An intranet serves as an internal communication tool for employees by allowing them to have varying degrees of access to critical company resources. Intranets are implemented to improve organizational efficiency, employee productivity, and collaboration within a company. Here are 8 steps to intranet optimization that will help you to make your intranet more effective in your organization.

1. INTRANET
OPTIMIZATION
8 STEPS TO
Presented by: Aciron Consulting, Inc

2. • The problem that many companies run into is that, although they have implemented
an intranet for their organizations, their system is poorly designed, poorly maintained,
and/or highly disorganized.
• This leads to the system having a low adoption rate and becoming largely ineffective
as a collaboration tool.
• Here are 8 steps to intranet optimization that will help you to make your intranet
more effective in your organization.
INTRODUCTION
AN INTRANET SERVES AS AN INTERNAL COMMUNICATION TOOL FOR
EMPLOYEES BY ALLOWING THEM TO HAVE VARYING DEGREES OF
ACCESS TO CRITICAL COMPANY RESOURCES.

3. GIVE YOUR INTRANET A
FRESH NEW NAME
1.
• Intranets should be designed to reflect corporate
culture.
• Through the power of brand marketing, you can
develop a system that represents your company’s
core values and unique culture.
• Renaming your intranet will allow you to build a
strong relationship with users and even change their
attitudes towards the technology.

4. For example:
Your organization’s intranet has
a low adoption rate and is
considered ineffective and
frustrating by its users
Your company decides to
completely redesign the system
by reorganizing the content and
adding functionality
improvements
By renaming your intranet, you
will be able to rebrand it and
combat the negative reputation
of the former system
GIVE YOUR INTRANET A FRESH
NEW NAME

5. 2. MAKE IT VISUALLY
APPEALING
• When it comes to attracting users to an
intranet, user experience (UX) is the name of
the game!
• One crucial element of UX is visual design.
• Visual design can enhance communication
and increase user adoption by making the
intranet content more compelling and even
make the system easier to use.

6. • Additionally, an intranet’s visual design should
enhance the intranet’s content and purpose.
• If an intranet’s design is dry and boring, users
may be more hesitant to use it because they will
not be engaged by the system.
• One way to engage users would be by adding
charts and graphs to statistical data stored on
the intranet.
Users will be able to recognize trends more
efficiently than if they had been just looking
at flat numbers.
The graphs not only serve as a visual
representation of the data but also as a tool
to attract the user’s eye to the visual
interface.
MAKE IT VISUALLY APPEALING

7. 3. MAKE IT FUN
• Much like making your intranet visually
appealing, making your intranet fun will help
you to convince your employees to use the
system.
Include humorous cartoons, memes, jokes, etc. that
allow users to interact with the site on a more
personal level.
• A recent study from the University of
Warwick found that happiness in the
workplace makes people 12% more
productive¹ and what better way to make
people happy then to make them laugh.
• These interactive mediums will allow for
your users to engage with the system in a
more personal way.
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/new_study_shows/
• If humor really isn’t your company’s thing,
try engaging users with fun contests or
surveys

8. • A MAJOR
COMPLAINT
THAT INTRANET
USERS HAVE IS
THAT IT IS
DIFFICULT TO
FIND THE
INFORMATION
THAT THEY ARE
LOOKING FOR.
• THIS PROBLEM
OFTEN OCCURS
BECAUSE THE
SITE HAS
BECOME
DISORGANIZED
OR CLUTTERED
WITH OLD AND
OUTDATED
INFORMATION.
• TO PREVENT
THIS
FRUSTRATION,
MAKE SURE TO
REGULARLY
CLEAN UP YOUR
INTRANET AND
ARCHIVE OLD,
OUTDATED, AND
IRRELEVANT
DOCUMENTS.
• DEPENDING ON
THE PLATFORM
THAT YOUR
INTRANET IS
BUILT ON,
UTILIZE
VERSIONING TO
ENSURE THAT
DOCUMENTS ARE
KEPT UP-TO-
DATE WHILE
MAINTAINING A
RECORD OF
PAST
INFORMATION.
4. MAKE IT CLEAN

9. 5. INSPIRE STAFF
• One of the best ways to motivate your
staff is to inspire them.
• An intranet gives your company a
unique platform for inspiration.
• Include a section on your intranet for
success stories and employee spotlights
to let your employees know all the great
work that the company is doing as well
as how individuals are contributing to
the company’s success.mes and Lodging
By recognizing your employees’ accomplishments and
making them feel special with an employee spotlight,
you will add a social element to the intranet which
will likely increase user adoption.

