Key thoughts for effective portal development
A Portal is different from the website mainly in that the latter belongs to single person or entity and promotes or showcases his products or services whereas the former lists a number of people or entities. A portal is also related to some specific theme but it could be quite broad based covering far more than what a particular website can do. Portal development is considered to be far more complex and wide reaching affair than the website.
Retain Focus on the Theme
The first important step of portal development is to determine the subject matter or the topic of the portal and what purpose is it likely to serve. The normal approach is to make it as encompassing as is possible covering the whole gamut of products or services which can be directly or indirectly related. For instance, a travel portal might cover not only the booking agents, travel agents and the transportation service providers but also the hotels and accommodations as well as the foreign exchange dealers and many others. The portal provides the opportunity to the people for meeting all their requirements at one place.
Importance of Comprehensive Planning
Comprehensive planning assumes a lot of importance so that no crucial element is left out. This planning shall be about the sales and marketing effort required. This would be needed to get the appropriate people and entities to opt for listing their services on the portal. Planning shall also cover the requirements of infrastructure which can keep the portal running without any hitch.Portal design and organisation also makes a vital difference and planning shall encompass this aspect as well. With a good and effective design, the portal can enable the visitors explore more of it.
A good portal developer shall be able to provide robust technology architectural support as well as have an understanding of the theme of the portal. So, while developing a retail portal, he must be able to visualize what will appeal to the customers and what all information they expect to find and share through it.
Scope of the Portal
Another important consideration is the determination of the scope of the portal. It could be the geographical coverage as well as coverage of products and services. So, a good property portal might not only be covering the real estate of a particular place but could even be covering the whole state or country.
Sometimes, the portals may be focusing on some niche. It is not necessary that, say, an education portal covers the whole of education sector. It may not be possible to do so. But, it can be based on a smaller niche theme such as the higher education or on some professional education.
With the growth in the number of portals related to various industry verticals, there is an intense competition in every segment. This growth, on one hand, has been the result of the desire among the businesses to be listed on good meeting platforms between the providers and seekers and, on the other hand, of meeting all the needs of people related to a theme. It is very important that the portal is developed as well as marketed skilfully in order to develop its brand identity.
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