What are web portals?

Web portals are organized gateways that help to structure the access to information found on the Internet. Much more than a simple search engine, the web portal usually includes customizable access to data such as stock reports, local, regional, and national news, and email services. Most of the better-known portals are commonly identified as search engines, although they offer much more than simply the ability to search the Internet.

Some examples of web portal types:

Job Portals

A job portal is a website which provides a listing of jobs that are being offered by prospective employers.  Whilst some sites offer a direct listing service, where the employer would sign up and input the job details, other job portals simply take the jobs that are already listed from various websites and sources and display it on their own site for users to browse.

Corporate Portals

While there are many web portals designed for general use by consumers, there are also portals that are created for the use of authorized personnel only. This is the case with the corporate or business web portal. In this case, access to the portal is limited to those with login credentials issued and managed by the employer.

Portals of this type are helpful in allowing employees who are traveling to access corporate servers and connect with documents and other data saved on the server. Corporate portals may also be configured to allow customers to browse, search, and purchase goods and services from the company.

Government Portals

Government portals are another example of a private web portal. As with the corporate model, users must have authorized access to the portal in the form of login credentials, security clearance, and other proprietary access codes in order to use the portal. This helps to ensure that employees can only gain access to data that is considered within their area of responsibility, and effectively prevents the use of proprietary data by unauthorized individuals virtually impossible.  As we strive towards a fully serviced e-government, web portals are being more commonly used by the government to provide services to their citizens.