What is a Static Site, and Why Should I Want One?

This article is a brief overview and is written with all audiences in mind (we promise not to get too technical).

What is a Static Site?

Having a static site mostly means that the content doesn’t change very often. This doesn’t mean that the website or its pages never change, or even that changes don’t occur every day. The website is still free to change at any time, it just has to be done in the source code of the website. That may sound scary, but it really isn’t and has many benefits.

Why Should I Want a Static Site?

Static sites can have many benefits:

• More cost effective
• speed
• reliability
• maintainability
• security

Static sites can be more cost effective because they are much easier to host. A server only has to deliver pre-made files to end users, meaning that no permissions are needed to install special software to serve a website. This can also lead to websites being more secure since there is no need to install and maintain extra software. Since the web pages are pre-made, loading times can be faster because the server doesn’t have to do any special work to prepare the content for users every time.

For these reasons, we believe that a static website is the right choice for nearly all individuals and small businesses. If you don’t already have a website, starting off with a static site is easier and cheaper. Best of all, should you decide you want dynamic content down the road it is possible to mix and match static and dynamic content! Static sites are a great starting point for developing a web presence, and aren’t limiting in the long run.

When is Static Not the Right Choice?

While static websites are great, they are not ideal for every situation. Dynamic, or non-static, content is necessary sometimes. The best example of dynamic content is user generated content. Content generated by users, such as comments, add complexity and cost to a website but can add a lot of value. However, at least to start, dynamic content is not needed when building a web presence for existing small businesses.