A web resource is an integral part of the company’s image. A quality website drives sales, generates interest, and can even create a community of like-minded people. 

Today’s web properties act as storefronts and important marketing tools and provide information and inspiration to users. 

Typically, a business can choose between a website and a web portal

What is the difference between these concepts? 

If you are considering custom web portal development services to grow your business, this article is for you.

What Is a Website?

This term refers to a group of pages that are located on the Internet and accessible through a web address. 

The content on the site is visible to all users of the world. It is characterized by public use and does not change depending on visitors. 

Users are not required to log in to access the site. Visitors can perform specific tasks, and the site supports them.

Websites are often focused on a specific product, service, or industry. This resource is intended to notify website visitors about products or services

In this case, personal databases are not used, and sites do not link to them.

What Is a Web Portal?

This term refers to a typical knowledge management system that gives a company or organization the ability to create or share information. 

This is a private location on the web that is accessed using a unique URL

Sometimes logins and passwords are used. The content of the portal is protected by login and is defined by the user. In this case, the interface is closed and publicly available.

This provides access to different user roles. The scope of the web portal is dynamic and constantly changes. 

Content visibility varies depending on users. It can be unique to the user – it all depends on the settings. It is often collected from various sources.

Depending on the information that the portal contains, there are the following types:

Vertical Portal

This portal covers a narrow field of activity or topic. Nevertheless, it provides comprehensive information that excludes recourse to other resources. 

Typically, this type of portal is in demand by a small circle of users or specialists who are interested in this topic. From a marketing point of view, this approach has its pros and cons. 

The advantages include attracting the interest of the target audience, and the disadvantages include reducing the number of potential visitors.

Horizontal Portal

It is characterized by a wide range of topics in the content presented. From a promotion point of view, this type of portal has the advantage of a wide audience of users. 

The drawback is the significant expenditure of resources that must be used to update a variety of information.

Corporate Portal

Users often do not distinguish this type, classifying it as a vertical portal. In this case, the main difference is considered to be the ownership of the Internet resource. 

Among the distinctive aspects that exist between web portals and websites is the purpose of their creation.

Aspects That Clearly Highlight The Differences Between a Web Portal And a Website

The dissimilarity between a web portal and a website can be seen due to several signs. Among other things, it concerns the goals of creation, design decisions, and functionality.

Purpose of Creation

Websites are created for a specific target audience. Portals bring together users based on their interests, serve as a source of information, and provide useful services to a large audience.

Design

The diversity of readers and behavior scenarios complicate the requirements for design solutions. First of all, this concerns user interfaces. 

Each type of audience is characterized by preferred behavioral scenarios. 

That’s why it’s so important to focus on the main task: to demonstrate as simply and clearly as possible everything that visitors need and allow them to get it.

This same diversity means that the designer’s taste preferences should not come first. User convenience is of primary importance.

If we talk about layout, it is worth highlighting the following requirements:

  • Cross-browser compatibility. Pages should have approximately the same appearance and functionality in different browsers.
  • Use of modern methods and techniques. Layout is primarily done in blocks rather than tables.
  • Availability for indexing of important content by search engines.
  • Striving for light page weight. This is vital, not only for the client side. The load on the server is of great importance.

Functions

Within a corporate website, standard CMS capabilities are often sufficient. A custom web portal development project may include more functionality. The following is worth giving as an example:

  • the complex structure of objects and the relationships between them;
  • dozens of integrations with services;
  • personal accounts that differ in business logic;
  • databases of documents and files;
  • mailings—they are carried out in the form of SMS, e-mail, and push messages;
  • periodic notifications and tasks.

It is worth noting that the portal has more complex and rich functionality.

Content And Its Quantity

One of the main differences between a web portal and a regular website is the abundance of external links to other resources. 

That is why it is so significant to simplify the user’s navigation on the Internet and provide him with the maximum number of addresses of other sites that provide information of interest.

Despite the variety of information, the scope of the web portal, just like the website, needs to be constantly updated. Otherwise, it will lose positions in search results.

Advertising

Promoting a website will require high advertising costs. Therefore, you definitely need to include them in your budget. The web portal is also worth advertising. However, it is easier to promote naturally.

Attendance

Thanks to its architecture, the web portal can attract natural traffic. At the same time, high advertising costs will not be required. Promotion is ensured by a necessary mass of useful content and the availability of services important to users.

Final Thoughts

A website and a web portal have many similar features, but they also have many differences. They relate to the target audience, content content, and advertising costs. 

If you are looking for a reliable company that provides services for custom web portal development, we recommend contacting Digiteum.




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