Create a Governance Checklist for New Sites: Practical Checklist for SharePoint Owners

As a SharePoint site owner, you are responsible for keeping your site organized, secure, and easy to use. Without a clear plan, new sites quickly become cluttered with outdated content, broken permissions, and lost files. A governance checklist gives you a repeatable set of rules and tasks to apply every time you create a site. This article provides a practical checklist you can copy and use today for any new SharePoint site.

Governance for SharePoint means defining who can do what, how content is structured, and what happens when things change. A checklist turns those rules into action steps so you do not miss critical settings. You will learn the key areas to review: site purpose, permissions, navigation, content types, retention policies, and regular maintenance tasks. Follow this checklist to keep every new site under control from day one.

What Is a SharePoint Governance Checklist and Why You Need One

A governance checklist is a set of predefined steps that guide a site owner through configuration and maintenance tasks. Without it, site owners often skip important settings like external sharing limits or content type association. The checklist ensures consistency across all sites in your tenant, reducing security risks and content sprawl.

The checklist covers five core areas: site planning, permissions, content management, compliance, and ongoing maintenance. Each area contains specific actions that the owner must complete. You can adapt the checklist to match your organization policy, but the structure stays the same. The goal is to make governance repeatable and measurable.

Prerequisites for Using the Checklist

Before you apply the checklist, confirm you have the correct permissions. You need at least Site Owner or Site Collection Administrator rights. If you plan to set retention labels, you also need Compliance Administrator role or equivalent. The checklist works for both team sites and communication sites in SharePoint Online.

Step-by-Step Checklist for New SharePoint Sites

Follow this checklist in order. Each step builds on the previous one. If you skip a step, go back and complete it before moving forward.

1. Define the site purpose and assign owners
   Write one sentence describing the site goal. Example: “This site stores quarterly sales reports for the North America team.” Assign a primary owner and a secondary owner in the site permissions. The secondary owner can act if the primary is unavailable. Store this information in a site description or a linked governance document.
2. Set up site permissions and external sharing
   In SharePoint admin center, go to Active sites, select the site, and click Sharing. Set external sharing to “Existing guests” unless the site requires anonymous access. Create three SharePoint groups: Site Members, Site Visitors, and Site Owners. Add users to groups instead of assigning direct permissions. Never give Full Control to an individual user.
3. Configure site navigation and structure
   Turn on the left navigation menu if it is hidden. Go to Site Settings > Navigation. Add links to the top five libraries or pages. Create a standard folder structure in each document library. Example: /Documents/Current, /Documents/Archive, /Documents/Templates. Avoid nested folders deeper than three levels.
4. Apply content types and metadata columns
   Create or reuse content types for each document category. For example, create a “Sales Report” content type with columns for Region, Quarter, and Status. Add these content types to the document library. Set default values for columns so new files are automatically tagged. Use managed metadata columns when you need a controlled vocabulary.
5. Assign retention labels and deletion policies
   In the Microsoft Purview compliance portal, create a retention label named “Keep for 3 Years” and apply it to the document library. Set the label to automatically delete files after the retention period. If the site contains sensitive data, add a sensitivity label that restricts download or editing. Publish the label so site owners can apply it.
6. Create a site welcome page and onboarding instructions
   Edit the site home page. Add a quick links web part pointing to key libraries, a document library, and a page named “How to Use This Site.” Write a short paragraph explaining the site purpose and who to contact for help. Pin the welcome page as the default landing page.
7. Set up alerts and notifications
   Go to a document library, click the ellipsis, then Alerts. Create an alert for the site owner when a file is added or changed. Set the alert frequency to immediate. For team sites, create an alert for all members when a file is deleted. This helps owners catch accidental removals quickly.
8. Document the site governance rules
   Create a page named “Governance” in the Site Pages library. Write the site purpose, owner names, permission rules, naming conventions, and review schedule. Link to this page from the site navigation. Update the page whenever a rule changes.
9. Test the site with a sample user
   Log in as a test user who has only Member permissions. Try to upload a file, edit a page, and create a new folder. Confirm the user cannot delete a library or change permissions. If the test fails, adjust the permission groups and retest.
10. Schedule a quarterly review
    Create a recurring calendar event for the site owner every three months. During the review, check the following items: remove users who no longer need access, archive documents older than one year, update the governance page, and confirm retention labels are still applied. Delete the site if it is no longer needed.

Common Mistakes and Things to Avoid When Using the Checklist

Even with a checklist, site owners make errors that undermine governance. Below are the most frequent mistakes and how to avoid them.

Giving Everyone Full Control Permissions

Some owners add users to the Site Owners group to avoid permission errors. This breaks the security model. Instead, use the Site Members group for contributors and Site Visitors for read-only access. Only add IT administrators to Site Owners.

Skipping the External Sharing Setting

The default external sharing setting for new sites is “Anyone” in many tenants. If you do not change it, anyone with a link can access the site. Always set external sharing to “Existing guests” or “Specific people” immediately after creating the site.

Not Using Content Types

Without content types, each user creates files with different naming conventions and missing metadata. Files become hard to search. Always create at least one content type per document library and make it the default.

Forgetting to Archive Old Content

Sites accumulate outdated files quickly. If you do not archive, the site becomes slow and confusing. During each quarterly review, move files older than one year to an archive library or delete them if retention allows.

Checklist Area	Without Checklist	With Checklist
Permissions	Individual users with direct access	SharePoint groups with role-based access
External sharing	Anyone with link can view	Existing guests only or specific people
Content organization	No content types, inconsistent metadata	Standard content types with required columns
Retention	No labels, files kept forever	Retention labels with auto-delete dates
Maintenance	No review schedule, site becomes abandoned	Quarterly review with documented actions

You now have a complete governance checklist for any new SharePoint site. Use it every time you create a site to avoid permission gaps, content clutter, and compliance risks. Start with the first step: define the site purpose and assign owners. After you finish the checklist, schedule your first quarterly review in your calendar. For advanced governance, consider using SharePoint site templates that pre-apply content types and retention labels so you do not have to configure them manually each time.