In recent times, many organizations have successfully developed the relationship between application systems and their information through APIs. However, they seem to overlook how to expose and deliver these APIs to their consumers. These organizations are most concerned about generating income from their APIs.

To generate income from an API, adoption, and reusability are the major factors that must be considered. These factors may seem hard to get due to several reasons. Some of which is lack of proper documentation, lack of proper facilities for API consumers, and poor visibility of the API catalog.

On-boarding new API users require a lot of work. Consumers such as developers must first come across the API. Afterward, the API would be assessed to see if it provides the services they want. This would only happen if the API is stable, of high quality, and provides better services.

The good news is a developer portal helps to streamline this process. A developer portal is also known as an API portal. This portal bridges the gap between API providers and API consumers. In simple terms, the developer portal connects the API consumer to the API provider. Just like the wholesalers and retailers Connects the consumer to the producer.

Traits of a Good Developer Portal

Just like any other product, APIs require a productive marketing strategy. One of these marketing strategies is the availability of a developer portal with several activities to explore. Irrespective of the type of API you offer, the content should be informative and rich. For an API to be marketed effectively, a developer portal has to have some major traits. These traits are detailed below.

Catalog

The APIs that are available for consumption are described by the API catalog. The API catalog also lists and provides adequate descriptions for APIs and their methods. The documentation provided by the API catalog helps in the authorization and authentication of APIs.

Legal

A good developer portal must cover legal territories. This is essential in communicating the processes and means of consuming the API. It also describes the terms and conditions required to consume an API. For example, the process involved in accessing the service of an API might just require you to create a user account and then receive the API keys. Or, there could be a complex process of approval involving legal teams. So, whatever specific process you require, make sure to articulate them clearly. Visual diagrams can also be used when necessary.

Lifecycle Information

A good developer portal should describe the lifestyle information of an API. This description should clearly identify the following.

Migration process: Several ways for and existing user to switch between different versions of API.

Release schedules: Release frequency of minor and major updates.

Deprecation policy: The time and the circumstances at which the API would expire.

Latest test results: API providers should share functional test results that are up to date. This should also be done in the areas possible.

Method of versioning: API providers should specify their method of versioning. This will help in knowing minor and major versions of APIs that are released.

Pricing

Sometimes, accessing the services of an API cost money. This often depends on the type of services they offer. If this is the case with your API, the monetary cost should be described at individual API levels and also at bundle levels. You should also describe any level of complex pricing available.

For example, a consumer might need to make upfront payments for short-time usage. This payment can sometimes be per resource basis of per call. A different package might require fixed payment for longtime usage. There can also be some cost-effective or discounted plans that give access to bigger packages.

In some cases, pricing information may be too cumbersome to manage content on the developer portal. Rather, some groups prefer the integration of a separate catalog with the developer portal. This catalog would be for the pricing management product offering.

Resources for Training

Training materials should be added to your developer portal. These training materials can include tutorials, how to use your developer portal, and many more. Aside from using text for your training materials, you can consider videos and other multimedia content that conveys your message properly. And API sandbox can also be integrated with your developer portal. This will allow consumers to make requests and view responses. Your training resources should cover the following:

• Demonstrate the method of providing security tokens.
• Scenarios of error and how the API would handle them.
• Libraries and software development kits required to kick start the consumption of API.
• Responses and sample requests for invocations of the API.
• Pre-required steps and actions before the invocation of the API.

Insights on API Health

An API provider should endeavor to make the performance of their API transparent. This will increase consumers' confidence. Insights like current API usage, average response time, number of subscribers, and real-time monitoring of the API will have a huge boost in consumers' confidence.

The developer portal should also provide a list of possible issues and how to resolve them. This will help consumers to prioritize issues.

Uses of Developer Portal

There are many uses of the developer portal. Below is a list of its major uses.

• Developer portals can be used to work with APIs, register applications, and interact with other consumers.
• APIs can be configured, viewed, and edited in the developer portal.
• Applications can also be created, edited, and viewed in the developer portal.
• Developer organizations can be added, removed, and configured in the developer portal. User properties can also be changed and edited.
• API analytics can be viewed in the developer portal and the organization and application levels. This information is oftentimes shown in the form of visualizations on the dashboard of the developer portal.