(Last Updated On: August 24, 2022)

Custom web portal development is what you need in these circumstances if you want to connect suppliers and buyers, consumers and partners, improve how they engage with your organization, or bring information from several sources together.

The web portal is a platform that allows you to provide secure access to critical data, communication tools, interactive tools, and other user-specific content. It facilitates the visit of all interested users, simple and instructive, by serving as a single collected source for various information. Its capability is beneficial for selling a product or service and maintaining your brand’s internet presence.

With such a solution, you can provide a more tailored and user-friendly experience for your consumers. That is why it is critical to understand how it might affect your company and how you can manage it.

What exactly is Web Portal Development?

The development of web portals makes it simpler to construct an access point that is user-friendly, safe, and modifiable and that organizes information according to the specific needs of individual users.

It’s also known as web portal application development or portal application development. Extensive web development skills and best practices, such as rich application development, registration systems, and server-side and client-side scripting, are required in any scenario.

Classification of Web Portals

There are two types of web portals: horizontal and vertical. A horizontal outlet is an online platform that serves the same organization and domain as a vertical portal, serving a particular industrial specialty.

1. Vertical Portals

In this context, “vertical portals” refer to online resources that center their attention largely on a single subject or business sector. Information, data, tools, articles, and other resources are made available through vertical portals, which focus on a single industry. Business owners may use these portals to find a welcoming door through which to promote their wares. But this gateway serves as an umbrella for a wide variety of stores under the same general heading.

The gateway “vertically” transports clients to previously inaccessible internal areas of the business. This means that, like a business-to-business e-commerce site, vertical portals cater to a highly specialized group of customers made up of industry experts and professionals.

2. Horizontal Portals

The term “horizontal” refers to the practice of expanding one’s perspectives by offering a variety of material that is both meaningful and relevant to a wider group of readers. For instance, e-commerce websites are employed by end consumers, merchants, and wholesalers. Since this is the case, a portal that covers a wide range of subjects and interests is an example of what is known as a horizontal portal. The provision of something that is useful to other people is the major objective of these portals. 

These portals provide as an entrance point, directing visitors to further resources and information on a wide range of subjects.

Web Portal Types and Real-Time Examples

After elaborating on the meaning of the portal idea, the next step is to examine the portal’s sub-categories, which may be classified as either vertical or horizontal.

1. Creation of a Corporate Portal

Businesses and other organizations that want to manage large amounts of data would benefit greatly from utilizing the corporate portal, which serves as an excellent gateway. This portal gives users access to data that has been adapted to their specific needs as well as a centralized view of business information. There is potential for huge financial gain for large organizations through the utilization of portal creation services. There are many different kinds of corporate portals to be found on the internet.

2. Business Process Management & Collaborative Portal:

Solutions for managing internal business processes and workflows, automating business rules, approving business processes, and establishing connections between departments and branches are the original goals of intranet portals. Through its protected channels, employees and outsiders alike may get access to the aforementioned firm information and processes. Collaborative portals allow for the centralization of internal resources including data, software, and points of access.

3. Creation of an Education Portal

The majority of educational institutions including universities, schools, colleges, etc., make use of portals in order to provide their students with accurate information. Students who were absent from class may benefit from the most current information on newly introduced coursework, upcoming examinations, and a particular topic that is provided through education websites. A superb education website that has a variety of features might be beneficial to educational institutions such as universities and schools.

4. Portal for Information Publishing

Wiki sites and dictionaries are examples of information publishing portals that provide users with in-depth knowledge or expertise on a particular phrase or topic. This kind of material may be difficult to get on other websites. Increased user engagement and enhanced user experiences are the results of modern portal strategies that are based on online content management software. These strategies also give a web-friendly interface with back-office administration and legacy systems.

5. Human Resources and Talent Management Portal

Recruiting, training, talent management, and employee performance management are just some of the HRM-related tasks that should fit well inside this framework. If you want to run a successful HR department focused on talent acquisition, you need a Human Resource Portal. In order to guarantee a smooth transition from placement to payroll, this portal will streamline workflow procedures and allow other critical operations.

6. E-commerce Website

Small and medium-sized businesses often believe that having an eCommerce site is sufficient to engage in online commerce. However, in order to contain all of their different products and services, huge firms and organizations need to have an online storefront. This eCommerce portal supports both industry and economic e-commerce transactions; hence, e-Commerce businesses may utilize such outlets to get a variety of features and advantages.

The Price of Creating a Web Portal

Like any other software solution, the cost of web portal creation is determined by various factors; thus, there is no set price. A web portal may make a significant impact in any organization, yet, to be effective, each solution must be tailored to the individual demands of the business and requires some work to design. Let’s have a look at some of the aspects that influence php website development cost:

• Design Difficulty: The cost might vary greatly depending on whether it is a template or a bespoke design, as well as how sophisticated it has to be.
• Elements & Functions Included: This is one of the most defining variables since the amount and complexity of features may vary significantly based on the company’s unique demands. Custom functionality requirements and special features take longer to build and determine the overall complexity of the project, considerably raising the cost. Among the most popular are task and knowledge management, networking and collaboration tools, user profiles, sophisticated search, data aggregation, self-service tools, performance monitoring, analytics, document management, and other features. Customer animations, database connections, real-time synchronization, artificial intelligence, and other sophisticated features may be available.
• Integration: Integrating third-party solutions into the system increases the scalability and capability of the web portal, but it also increases the cost.
• Development Team: It requires a skilled team of developers to create a strong tool like a web portal. The team’s experience level, size, location, and recruiting strategy (in-house, freelancing, or outsourcing) are all cost-determining variables.

Final Words

As a consequence of all of the considerations above, the typical cost of web portal construction may vary from USD 5,000 to USD 60,000, depending on the quality and complexity of the product. The cost of more complicated custom-built systems may be much higher. If you opt to outsource custom web portal development, your outsourcing partner will be able to give you an approximate cost estimate as well as advice on how to save money.