10. • ANOTHER WAY TO INSPIRE
YOUR STAFF IS A SECTION
WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM
THE CEO.
• THESE ANNOUNCEMENTS SERVE AS A
MEANS OF INCREASING INTERACTION
WITH UPPER MANAGEMENT WHICH
WILL HELP YOU TO BUILD A STRONG
TEAM ATMOSPHERE AND
SUBSEQUENTLY INCREASE USAGE.
INSPIRE STAFF

11. • An intranet’s primary
purpose is to provide users
with information.
• That being said, the type of
information that is stored on
the intranet is completely
dependent on the company’s
goals for the system.
• For instance, if the goal of
your intranet is to be an HR
tool for employees, some
information that would be
helpful to list would be a
company policy guide and
resources for self-help.
• Job postings posted on an
intranet provide employees
with opportunities for
advancement and
professional growth.
6. MAKE IT INFORMAL

12. MAKE IT INFORMAL
Other information that is often helpful
to add to an intranet includes
company announcements.
Company announcements can
include company news articles and
updates on company-wide
initiatives.
A company events calendar can be
listed to tell users about important
dates like training classes, meetings,
company holidays, and even employee
birthdays.
Finally, tutorials and how-to guides
allow a company to provide better
knowledge management and allow
users to find critical information and
complete tasks independently.

13. 7. OPTIMIZE NAVIGATION AND
INCLUDE ROBUST SEARCH
FUNCTIONALITY
Similar to keeping your intranet clean,
providing users with optimized site
navigation will help them to find the
information that they are looking for
when and where they need it.
One way to do this is by providing
users with a site map that will allow
them to have an index for the content
on your intranet site. – This will give
them a go-to location to begin
searching for information

14. OPTIMIZE NAVIGATION AND
INCLUDE ROBUST SEARCH
FUNCTIONALITY
• INCLUDING ROBUST SEARCH
FUNCTIONALITY USING FOLDERS
AND/OR TAGGING AND META DATA WILL
ALLOW USERS TO FIND WHAT THEY ARE
LOOKING FOR BASED ON A KEYWORD
SEARCH.
• WHEN IMPLEMENTING SEARCH
FUNCTIONALITY ON YOUR INTRANET,
TEST THE SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE THAT
THE SEARCH RESULTS ARE COMING
BACK ACCURATELY AND QUICKLY. – IF
USERS HAVE TO WAIT A LONG TIME OR
RECEIVE RESULTS THAT ARE NOT
RELATED TO THEIR KEYWORDS, THEN
THEY WILL BECOME EVEN MORE
FRUSTRATED WITH THE INTRANET.

15. 9. MAKE IT PERSONAL
• To ensure that you know what the needs of your
organization are, engage key stakeholders from the user
base during the development process.
• Allow these users to provide input and beta test the
system prior to its implementation. Including key
stakeholders will serve a dual purpose:
1. It will allow you to build the system to incorporate
the functionality and features that the users will need.
This will eliminate rework later by incorporating
necessary functionality from the beginning.
2. It will ensure that you have a group of system
champions who will promote the intranet to the rest of
the user base.

16. MAKE IT PERSONAL • Once the system has been implemented,
keep the dialogue with users open.
– Create a discussion forum or
suggestion system that allows for users
to discuss potential improvements for
the system.
• This level of personal involvement with
the creation of the intranet will give users
the voice that they crave and ensure that
your system is meeting the needs of the
users that it serves.

17. WEBSITE
www.aciron.com
EMAIL ADDRESS
info@aciron.com
PHONE NUMBER
(617) 245-0497
CONTACT US