Important
Static websites built from scratch load up to 10 times faster than building pages with WordPress. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, most of your visitors will abandon your site, losing customers.
Google indexes your site based on your mobile site performance, and mobile sites built with a page builder are not as optimized, not as fast, not as well-built, and often not 100% responsive, which could hinder your search rankings.
Hand-built static sites are coded for mobile first, which means that the code is written starting with the resolution of mobile screens, then adding code for tablet and desktop. This makes the mobile device more responsive, optimized, and incredibly fast to load - improving your site's performance on Google and ensuring that visitors don't abandon your site.
WordPress is known for its vulnerabilities and needs to be updated regularly to patch security flaws that hackers can use to compromise your site. Hand-crafted static sites cannot be compromised as easily and are virtually impenetrable due to their simplicity and lack of entry points to be hacked.
In the world of web development, there are two types of websites - static and dynamic. A static site is a site that only has the basic elements of web development: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. There are no databases or functionalities or data manipulation. It just displays the page as it was created. These form everything you can see on a website, and in many cases, that is all you need. When you load a static site, your browser is the one that reads and compiles the code for the site and loads it instantly. Every user loads the exact same content. And one of the best ways to create a static website is to code it by hand (which is what we do best!) or with a static website generator.
A dynamic website (WordPress, page builders) is one that uses additional server-side languages and technologies to fetch HTML, CSS from a database and put the site together as it loads on the server and is sent to the browser. Instead of browsers compiling the code, it is the server that compiles it for the browser and sends it, and instead of each user being served the exact same content, they are all served different content individually. This makes loading times slower, and your website is vulnerable to attacks from malware and hackers that interrupt the server’s database checking process for the site’s content. Static websites don’t have a database, so there is nothing to attack. We will focus more on this later in the page.
Dynamic websites would include websites created by WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, page builder or built in php, etc. These page builders store assets and content in a database and when someone visits the website, the server checks its inventory of things. the browser requests and pulls them from that database and Frankensteins them into the landing page you see. While these page builders make it easy to create your own website and for a cheap price, there are HUGE disadvantages compared to the static websites they build.
Why are static websites faster than dynamic websites?
One of the most important aspects of your website ranking on google is how quickly it loads and works - especially on mobile. The problem with dynamic websites (WordPress, Wix, etc) is that it takes the server longer to check the database and put everything together. And the more plugins and extra stuff you have on your site, the slower it will slow down. This is critical because studies have shown that most users will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. So if your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, what’s the point of having it if most users won’t even see it? This is one of the BIGGEST drawbacks I see with WordPress and Wix sites – they can take too long to load and cost you money.
Why are static sites more secure than dynamic sites?
Dynamic sites have databases and server-side platforms that can be attacked when trying to access the databases or content management systems that store all of your website data. So, as the server builds the site and prepares it for the browser, hackers can inject themselves into the process and compromise the site.
Why should I pay someone to make a website when I can do it myself?
Wix and WordPress advertise that anyone can make a website for free, which makes it very appealing to small businesses that don’t have the money to hire a developer like me to make one for them. However, if page speed, load times, security, more customer conversions, and Google rankings are concerns you would like to have addressed in a website and you want to stand out from the competition, then I advise you to find someone to create a static website for you.
Conclusion
Ultimately, whether you choose a static or dynamic website, it all comes down to your budget and priorities. If you don’t have a lot to spend on a website and just need something out there, then WordPress or Wix are fine. But if you have the budget to do something that is a step up and can maximize your online presence, then building a static website is the best return on investment. Or if you need something bigger that involves the need for a database or the ability to edit your own content, then WordPress and other page builders are the way to go.
