SharePoint Site Templates: Out-of-the-Box Options vs Custom Site Design

Your team should not have to remember where information lives every time they open SharePoint. But that is exactly what starts happening when a site template does not match the way people actually work. Navigation becomes confusing, important content gets buried, different departments start organizing pages in their own way, and employees spend more time searching than using the site. From our work with SharePoint environments at SPDW, we have seen that these problems often begin long before the site becomes difficult to manage. They usually start when a ready-made template is selected for convenience, even though the team already needs a different content structure, navigation model, branding approach, permissions setup, or workflow. 

SharePoint gives you several ready-made templates for common business scenarios, and you can also create reusable templates that reflect your own structure and standards. The important part is knowing when an out-of-the-box option is enough and when your requirements justify a custom design. 

In this article, we will discuss how SharePoint site templates work, where out-of-the-box templates make sense, when custom site design becomes the better choice, and how you can decide which approach fits your SharePoint environment. 

Are There SharePoint Site Templates?

Yes. SharePoint includes site templates that give you a ready-made structure for building team sites and communication sites. 

Depending on the template you choose, you may get preconfigured pages, page templates, navigation, web parts, news sections, sample content, and other elements that support a specific use case. 

For example, you can find templates designed around scenarios such as employee onboarding, department communication, project collaboration, events, IT help desks, training, and organization-wide communication. 

This means you do not always have to start from a blank SharePoint site. 

If your requirements closely match one of these scenarios, you can start with the template, replace the sample content, adjust the navigation, apply your branding, and shape the site around your team. 

The key is to treat the template as a starting point. 

If you start changing almost every section, page, navigation path, and content structure, the template may no longer be saving you much time. 

What Do Out-of-the-Box SharePoint Site Templates Give You?

The main benefit of an out-of-the-box template is speed. 

In SharePoint projects, simple department sites often revolve around the same core needs: company news, important links, documents, events, and contact information. When an existing template already provides that structure, starting from it can remove a large part of the initial setup work. 

You can then update the logo, theme, page sections, web parts, navigation, and content without rebuilding the site from scratch. 

This is also why free SharePoint site templates can be a practical choice when your needs are relatively standard. Microsoft provides built-in templates as part of the SharePoint experience, so you do not necessarily need to buy a third-party design package just to create a professional-looking site. 

However, speed should not be your only deciding factor. 

A template only saves you time when its structure already makes sense for your users. 

If your team immediately needs to remove half the content, rebuild the navigation, change the information architecture, and add several custom elements, the initial time saving can disappear quickly. 

Where Out-of-the-Box Templates Start to Fall Short

The biggest problem with templates is not that they are too basic. 

The problem starts when you choose one because it looks close enough, then try to force your real business process into it. 

Across multi-department SharePoint environments, HR, Marketing, and Operations rarely need the same site structure. HR sites usually center on policies, onboarding content, employee resources, and forms, while Marketing needs space for campaign assets, brand resources, and project content. Operations often depends more heavily on procedures, reports, forms, and process documentation. 

A single base template can technically support all three, but that does not mean it will serve each team equally well. 

Each team has different priorities. Their navigation may need to work differently. Their document structures may differ. Their users may look for information in completely different ways. 

If you make every department fit the same generic structure, you may get visual consistency, but you will not necessarily get a useful SharePoint experience. 

That is usually the point where custom design becomes worth considering. 

What Is a Custom SharePoint Site Design?

A custom SharePoint design starts with your requirements instead of starting with an existing page layout. 

That does not mean you need a heavily customized or visually complex site. 

In fact, a good custom SharePoint site often looks simple because every section has a clear purpose. 

The difference is that you decide how the site should work based on your users, content, navigation, business processes, and long-term needs. 

In practice, reusable department templates work best when they standardize the elements that departments repeatedly need, such as:

• A standard homepage structure
• Department news
• Leadership information
• Policies and resources
• Important links
• Contact information
• Predefined navigation

That shared structure can then support different departments while still giving each team control over its own content.

This is where SharePoint site design templates become especially valuable. 

Instead of letting every site owner build pages differently, you can create a consistent structure that reflects how your organization wants SharePoint sites to work. 

Out-of-the-Box Templates vs Custom SharePoint Design

The choice becomes much easier when you compare both options against what you actually need. 

The important point is that custom design is not automatically better. 

You should choose it because your requirements need it, not because it sounds more advanced. 

If a ready-made template already supports the way your team works, using it is usually the smarter option. 

