Workspace (formerly G Suite), chances are you have a plethora of information scattered across various apps and silos within the platform. This includes files stored on Google Drive, events scheduled on Google Calendar, and important email conversations on Google Mail. As your organization expands, you may find yourself incorporating additional external apps on top of these existing tools.

An intranet site serves as a centralized hub where all this information can be consolidated in a structured manner that is user-friendly, searchable, and conducive to collaboration. Essentially, it acts as an employee portal that offers a well-defined framework for individuals to access the most up-to-date news, seek solutions, exchange knowledge, and share updates within the organization.

Fastest Way to Build an Intranet with Google Workspace

It is quickest to begin in Google Drive where you have a variety of tools at your fingertips. Sites, Docs, Forms, Sheets and more are available here to begin organizing. Creating a shared drive (available with Google Workspace for Business Standard) is a brilliant starting point. Folder and files hierarchies will keep things tidy on the backend, while you begin designing a Google Sites front end.

What integrations are available for Workspace and intranet?

By in large, Google apps should be able to be easily added to a Workspace intranet. Other applications will need to be evaluated on an individual basis, since some CRMs do not allow exporting, embedded or iframing. However, there are various add-ons available such as:

Google Sheets addons
Google Chat apps and web hooks

Why Use Google Sites for a Workspace Intranet

Especially for small to medium sized businesses, Google Sites presents cost-effective solution. Even custom development of a Google Sites intranet by a developer such as ourselves is often cheaper than the monthly or yearly pricing plans of larger providers. Also, all your data stays in Google Workspace and is platform agnostic.

Admin Options for How to Deploy Google Sites for Workspace

Google Admin Console
Apps > Google Workspace > Sites
Options: Service Status, Access, Custom URL

Note: Apps > Google Workspace > Google Drive also contains sharing options for New Google Sites

Companies that use Google Workspace Intranet Solutions

Google Inc.
New Castle Metal
Georgia Public Library Services
Roche Inc.
Netflix
2X Global
Groupon
Wyoming State
Wattpad
Finish Line
Booking Holdings
Priceline
Many Universities

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