Rapid data access is the biggest game changer in business. Data is critical in every organization since we live in a world where instant access to data is becoming the norm. However, a few firms still need to catch up, relying on antiquated systems to send data to their clients, workers, and partners. If you're one of them, you'd better strap in.
How? Simple - with the help of a WEB PORTAL. Web portals are your ticket to accessing all pertinent information from a single location. They are nothing like incognito, yet they are fairly common with many web portal examples.
In addition, the popularity of online portals will continue to climb; for example, according to the Data Intelo analysis, the web portal industry will develop at a CAGR of 10% by 2028. In this MarsDevs article, let’s dive deep into web portals by learning their fundamental aspects and using real-life examples. So, let’s get started!
A web portal is a digital or online platform linked to a database and gives relevant information based on the user's request. You must also use browsers to have access to it. For example, we may use web portals in our daily lives to monitor the progress of an order - say, a lovely dress ordered online - you can use a customer web portal (for various purposes).
Let's look at another example of a web portal to clarify things. When you wish to arrange an online appointment to see your doctor, you usually go to the patient web page of your particular healthcare institution and enter all of your information, such as the day, time, individual doctor, and so on.
Sounds simple and quick? Well! It is. You only need to remember the login and password to access its resources and obtain information.
As developers write, “The three distinguishing strengths of portals — integration, consistency, and personalization — are essential components of an increasingly important part of business today: digital customer experience.”
Also, a web portal resembles a website, doesn't it? But they aren't the same (sorry for being a downer). But how so?
A website is designed to attract more users, i.e., drive traffic, whereas a web portal is designed for specific people. It filters or restricts web traffic in several ways, allowing the portal to be viewed only by unique users.
You can use ASP.NET programming to design a website and web portal with relevant features to your company goals. Also, a website does not ask people to visit it for a login ID and password; login credentials are required whenever a user attempts to view it via a web portal. These passwords are user-specific, and they are unique to each user.
In addition, a website is freely accessible, which means that anybody with access to the internet and the URL may view the website's content. On the other hand, a website portal is private, and only users of the portal may view and access its content using their login ID and password.
The content displayed on a website might be dynamic or static. Regarding web portals, the content is dynamic and changes every time a user views one.
But how to figure out what you want? Easy!
You’ll need a website if you:
However, choose a web portal if you:
Gartner mentions, “Firms must have looked toward these software domains— horizontal portal platforms/WCM systems — as the primary software base for their sites.”
Businesses and corporations can use web portals to create dependable websites with customizable user access and easy navigation—these unique corporate web solutions aid in aligning your business processes and promoting business growth.
Businesses from many industrial sectors can use these cloud platforms to meet customer demands, produce user-centric content, and improve website functioning. How else do they help?
Portals can tailor information depending on user inputs, which might be offered directly or implied by geographic data (weather). Portal features can be allocated to users based on their roles or details (e.g., IT user or Economics student), allowing a tailored degree of access that begins before a user checks in, or they can be adjusted by the user (typically on a dashboard).
Portals can provide additional communication channels with clients, such as email, phone calls, forums, and dashboards that display statistics or bespoke data flows.
They enable single sign-on (SSO) access to various services, simplifying the end-user experience.
The capacity to combine content and amenities from several sources is a key aspect of a portal.
A portal is a web app, frequently a group of web applications known as "portlets," that work together to provide the portal's different interactive components.
The ability to organize massive amounts of information and link to valuable services is fantastic. Still, most portals become invaluable because they focus on the user experience: delivering useful, valuable, accessible, and desirable information in a way that exceeds expectations.
Portal systems are modular in design, allowing for adding new features or touch points while continuing to support old experiences.
Portals reflect an early paradigm change for organizations online: to construct customer-centric rather than business-centric websites. In principle, a portal enables a corporation to design sites and navigation based on the user's needs rather than a company structure that only makes sense inside.
As the portal industry evolved, top portal vendors expanded their feature sets to assist organizations in creating user-centric digital experiences for web, mobile, social, and linked devices. The functions provided are content management, marketing, workflow, targeting, and mobile support.
As a result, some portal systems are evolving into digital experience platforms that leverage their integration and customization skills to drive transformation throughout the company. According to Forrester, the first technical problem for digital customer experience efforts must be more backend system integration.
Portal-heritage DXPs have a strong integration story and the customization emphasis required to create consistent, linked experiences adapted to each user's context. Other types of digital experience platforms exist, such as those derived from commerce servers and online content management systems.
Even if you do not employ a portal-heritage DXP, you will almost certainly need to include portal technology into your strategy to address the integration demands of digital experiences across many touchpoints.
As Mark Grannan exclaims, “Elevating [digital experience portals] within the extensive digital experience platform model is strategic for the future. They contain more reusable codes for the secured web experience, combine backend data, and enable the customer to self-serve.”
AI is extremely important in Digital Experience Platforms (DXP) and Web Portals. DXPs strive to deliver consistent customer experiences across touchpoints, channels, and devices. DXPs enabled by AI assist in creating tailored experiences by detecting consumer preferences, habits & requirements.
Likewise, AI-powered web portals allow businesses to provide tailored experiences to website visitors by providing relevant material and suggestions based on browsing history and activity.
The following are some excellent web portal examples:
The Stanford University portal is one of the best web portal examples since it was designed primarily for getting important information on new applications, workshops, training programs, enrolments, jobs, teaching, grading systems, academic advising, counseling, and more.
At a point, HPE struggled to give relevant information to its clients or partners, with over 650,000 clients (almost half the population of Hawaii) from 174 countries. The new HP partner web portal was created to address this glitch, which was recognized as one of the great web portal examples.
The primary goal of Grants.gov, a government web portal, is to allow candidates for federal grants to apply for and manage grant funding digitally through a single website. This portal established an excellent example for web portals and influenced governments worldwide.
Web portals have transformed how businesses exchange relevant data (as seen by a variety of web portal instances). They provide a single, well-structured location for that information to circulate, and they do it in a tailored way for each end user.
As a result, creating and installing a web portal streamlines processes while improving the organization's reputation. Web portals give a distinct consumer experience and aid in developing a self-sufficient brand-loyal community.
If you are thinking about creating your web portal or need assistance determining which sort of portal would best fit your needs, reach out to us at MarsDevs, and we will be happy to help you.
So, why not check us out?
Contact us today, and we will help you create a web portal that speaks your voice!
A web portal is a web-based platform, sometimes known as a cloud platform, linked to a database and gives relevant information based on the user's request. You must also use browsers to have access to it.
Enterprise, student, client, employee, and government web portals are some notable examples of web portals.
A website is a collection of client-focused pages that provide standard data or information to everyone. However, a web portal is just a step forward by connecting the database to communicate or acquire data in two directions.
