The primary goal of any web portal is to facilitate communication between internal systems and outside departments. Portal websites provide more value by combining all relevant information into one portal. Let's now dive into the reasons why a website is important:
- Portal websites can be used by enterprises to facilitate content collaboration as well as easy access to resources.
- A Web portal offers many personalization options.
- Portal websites are created to be user-friendly and include appropriate navigation and design features.
What's a Web Portal?
Portals offer secure access to clients, staff, partners, site visitors, and other audiences. Portals offer unique UX that is based on customer profiles. They also allow for more opportunities to create customized content and interact with other websites. Register users have remote access to a variety of collaboration tools that proved particularly useful during the pandemic.
A web portal is an online platform accessible primarily via browsers. It can be linked to a database in order to provide user-specific information. These portals can be used to help us accomplish our daily tasks. To check the status of your order, you can access a customer portal. Let's take a look at another example in order to better understand the concept.
Online filing of your annual tax can be done through the web portal for the Income Tax department. After logging in, you will be able to submit all documents and make payments through the portal. All files are saved in the database. The account also keeps updated payment information. You can use it as an access portal. To access its resources, you will need to have a username and password.
To run an online business, you need multiple types of web business portals. Let's find out more about each:
Websites vs. Web Portals: What are the Key Differences?
Find out the differences between web portals and websites.
- Websites are mostly read-only. Websites are mostly static and allow users to take very limited actions. However, web portals allow for many interactions on the page.
- Websites have limited personalization potential. Websites are open to anyone, regardless of the intended audience. Website portals, on the other hand, are intended to offer a personalized, instant experience for targeted users.
- There are not many options for website integration. Web portals provide full connectivity with external tools like CRM, ERP, or other programmes of a similar nature.
- Websites are not updated as often and have their content changed frequently.
Web Portals Examples You Must Know in 2022
Portals are web-based platforms that enable users to easily connect and find relevant content. It unites information from many sources into one user interface. These portals have been tested by companies from every industry, including healthcare, finance, logistics, and healthcare. These portals are probably used every day by many people. Portal functionality can have a profound impact on an organization's operations and processes. Portal platforms are used by many companies from different industries. These include:
Community Portal
The growing popularity of digital media is making community web portals more popular. These portals allow community members to access large catalogs and offer products and services. Many people have Instagram accounts, and their numbers are growing rapidly. Imagine they have 100K followers and create a community platform for all their followers to explore their services. Instagram allows you to create a page that is related or related to your business solutions.
To allow your community members to manage and analyze payments, you can embed payment gateways. Customers have access to customer portals that allow them to track orders or change their account details.
Employee Portal
Employee web portals are a huge benefit for Human Resources managers, who are responsible for all employee-oriented activities within the company. This web portal allows employees to access all of their data through one interface. This web portal is also useful in the hiring and training process for new employees. You may be wondering, "If HR only uses it," why is it called an Employee Portal? You are right now. Let's see what makes it an employee portal.
This portal is accessible to all departments of an organization, not just HR. This portal allows employees and project team members to collaborate and organize work. Integration of custom APIs can be used to allow chat, file sharing, and workflow creation within your company. This will enable your dedicated team to work smarter and more efficiently.
Intranet
An intranet portal for the company is intended to increase teamwork. It can be used to share sensitive data, corporate tools, and corporate services, as well as project documentation, training materials, and other information. You can also use social media features to improve your organizational workflow. These networks can only be accessed by employees of the company. The system content is not accessible to outside users.
Vendor Portals
Vendor portals are an example of a first-class web portal development. Vendor portals, as their name suggests, can facilitate business collaboration between third-party vendors through high-level customization.
Large companies working with multiple suppliers can find it difficult to streamline supplier communication. Vendor web portals facilitate vendor onboarding by facilitating order placing, tracking, procurement, and so forth. Vendor portals are used by most enterprises for the following reasons.
- Invite suppliers to sign up and join us.
- Add new updates to the portal to ensure that you can control products and services accurately.
- Effective content management can prevent redundancies.
- Organizations should ensure that multiple vendors are managed simultaneously.
