An intranet that works. What content do employees read?

Wondering how to plan your intranet content so that it actually reaches your employees? Do you want your work to not just stop at publication, but to effectively support internal communications and company goals? It’s worth using the available data to do so. The latest SWOOP Analytics report for SharePoint 2025 shows what content is actually read, how long it lives and what intranet users expect.

Here are key findings to consider when planning intranet editorial activities.

News is content with a short life cycle

News is the most common type of content on an intranet, but its lifespan is limited:

• After 2 days of publication, the number of visits drops significantly, and after 10 days it is close to zero.
• However, news items represent the largest volume of content.
• Statistically, an employee reads about 4 news items per week.

How to take advantage of this?

• Ensure precise targeting of news – don’t send everything to everyone.
• Pin key news items to landing pages or home pages.
• A well-designed news architecture allows you to better target your content to the right audience.

📢 Tip: Remember to rotate content on the homepage – outdated information quickly stops attracting attention.

The length of the news doesn’t matter much

Analyses show that regardless of the length (whether 100 or 1000 words), users spend almost the same amount of time reading the news. There are concrete conclusions from this:

• There is no need to “stretch” the text – an intranet is not SEO.
• An article’s lead should contain its main message.
• Headlines should be specific and informative – e.g. “Target 2025 achieved” instead of “Result 2025.”
• Visual content (graphics, charts, infographics, videos) increase the chances of engagement.

📢 Tip: Video content is more powerful than text – not only do users absorb it faster, they can also listen to it without having to look at the screen.

Conclusion: By skillfully using the capabilities of a CMS (such as SharePoint Online), you can create engaging content that users actually read.

Content pages: less numerous but more durable

Although content pages (e.g., procedures, guides, policies) are much less frequently created, they have a longer life cycle:

• Such content has an audience regardless of the date of publication.
• They can “live” for months and sometimes years – such as “Vision and Mission” pages.
• They require regular updates and attribution to the owner.

📢 Tip: It is worth implementing tools to support the workflow of content updates, such as recertification functions.

Conclusion: good structure and systematic content refreshing is an investment that brings long-term benefits.

Home Page – Your Gateway to Content

The home page is not the destination of a visit, but the entry point:

• Most users move on after entering – on average, they visit at least two pages.
• Homepage influences the accessibility of content – well designed, it increases its visibility.

How to build it?

• Present stargeted content by department, location, role.
• Ensure quick access to news and content.
• Make it easy to access, such as setting it as a homepage in the browser or a shortcut in Microsoft Teams.

Conclusion: a functional homepage should act like a dashboard – be simple, dynamic and tailored to the user.

How to measure the effectiveness of intranet content?

Effective intranet editorial does not work “blindly.” Setting goals and regularly checking their achievement is key. The SWOOP Analytics for SharePoint 2025 report shows the results of the best-performing intranet solutions, which can be a benchmark for you:

• 99% quarterly active users (QAU) across the intranet
• 85% QAU in the news area
• Content page readership: minimum 81%
• News readership: minimum 61%

Additionally, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on article lengths of no more than 400 words – content that is too long may be ignored or difficult for search engines to find.

For analytics, you can use:

• SharePoint’s built-in analytics
• Google Analytics or Microsoft Clarity
• Third-party solutions integrated with the intranet.

📢 Tip: It’s better to set indicative goals and adjust them later than to operate without any benchmarks. Regular data reviews help you catch trends and make informed editorial decisions.

Want to make your intranet work?

Let’s start a conversation.

We have been designing and implementing intranets for 18 years. We know what works and what doesn’t work.

Make an appointment to talk with us – together we’ll assess what type of behavior you can expect on your intranet and what goals are worth setting.

We’ll show you:

• how to approach information architecture design to support content targeting,
• how editors can use SharePoint Online CMS to create engaging content
• how to organize the update workflow so that employees don’t read outdated information and make mistakes.

Contact us