Static Vs Dynamic Website: Advantages And Disadvantages

Website is certainly the foundation on which an online business stands. It needs to be firm, sturdy, and strong to scale the structure of your online business to new heights. The type of website you choose for your business plays a crucial role in determining the strength and effectiveness of your business. Although there are a number of parameters on which various websites can be categorized, here we are going to discuss the types of websites based on their nature and function.

Websites can be divided into two types based on the nature of development and the functions they perform, they are- Static website and Dynamic website. In this write-up, we have discussed the difference between the two websites and their advantages and disadvantages. Keep reading to learn more about dynamic and static website.

What Is Static Website?

In technical terms, a static website is developed in HTML and CSS languages. It consists of a series of coded files that are created to represent the various physical pages on the site. These websites are quick and easy to develop. They are cost-efficient and are the perfect choice for small businesses. A static website feels much like an online brochure with forms and hyperlinks which enable its potential customers to view different pages on the screen. The pages on a static website once created will remain static and cannot be updated or changed without coding skills. That is, if a novice business owner wants to update certain information on his/her static website, he/she would have to get a website developer to perform the needful task.

Advantages :

• Time-Saving: The biggest advantage of a static website is that it is quick to develop. A professional web developer can develop a static website much faster than a dynamic one.

• Cost-Effective: Unlike a dynamic website, static websites are cheaper to develop. They are apt for businesses working on a shoestring budget.

• Inexpensive Hosting: Static websites can get dedicated servers at a cheaper price and that too with much ease.

• Easy Indexing: Search engines like Google, Bing etc., can easily index a static website as they are just a series of coded HTML or CSS files.

• Fast Transferring: Static websites do not have complex structures like a dynamic website and can be easily and quickly transferred from server to client without much processing time.

Disadvantages :

• Difficult To Change: The biggest disadvantage of a static website is that its content cannot be changed easily. Any novice cannot update the content. It requires the expertise of a web developer to update, add or change any content on a static website. All the HTML files would need to be individually changed even for a slight change made to the website.

• Not Good For The Long Run: A static website is not apt for the long run as any business would need to make a number of updates to be in sync with the latest trends. In order to make changes, one would have to change each page file again and again which can be consuming a lot of resources.

• Limited Functionality: A static website does not offer all the functionalities that a dynamic website can. One can add text, images, videos, and hyperlinks in the content but other than that, there are no other special functions that a static website can perform.

What Is Dynamic Website?

Technically speaking, a dynamic website is developed using advanced server technologies like PHP, JavaScript or ASP to build more dynamic web pages. By dynamic web pages, we mean pages that are interactive in nature and dynamically change according to time, geography and user type. Dynamic websites can be connected to a large database enabling it to pull information as and when required. This helps in creating a more user-driven page that changes as the user wants. On a dynamic website, the content and information present on the page changes according to the user commands.

Advantages :

• Easy To Update: The biggest advantage of a dynamic website is that it can be easily updated as per the needs of the business owner. No expert knowledge is needed in changing the dynamic website and any a single change in the template file would bring the design change in all the pages with that particular file.

• Interactive: Dynamic websites interact with the users and changes according to their behavior.

• Quick To Responsiveness: A dynamic website can be quickly updated to become responsive to various screen sizes that was impossible with a static one.

• Smooth Navigation: A dynamic website offers a smoother navigation and lets the user jump from one page to the other without any problem.

Disadvantages :

• Higher Cost: Dynamic websites can cost big bucks in their development and even the hosting cost is high. However, once developed they would not cost additional money for any updates or changes.

• Slow Processing: Having a number of functions to perform with complex technology, the dynamic websites becomes slower to process and load.

After going through the advantages and disadvantages of both dynamic and static website, a conclusion that can be formed is that a dynamic website, although costing high, is a better approach for website development. It is a one-time investment and can be beneficial for scaling any business online.
These are few advantages and disadvantages of both dynamic and static website. The utility and resourcefulness of both types of websites depend on specific needs and purposes. Where few people prefer the simplicity and ease of static websites, few other are fascinated with the rich-functionality and intuitiveness of dynamic websites. Both have their own advantages and limitations.