Faculty and Student Portals
As a type, we also recommend student and faculty portals. These portals are often used by universities or educational institutions to communicate pertinent information to students, faculty and potential students, staff, alumni, and others. This is the most commonly found information on a portal website.
- Calendar of Events and Individual Schedules
- Scholarship requirements
- Enrollment criteria
- Information about testing and grading
- E-books and other resources
- Histories of payments
Ecommerce Portal
If your company sells products, a web portal is vital for e-commerce. Customers can shop online 24/7. It is easy to increase conversions with an online marketplace. Online payments can also be set up and linked to your bank accounts. This will enable seamless transactions. Businesses can start their online journey by using e-commerce platforms. You can manage all aspects of your online business process through an e-commerce portal. This includes managing inventory and classifying products.
Lead Generation Portal
Online businesses need to reach their target audience. This is essential for maintaining and expanding existing customers. A landing page is a page companies create to promote their website. It includes call-to-action elements that collect essential data. Many websites have pop-ups asking for email addresses and names to receive emails or give feedback.
These data are used internally to improve services and update users about new products. This information can be used to analyze the behavior of your customers and adapt your web app accordingly. It creates a seamless experience.
Customer Portal
Customers are the most important stakeholders for any company. It is, therefore, crucial to establish good relationships with them. Customers have secure access to all resources when they are with organizations that use customer portals. Customers can view their order summary and payment details. They can also access cashback coupons and other personal information. This portal can be accessed to view order summaries, payment details, cashback coupons, cashback, and other personal information.
These portals are intuitive and easy to use, so customers can quickly locate and use all features. Online businesses require a client portal for custom solutions and providing services to customers. These portals must be made available to customers to ensure seamless customer service and experience for users.
Government Portals
Citizens can interact with government and private companies through the government web portals. This platform offers a wide range of content, such as information about payment for bills and parking tickets. It also provides personalized data based on citizens' addresses. These websites may have extensive configuration and integration capabilities that can improve their functionality. You can improve the system by adding embedded videos, social media, and private pages and allowing citizens to ask questions to authorities.
These Are The Web Portal's Fundamental Characteristics
In response to the aforementioned problems, several enterprise portals were developed. The primary components of web portals give business applications the data they require in a consistent, secure, and customized way.
These are a web portal's fundamental characteristics:
- Interface: User interface rendering is done by the rendering engine.
- Federation: The capacity to distribute and deploy portals or portlets
- Support: Support for web service connectors and integrations with service-oriented architecture (SOA).
- Development: A setup that enables the consistent portal development process of web applications.
- Management: Management of documents and links to other content management systems (CMS development).
- Search: An all-encompassing company web portal search function
- Engagement: Advanced tools for user engagement in collaboration. They consist of group calendars and discussion forums.
There are numerous applications for these customer web portals' functionalities. There are other characteristics in addition to these. Depending on the common type of portal solution you select, extra features like integration, collaboration, process, and content are available.
Inspiring Web Design Trends
To attract web users' attention, web designers need to stay current with web design trends. We have spent more time surfing the web over the past 20 years. Web designers have many creative opportunities to develop web design.
Web design is all about looking toward the future. Because of its close connection to advanced technologies, the digital world can provide new opportunities for interaction and animation. Immersion is possible every year. The 80s and 90s are coming back, typography is taking control, and live animation has reached new heights. There are many visual styles to choose from, including whimsically handcrafted and mind-bending high-tech.
Color Gradients
Smooth transitions and bright colors are the web design trends. Gradients have a dynamic effect that gives interactive websites more personality than monochromatic colors. Gradients can be used in many different ways. Colors can be used to fill in specific elements such as your logo, fonts, or navigation menu. This design technique can dominate a website's background.
The choice of a gradient will depend on your taste and the visual appeal of your site. Some people like bright, flashy colors. Some prefer subtler combinations of white and black with a primary or secondary color or a combination thereof.
AI Chatbots
AI chatbots will be better at matching users' needs and matching their behavior. This is possible due to machine learning and natural language processing. Chatbots that are AI-enabled may be used to speed up operations by companies via voice chats or text chats. They can also enhance customer experience. They can collect data, answer common queries and resolve other issues in order to offer seamless digital experiences to customers.
