A search bar that returns hundreds of old policies, duplicate presentations and folders with cryptic names is not helping anyone. For an intranet owner, the problem is usually more visible: colleagues stop searching altogether, ask in Teams, or keep their own copies of documents. The best SharePoint search tools reduce that friction, but the right choice depends on whether the underlying issue is relevance, navigation, content structure or ownership.
For most small and mid-sized organisations, the sensible starting point is not a major search project. It is a clear view of what Microsoft 365 already provides, where it falls short for your users, and whether a focused intranet search component will solve the actual problem. Buying more technology will not fix a document estate nobody maintains.
What makes a SharePoint search tool worth using?
A useful search experience does more than find a file containing the words someone typed. It should help people reach the current, approved and relevant version of information with little thought. That may mean showing a policy page before a supporting PDF, presenting people results for a named contact, or making a key process easy to find from the intranet home page.
Four factors matter more than a long feature list:
- Relevance: results should favour current, useful content over every historical match.
- Permissions: people must only see content they are already allowed to access.
- Usability: filters, result types and labels need to make sense to non-technical users.
- Administration: intranet owners need to improve results without raising a development request each time.
The last point is often overlooked. A clever search interface becomes an expensive nuisance if every promoted result, refinement or layout change needs specialist development.
The best SharePoint search tools: the practical options
There is no single product category that suits every organisation. The strongest option is usually a combination of native Microsoft 365 search, better information architecture and, where needed, a purpose-built SharePoint search web part.
1. Native Microsoft 365 search
Native search is the right baseline for every Microsoft 365 tenant. It can surface content from SharePoint, OneDrive and other connected Microsoft 365 locations, while respecting the permissions already applied to each item. For staff looking for a recent document, a colleague’s profile or a known page, it is often entirely adequate.
Its advantage is obvious: it is already included, familiar and secured within your tenant. It also avoids creating another search index or moving data to an external platform.
The trade-off is control. Native results are designed for broad Microsoft 365 discovery, not necessarily for the curated intranet journey an internal communications or HR team has in mind. If users search for “expenses”, for example, they may need the expenses policy, the claim form, the finance contact and the latest guidance in a predictable order. Out of the box, that can take more careful content design and administration than teams expect.
Use native search when your information is reasonably tidy, permissions are sound, and users mainly need to locate known files or pages. Do not dismiss it before checking whether the real issue is poor naming, abandoned sites or duplicated content.
2. SharePoint search web parts for the intranet
A dedicated search web part is usually the better choice when search is a visible part of the intranet experience rather than a utility hidden in the Microsoft 365 header. It can place search where employees naturally start their day and provide a result layout tailored to pages, documents, people, news or other relevant content.
This matters most for organisations building a communications-led intranet. Employees should not have to know which site owns a document before they can find it. They need a clear search field, useful filters and results that look like part of the same branded workplace.
Look for web parts built on SharePoint Framework, installed within the tenant and designed to inherit your existing branding. This keeps the experience native to Microsoft 365 and avoids sending content outside your environment. Also check how much configuration is possible without code. Can an intranet owner choose result sources, define filters and adjust the layout? Can they make high-value information easier to find when priorities change?
For a straightforward intranet improvement, buying a production-ready web part is normally more proportionate than commissioning a custom build. ThePoint’s enhanced search web part is one example of this approach: it can be deployed as part of a wider intranet set-up without turning a basic requirement into a long development project.
3. Curated results and search guidance
Sometimes the best search tool is not a new interface. It is a small layer of curation around high-frequency queries. If a large proportion of searches relate to annual leave, expenses, IT support, payroll or health and safety, those journeys should be deliberately managed.
Curated results can put the correct page, form or contact ahead of less useful matches. Search guidance can also steer users towards the terms your organisation actually uses. This is especially helpful after a migration, when staff continue searching for old folder names or retired process labels.
There is a limit. Curation works well for the top queries, not for thousands of poorly governed documents. Treat it as a practical service improvement, not a substitute for sorting out content ownership.
4. Search-led navigation and hubs
If users cannot decide where to begin, navigation and search need to work together. A global navigation structure should take people to the major areas of the intranet, while search handles the long tail of specific questions and documents.
For example, a colleague looking for the HR area should be able to reach it through navigation. A colleague looking for the maternity policy should be able to search directly. Trying to make navigation carry every document and process creates sprawling menus. Expecting search to compensate for no navigation creates uncertainty.
This is why a search tool should be assessed in the context of the wider intranet. If the home page is full of unstructured links and every department publishes content differently, a new search box will improve only part of the experience.
5. Custom SharePoint search development
Custom development has a place when there is a genuine, specific requirement that packaged tools cannot meet. That might include a highly controlled search experience, unusual business metadata, specialist result templates or integration with a line-of-business process.
But it should be justified. A custom SPFx search component can cost many thousands of pounds once discovery, design, development, testing, security review and ongoing maintenance are included. It also creates a support obligation whenever Microsoft 365 changes or the organisation’s requirements move on.
For common intranet needs, a ready-made web part with transparent annual pricing is usually the better commercial decision. Save custom development for the elements that are truly distinctive to your organisation, rather than rebuilding standard search functions because the default interface feels plain.
How to choose between SharePoint search options
Start with evidence, not assumptions. Review the questions users repeatedly ask, the documents they struggle to locate and the terms they search for. A short set of user interviews and a look at existing content often reveal a simpler issue than expected: no agreed owner, inconsistent page titles, permissions applied too broadly, or three versions of the same form.
Next, define the scope. Are you trying to improve search across all Microsoft 365 content, or make the intranet easier to use? The first calls for tenant-level governance and content discipline. The second may be solved quickly with an intranet search web part, better page templates and a small number of curated results.
Then test the everyday searches that matter. Use realistic queries rather than technical demonstrations: “holiday policy”, “new starter checklist”, “expenses form”, “marketing contact” and “fire warden”. Check whether the first few results are useful, current and understandable. Test with staff who did not help build the intranet. They will spot assumptions the project team has missed.
Finally, cost the operational effort as well as the licence. A low-cost tool that requires constant specialist intervention is not low cost. Equally, a premium custom build may be excessive if a £249-per-year web part covers the requirement and can be configured within days.
Search quality is a governance question
Even the best interface cannot identify the definitive document if five teams maintain their own version. Search quality depends on a few unglamorous disciplines: clear content owners, sensible titles, agreed metadata where it is genuinely useful, review dates and a process for retiring obsolete material.
Keep this proportionate. Most organisations do not need a complex taxonomy for every file. They do need a clear home for key policies, procedures and templates, plus an owner responsible for keeping each one current. Start with content that causes the most queries and confusion, then improve from there.
A good SharePoint search experience should make the right answer feel obvious. When employees can find a current policy, the right form or the person who can help in seconds, the intranet earns its place in the working day rather than becoming another place people forget to visit.