Harpreet
Harpreet
Author, Founder, Developer, Gamer, Dog Lover, Biker, Wanderer

What is the difference between a Static Website and a Dynamic Website?

What is the difference between a Static Website and a Dynamic Website?

When you start any business, having an online presence is not just a medium to promote your business anymore, it has become a basic hygiene. A lot of business owners who are new to the world of technology often get confused on the starting point. It is very easy for anyone to get confused.

  • How should I get started with my website?
  • What is the difference between Static & a Dynamic Website?
  • Should I even consider static website? Is it bad?
  • How to find a good development agency?

Today, I am going to dedicate this blog post to clarify the difference between a static and a dynamic website. And which one is right for you.

What is a Static Website?

Static is a very ambiguous term used to explain these kind of websites. I think its a misnomer and does not properly justify what it means. In plain old english, static means something that does not moves, no action or no change. Does that mean static websites are bad? We will talk about that in a min.

Static websites are the websites that are built using tools which are underestood by the browser, namely, HTML, CSS / SASS and Javascript. The content of the website is hardcoded in the html pages.

What is a Dynamic Website?

Websites in which the content of the website is managed using an admin panel aka Content Management System (CMS), are called Dynamic Websites. Here, you can change the content of your website without needed to involve a developer. You can even create new pages with multiple design templates, organise multiple navigation menu, hide or show content based on some conditions and much more.

It is called Dynamic because the web pages are not directly built in a language which is understood by the browsers, it uses an app engine or web service that converts dynamic code into web pages or parts of a web pages using a pre-processr, which in turn is understood by the browser.

So, its pretty obvious we should not go ahead with a Static Site, Correct? Not really!

Static websites have some great advantages over dynamic websites.

  • Static websites are lightweight and faster than dynamic websites, any given day.
  • Hosting cost of a static website is going to be cheaper than a dynamic website.
  • You do not need a web service & Database to run a static website.
  • Development cost of a static website is much cheaper.

The question isn’t which one is better, the right question is which one is right for me.

You may not need a Dynamic Website if you only intend to change the website content once in 6 months.

It does not make sense to create your business website, if you do not see the need to change the web content or pages frequently. If you just want to showcase and tell people about your business online, your values, about your firm, your key services and a way to contact you, static website may be a way to go.

In what cases, a static website won’t work for me?

Static websites will not work in cases, when there is a need for you to store any kind of data, either from your visitors or for your products or services.

What do I mean with that?

If you want your online users to login to your website, then you will need a way to store their login details to securely authenticate. Or if you want to maintain a blog, or an ecommerce website, static websites are not for you.

Follow a lean and minimal thought process, do not use something which is not necessary for you. You will save a lot of time and money.

Feel free to reach out to me if you need help with what is right for you, using this link.

Cheers!

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