Key Differences Between Websites and Web Portals

1. Key Differences Between Websites     and Web Portals  Introduction      Websites are an integral part of any business. It helps businesses to represent               their intentions andobjectivesinfrontofthousandsofpeople.Websitesarethe               best way to mark an online presence and reach out to your target audience.                          People often get confused between websitesandwebportals,asbotharegreat           platforms, but used for entirely different purposes. Both are the two entirely           different terms but, interlinked, as both, websites and web portals, are           web-based. If we talk about websites, they are the collection of web pages,           whereas, web portals are the gateway to the World Wide Web and offer a           number of services.                                                                             

2. Websites are used to reach a large number of people, and on the other hand,               web portals limit the number of users and refine them to a specific group of               users. In this blog, we are going to discuss what websites and web portals are,                 and how they are different from each other.                                                A Brief About: Websites and Web Portals  A website is generally an online representation of any business, but, a web             portal is user-centric, i.e. users come to these portals to seek some sort of             information or data. Both words seem similar, however, they hold a different             meaning. Let usfirstunderstandthemeaningofboth,websitesandwebportals,             individually and then talk about the differences between these two.                                                          A Website  What is the first thing you do when looking for something over the internet?                 Like most people, you might also use Google, which is a website, to find your               answer. In our day to day lives, we use a number of websites for multiple                 purposes like shopping, making online payments, using banking facilities, or         lookout for any information. Not only for users, but the website is also, a great             way for businesses, as it helps entrepreneurs to reach their target users and             increase their online presence. Also, websites are a great way to increase sales           and revenue. Businesses are always looking for tips to getting safe and secure           websites developed, to prevent it from hacking and scale up their operations.                                                                                                                        If we talk about the definition of a website then a website is the collection of                 web pages, which are interlinked together andarehostedfromasingledomain.           A website is accessible via URL (Uniform Resource Locator), which organizes             multiple web pages into a series that helps users to navigate through them.               Mostly all websites have some important web pages like about us, contact us,           the home page, etc.                                                                           

3. Types of Websites  • Static Website  • Dynamic Website  • Interactive Website  Static Websites  Static websites are the ones that have web pages with fixed content. The             content remains the same throughout until any changes are made to it. These           websites have simple plain text, or some may also have rich media content.             Wheneverauservisitsanystaticwebsite,thesamecontentisseen,irrespective             of the time of visit.                                                            Dynamic Websites  A dynamic website shows a variety of content, each time a user visits the             website. These websites are updated automatically, depending on a set of           parameters like templates, content, scripts, etc. So, every time a user visits a         website, the content is renewed. These websites are created with the help of           various software and languages like PHP, Python, JSP, etc.                                                                Interactive Websites  Websites that communicate and interact with users, using them, are known as         interactive websites. These websites are rich with appealing graphics and         engaging content which helps retains the users. Users canposttheircomments           or leave feedback on these websites. Interactive websites are a great way to             connect with your users, and most businesses prefer these types of websites.             They not only help you gauge user’s attention but also, are really helpful in               boosting sales. The cost of developing these websites differs fromthatofstatic             and dynamic ones.                                                                                                 

4. What is a web portal?  As already discussed above, a web portal is a gateway to the World Wide Web             that offers a number of services. In simpler terms, it is like a management               system where companies or organizations can build, share, interchange         information, or data whichcanbereusedlater.Unlikewebsites,webportalsare             private locations on theinternetthatcanonlybeaccessedthroughtheirunique             URLs, and users are required to enter their login IDs and passwords.                                                                        Web portals are user-centric, and each user has its own password that can be           used to access these portals. These portals have dynamic content, i.e. the             content changes every time a user visits these portals. There are many web             development companies that develop web portals based on your requirements.                                              Types of Web Portals  • Horizontal Web Portals  • Vertical Web Portals  Horizontal Web Portals  Also known as, Horizontal Enterprise Portals,thesearethegeneralportalsthat           can be used as a common platform by severalcompanies,toprovideallkindsof                 information, which a user may require while looking for their services. Some of             the common examples of horizontal web portals are government portals,           educational portals, corporate portals, cultural portals, etc.                                                           

5. Vertical Web Portals  Also known as Vertical Enterprise portals or vortals, these are the user-centric           portals, that provide informationrelatedspecificcompany,interest,orservices.         A user looking for information about any specific topic or about a particular             company can find these types of portals helpful. If a business wants to share             something specific related to their services, they can opt for expert and           experienced web development services, for getting vertical portals developed,       as per their business requirements. College portals, tender andbiddingportals,           are a few examples of vertical portals.                                                                                                Difference between a Website and Web Portal  Now coming to the differences between websites and web portals, both are           quite different and can be differentiated in various aspects.                • A website focuses on attracting more users i.e. driving traffic whereas, aweb               portal is for specific users. It, in a way, restricts or limits the web traffic and                 allows only specific users to visit the portal. You may​hireawebdeveloperwho               can develop a feature-rich website and web portal that is in sync with your           business goals.                                                                  • A website does not ask for a login ID and password from the users visiting                   them, but in a web portal, every time a user tries to open it, login credential is                   required. These credentials are user-specific and are different for every user.                                • A website is publicly accessible i.e. anyone on the internet, who knows the               URL, can visit the website andseeitscontent,ontheotherhand,awebportalis                 privately accessibleandonlymembersoftheportalcanvisitandseeitscontent,             using their login ID and password.                                                  • The content on a website can either be dynamic or static,butifwetalkabout                 web portals, the content is dynamic and every time a user visits these portals,             the content change.                                   

6. Conclusion  As you can clearly see, both websites and web portals have their own benefits,               and based on your business’s requirements you can opt for any of them. A           website is a nice option to have when you are looking to create a public               platform, which canrepresentyourbusinessontheinternetanddrivemoreand           more users, from all over the world. You can hire web developers from a ​full stack development company​, as they can help you with both front-end and           back-end web development.                                                                                                              On the other hand, if you are looking for a private platform to target a specific                 kind of user, web portals are for you. They can be a great option if you want to                 have control over what users can see. For this,youmayrequiresomeadvanced               user management features, and hiring an expert will surely help.                                                    Reference: https://customerthink.com/key-differences-between-websites-and-web- portals/