When Should You Use a SharePoint Site Template?

You should consider an out-of-the-box template when your site has a clear and relatively simple purpose. 

Project teams that mainly use SharePoint for shared documents, updates, links, and basic project information often get what they need from a standard team site structure. 

The same applies when you need a temporary site or when you want to launch something quickly without investing time in a full custom design. 

Templates also work well when most of the existing structure already matches your requirements. The fewer fundamental changes you need to make, the more value the template is actually providing. 

On the other hand, when the initial plan already involves rebuilding the navigation, homepage, libraries, and major content sections, the template is no longer reducing much of the design work. At that point, it is worth questioning whether it is still the right starting point. 

When Does Custom SharePoint Design Make More Sense?

Custom design becomes more useful when SharePoint supports an important or ongoing business function. 

An intranet is a good example. 

Your employees may need access to department pages, policies, forms, news, applications, internal resources, search, and frequently used links. 

In that situation, a standard communication site may give you a useful starting point, but your final structure usually needs more planning. 

The same applies when you manage multiple SharePoint sites and want all of them to follow the same standards. 

In multi-site SharePoint environments, inconsistent design tends to show up quickly when departments work without shared standards. Some sites become dependent on top navigation, others rely heavily on quick links, while deeper page structures can make information harder for employees to find. 

A custom reusable design helps you avoid that inconsistency. 

You should also consider custom design when users regularly tell you that they cannot find information. 

At that point, moving web parts around will probably not solve the real problem. 

You may need to rethink your navigation, information architecture, content hierarchy, libraries, metadata, and overall user journey. 

What Should You Look for in SharePoint Site Template Examples?

When you review template SharePoint site examples, do not judge them only by how polished the homepage looks. 

A visually attractive site can still be difficult to use. 

Instead, ask practical questions. 

Can users find the most important information quickly? 

Does the navigation make sense without explanation? 

Are frequently used documents easy to reach? 

Does the homepage prioritize useful content instead of filling space? 

Can the structure handle more content six months from now? 

These questions matter much more than colors, banners, or decorative sections. 

SharePoint examples can still help you understand what is possible. You can use them for ideas around layouts, web parts, navigation, news, branding, and content organization. 

However, the final decision should always come back to your own users and processes. 

How to Choose the Right Approach

You do not need custom SharePoint design for every site. 

If a built-in template already covers most of your requirements, use it. Adjust what you need, keep the structure simple, and avoid creating unnecessary complexity. 

However, if you are repeatedly working around the template, that is usually a sign that you need a different approach. 

Look at the areas where the template does not fit. 

Is the navigation wrong for your users? 

Do your document libraries need a different structure? 

Do different departments need their own content priorities? 

Do you need a repeatable design across multiple sites? 

Do business processes require more than standard pages and web parts? 

If several of these issues apply, starting with a custom SharePoint design can give you a cleaner foundation. 

Build a Better SharePoint Experience with SPDW 

Choosing between an out-of-the-box template and a custom design becomes much easier when the decision starts with how your teams actually use SharePoint. At SPDW, our work with SharePoint environments focuses on that fit first—how users navigate, how content is organized, which parts of the site need standardization, and where custom structure can remove friction. 

That approach also helps avoid unnecessary customization. If a built-in template already supports your needs, it can remain the right foundation. When your navigation, information architecture, branding, or business processes require more control, a custom design can provide a more consistent and scalable experience across sites. 

If your current SharePoint setup feels restrictive or you are unsure whether a standard template can support your requirements, talk to our SharePoint team to evaluate the right structure before you commit to a redesign. 

Conclusion

SharePoint site templates work best when they already match the way your team needs to organize content, navigate information, and collaborate. For straightforward requirements, an out-of-the-box template can reduce setup work and give you a reliable structure without adding unnecessary complexity. 

Custom design becomes more valuable when the template starts limiting how your site needs to function. Specific navigation requirements, complex information architecture, organization-wide standards, or different needs across departments can all signal that a more tailored structure will serve users better in the long term. 

The decision should ultimately come down to fit, not the amount of customization available. If a template supports most of your requirements with only minor adjustments, keeping the setup simple usually makes sense. If you find yourself redesigning major parts just to make the site usable, it may be time to reconsider the foundation. 

Need help deciding which direction fits your SharePoint environment? Our SharePoint specialists can assess your current setup, identify where standard templates are enough, and recommend where a custom design could deliver a better experience for your users.