Progressive Web Apps
A progressive web application (PWA) is an application that uses standard web technologies like HTML and JavaScript. PWA can be used with any standard browser. This technology is known for providing a high-quality user interface.
PWA is very popular because of many reasons. PWA can be used to replace native mobile apps. PWAs allow users to access their content quickly, even when they are offline or not connected to a stable network. Many Web Design companies offer PWA solutions. PWA provides a great user experience with other features like push notifications, offline access cached material, and offline access.
Dark Mode Experience
You would have all seen or heard about this emerging trend in website design. The dark mode personalized experience has gained popularity around the world and will be a popular trend for many years to come. It is simpler and easier to use the dark mode. Because it is less stressful on the eyes, it is easier to use in daylight. Websites with dark themes are less dependent on brightness which decreases battery drain. These websites feature a beautiful UI design, as well as all other appealing features.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
AMP technology is similar in concept to PWA and is one of the newest technologies for website development. This allows users to have a seamless site experience. Google and Twitter have recently released an open-source plugin. AMPs are mobile-friendly pages that work quickly and have simple designs. These pages do not require complex web products. These pages can be viewed on mobile devices, increasing accessibility and readability.
Plugins like AMP make it easier to surf the internet with different internet speeds. This allows companies to lower their costs and increase their reachability. This will enable niche-oriented products and services to compete with the market leaders.
Optimized Voice Search
Voice Search is a hot trend that everyone is taking advantage of and making the most of. Voice search is an effective tool that can make life easier during these hectic times. The voice recognition market has been well established by Siri from Apple and Alexa from Amazon. Integrating voice search into your web development team project has many benefits.
- It's a powerful tool for search engine optimization campaigns.
- All online services are accessible to people with visual impairments.
- Enhances user experience.
WordPress Development
WordPress CMS powers over 40% of all websites. This is an impressive presence and demands attention. WordPress is an open-source platform. It constantly updates its features to meet users' needs. WordPress developers must be aware of how WordPress changes over time.
Serverless Architecture
Continued research has been made to find technology that can reduce system overload, data loss, and development costs. This search has led to serverless technology. Cloud technology allows serverless architectures to be run on the cloud. This allows users to create code for any backend service or application they want with minimal administration. It is possible to create, manage and upgrade servers without the need for administration. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are only a few of the companies that provide serverless architecture.
Read More: Web Portal Development: Ultimate Quick Guide to Creating an Effective Web Portal
The Top 15 Essential Features Every Customized Web Portal Must Have
It can be challenging to create a unique portal. A web portal development company must evaluate their IT needs and choose the features that will be most useful to them. The following are the key components that every custom web portal should have:
Interactive Homepage
The homepage is what a person sees when they first log into an online site. The homepage must be tidy and simple to use. Also, it ought to be quite participatory. Your homepage's design will depend on the kind of portal you select. Whereas a training portal might show management data, a school portal might have instructional resources.
Dashboard Recap
A summary of important news and "things to do" should be included on a web portal's homepage or dashboard. You might also think about including a feature that lets users group essential chores into categories and displays those categories at the top of every page. The tasks that are urgent and need immediate action should be highlighted on a dashboard that is well-designed. Once they are handled, users should mark these jobs as finished.
User Personalization
Personalization should be a part of any custom web portal. Information pertinent to each individual's needs, duties, and preferences should only be made available to authorized individuals. Companies have a variety of options for customizing the portal experience. Shortcuts to specific information, such as bookmarks or favorites, can be made available by personalization of the navigation. The information displayed on the screen and how it appears could be controlled by the personalization of the layout.
Simple Access to Information
For users who require quick access to information, a straightforward design that is concise and clear with little clutter is crucial. It's crucial to ascertain whether the user can access the most crucial information right away after checking in or if they must scroll down to do so. Using content organization in the accordion approach, information can be arranged. This makes it possible to convey information in a manageable manner. Instead, users can reveal or hide material by clicking on a button. Think about how much information each area needs. Too much information might be hard to comprehend and interpret.
