The Hammers snatched a stoppage time win against the Villans thanks to 20-year-old substitute Zavon Hines' goal in a game full of incident.
The 2-1 victory was West Ham's first since the opening day of the season and lifts them out of the relegation zone. But Zola knows his team must continue in this manner if they are to climb further up the table.
'It was a massive win, because the confidence it will give to the players will be big,' said Zola.
'I'm delighted with the win, but I expect to get three points more regularly.
'We gave a demonstration of desire and belief and that's what we want from our players, everything else is there. It's a fantastic game to win.'
The match started badly for the home side when striker Carlton Cole limped off with a hamstring strain, but this saw the introduction of England under-21 international Hines.
The nippy forward soon had an impact on proceedings when he was bundled over in the area by Habib Beye and Mark Noble duly converted the spot-kick.
Villa then had a penalty of their own in the second half, but Robert Green saved well from Ashley Young, only for the winger to score from long range two minutes later.
Beye was then sent off for a second bookable offence before Hines poked home deep into stoppage time to grab all three points.
Zola reserved special praise for match winner Hines.
'The boy is determined to impress and not only today, he always plays very well,' he added.
'Today obviously he gave us the three points and we all delighted for him and for ourselves.
'He has to be willing to keep learning and when he comes on he has to do what he has done today - if he does that he's got a very good future ahead of him.'
The result meant that Villa missed out on a chance to move into the top four of the Premier League, and boss Martin O'Neill was left to rue a missed opportunity.
'I was disappointed by the result, but nothing surprises me in football,' he explained.
'We should have got something from the game, but we didn't.
'I thought when we equalised we might take the game, so I'm particularly disappointed to lose all three points in the fashion that we did.'
The 2-1 victory was West Ham's first since the opening day of the season and lifts them out of the relegation zone. But Zola knows his team must continue in this manner if they are to climb further up the table.
'It was a massive win, because the confidence it will give to the players will be big,' said Zola.
'I'm delighted with the win, but I expect to get three points more regularly.
'We gave a demonstration of desire and belief and that's what we want from our players, everything else is there. It's a fantastic game to win.'
The match started badly for the home side when striker Carlton Cole limped off with a hamstring strain, but this saw the introduction of England under-21 international Hines.
The nippy forward soon had an impact on proceedings when he was bundled over in the area by Habib Beye and Mark Noble duly converted the spot-kick.
Villa then had a penalty of their own in the second half, but Robert Green saved well from Ashley Young, only for the winger to score from long range two minutes later.
Beye was then sent off for a second bookable offence before Hines poked home deep into stoppage time to grab all three points.
Zola reserved special praise for match winner Hines.
'The boy is determined to impress and not only today, he always plays very well,' he added.
'Today obviously he gave us the three points and we all delighted for him and for ourselves.
'He has to be willing to keep learning and when he comes on he has to do what he has done today - if he does that he's got a very good future ahead of him.'
The result meant that Villa missed out on a chance to move into the top four of the Premier League, and boss Martin O'Neill was left to rue a missed opportunity.
'I was disappointed by the result, but nothing surprises me in football,' he explained.
'We should have got something from the game, but we didn't.
'I thought when we equalised we might take the game, so I'm particularly disappointed to lose all three points in the fashion that we did.'
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