Static sites are great.
Sure, there are reasons why dynamic sites have become so popular. Lots of things that people want to put on the internet are well suited to dynamic websites. Every WordPress site (which accounts for about 40% of all websites) are dynamic websites. Online shops require dynamic content as well. Unfortunately, dynamic sites have lots of drawbacks.
What even is a static website?
Static websites exist on the internet as a set of files stored on a computer server somewhere. When you try to visit that website from your browser, the server sends the files and that is what your browser shows you. Static websites are much simpler than dynamic websites, which is one of the things that makes them great. They load quickly and are very secure.
Dynamic websites on the other hand exist on a server in a form totally unlike what you see when you visit them. The content that makes up dynamic websites is assembled when you try to visit the website. They often consist of, among other things, a SQL table, a huge spreadsheet-esque file that contains all the information necessary to construct the final website that gets displayed to you. This is how every single WordPress site works. When you visit such a site, a request is sent to the server, and it finds all the things it needs in the table, builds the HTML files, and then they are displayed on your screen. This helps facilitate content that updates regularly and allows you to show different content to different users visiting the same address, but because of all this added complexity they are much slower and have a greater risk for bugs and cyber-attacks.
Why does this matter?
When pitted against a comparable static site, dynamic websites are significantly slower. This is a big deal for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Slow websites are much more likely to result in a bounce which is when a user leaves after only visiting one page of your site. Google also places a strong emphasis on user experience when ranking websites, so long load times can lead to low rankings in search results. There are a lot of improvements that can be made to make a website faster, but choosing a static site makes a big difference.
Security is also an important consideration when deciding between a static or dynamic website. All the components that have to come together to make a dynamic website work means a lot more potential targets for cyber-attacks. Static websites are not exempt from vulnerabilities, but the potential entry points are a lot fewer. Whatever solution you choose, make sure your web developer knows the steps to take to make it as secure as possible.
Many people appreciate all the flashy design options provided by dynamic website solutions like WordPress. If that’s what you’re looking for, you can take steps to optimize your website for speed and security. That said, there is a growing contingent of people that prefer simple websites. The aesthetic of a clean static site with few to no moving elements is prized by many people online, and many people appreciate “no-script” websites without any JavaScript or PHP. The community vibe of static websites like the kind Neocities hosts offers a chance to capture the magic of the early internet. Static websites also tend to be a lot more accessible.
In the early days of the internet, every webpage was accessible because they were all text on a screen. As design elements get increasingly complicated visually as well as on the code side, access becomes increasingly difficult for people with disabilities. From visually impaired people to people with ADHD, a simple, fast-loading static website can present a better user experience. Some websites include accessible options, but the ADA continues to recommend designing your websites to prioritize accessibly, not to provide it as an optional setting.
But what if I NEED dynamic elements?
I’ve been presenting static and dynamic websites as a dichotomy, but that isn’t totally accurate. Some websites are fundamentally dynamic, like WordPress sites, but websites can include both static and dynamic pages and elements. If you’re selling products, hosting user content, or even just want to allow comments on your blog posts, then you’ll need to access information dynamically from a database. This can be achieved through a mix of static and dynamic pages, or through including dynamic elements in otherwise static pages. This is a good way to increase your Time To First Byte (TTFB), another metric considered by Google when ranking search results. Even if the full page isn’t done loading, you can present some static content to your website’s visitors while the dynamic content loads in.
And of course, good user experience and search engine rankings mean better conversions for you. A website that loads in 1 second has, on average, 5 times the conversion rate of one that loads in 10 seconds.
There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding what website solution works best for you, but whatever you choose, be sure to go with a web developer than knows how to work with your goals.
Additonal reading on static websites:
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/static-vs-dynamic-website/
https://blog.hubspot.com/website/static-vs-dynamic-website