Tracking Tools
For companies that send or receive goods and services, tracking is crucial. It makes it easier to maintain core business operations on schedule and guarantees that any delays are quickly fixed. Custom web portals should have tracking features so that users can follow orders, shipments, and even support tickets. By giving customers access to monitoring information, businesses can lower support tickets and misunderstandings. Customers may easily find the information they require through portals rather than contacting customer support.
Content Management
The content of a custom website forms its core. The correct features and functions can streamline content management and make the interface usable by users of all skill levels. Consider the characteristics a company could require to manage its content. They include the capacity to add tags and widgets, specify expiration dates, and store prior versions. Users should be able to receive notifications from the content management system when a document is generated, changed, or expires.
Self-Service Tools
Many people like to be able to find the information they need without having to get in touch with anyone. Users may rapidly find the information they need and access resources on their own, thanks to search engines and similar technologies. Users that use self-service technologies can save time and connect with customer support representatives less frequently. Users are free to look up the information they require whenever they need to.
News Feeds and Bulletin Boards
Businesses may instantly share content with huge audiences by using a unique online gateway. Dashboards can incorporate news feeds and message boards so that authorized users can view the content right away after logging into your portal. Think about the content you want to see on your news feed and message boards. This covers announcements, modifications to products, blog entries, how-to manuals, and other kinds of material. Also, you want to think about customizing them based on user roles or particular users.
Accessibility on Multiple Devices
The information must be accessible to modern workers at all times on any device. Long amounts of desk time are challenging, particularly for individuals who are in charge of overseeing many tasks. It's essential to be able to access a personalized web portal from any computer and any location with wifi. It has been demonstrated that mobile responsiveness boosts customer connection and boosts workplace efficiency. Any web portal developed for clients or staff members must be usable on all secure platforms, including mobile phones, tablets, desktop computers, and laptops.
Acknowledgments for Users
Users might be asked to acknowledge, consent to, or agree to receive messages from businesses time to time. Users could be prompted to agree to the updated terms and conditions in an acknowledgment. When designing the portal function, take into account the possibility of individual acknowledgments. As an illustration, consider a pop-up notification, drop-down menu, or a customized acknowledgment that appears after logging in to the system. You might also think about displaying various messages to certain audiences. For instance, a message intended solely for accounting department personnel.
Interactive Reports and Analyzes
Business procedures need to be well-organized in order to guarantee that all departments are operating effectively. Easy-to-use reporting tools are required in order to develop, print, and distribute reports. These reports offer a range of information, including past order history, company status, and other pertinent information.
Online Form Creation
Companies today increasingly rely on technology to carry out fundamental activities like filling out forms. Make sure your bespoke web portal incorporates forms and workflows to speed up the time-consuming process of manually filling out forms. Businesses can save time by using online forms instead of manually inputting data into their systems. When creating the tool, think about how user-friendly it should be. Users may be able to add custom fields using a drag-and-drop functionality included in the tool. The tool should allow non-technical workers to design and publish forms without the requirement for technical support.
Customization Options
The flexibility to modify the interface to meet the demands of each user is necessary for a good portal experience. Based on their location, you can modify each user's dashboard. The effectiveness and productivity will rise as a result. Consider adding advanced features to the homepage that can be changed or removed based on the user's preferences, such as news widgets, calendars, and commonly used forms.
Social Features
Almost all companies use social media. Users can connect with others through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, thanks to the social and collaboration elements that are available on many web portals. Users can comment on blogs, monitor activity streams, participate in polls, and follow other users using portal capabilities. When adding social features, think about which ones will enhance the user experience the most.
Integration with Software
A customized web portal can be used independently or combined with other programs to increase its functionality and interactivity. Learning management systems (LMS), customer relationship management (CRM), and information management systems can all be combined with a good portal development team. Portals can be linked to well-known programs like Microsoft Office 365 to give consumers access to these resources. Consider the appearance of built-in integrations and the data that will be supplied to the site.
The Key Takeaway
Each online business requires efficient web portals. To optimize their strategies, every enterprise must be familiar with web portal development services.
An automated web portal design can help you build relationships with your potential customers, vendors, business partners, and employees. The latest technologies can be used to increase revenue and improve the user experience. Website portals can be a great way for your brand to shine online.
