Dynamic vs. Static Websites

While researching website design and development, you may have come across the terms "static" and "dynamic".

When building your own website, one of the first decisions you'll need to make is whether to build a static or dynamic site. This will determine how your web pages are stored and delivered.

To help you understand how dynamic websites work, we will share some examples of popular ones to give you a better understanding of the pros and cons of each approach.

Dynamic websites can present different content depending on the visitor, while static websites display the same content to everyone.

Every time you visit a website, an HTML file (along with some other related files) is sent back to your browser. The browser generates a web page from this HTML file.

Introducing static websites will help you understand how static and dynamic websites differ in how HTML files are generated.

What are static websites?

A static website is a pre-made file on a server, unlike a dynamic website. Since these files are compiled into HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, they are considered "client-side" languages. When a user requests a page from the server, it returns the HTML file specified in the URL along with any accompanying CSS files and/or JavaScript files.

A static website's content can only be changed manually by changing its content in the files, since no files are altered by the web server before being sent to the user.

A static website can be interactive and engaging, but that doesn't mean it can't. In addition to clickable links and buttons, images and videos can be embedded, CTAs and forms can be completed, and animations utilizing CSS or JavaScript can be used to generate digital downloads. You can make static websites look pretty good if you have the right skills, but everyone will see the same static site.

Among the types of static websites are resume websites, portfolio websites, brochure websites, one-time landing pages, and other informational sites. These websites have limited content (three to four pages or fewer), and they do not need to be updated frequently or customized.

Static websites have many advantages

In addition to being simple, static websites are also the easiest way to create and maintain a basic website. Static sites are also an excellent option for launching a basic website quickly and inexpensively. You don't need too much experience or money to code a decent one if you know HTML and CSS.

Additionally, static websites provide a faster user experience than dynamic websites. Due to the pre-built pages, static websites have little back-end processing. Clients only need to request files, which the server retrieves and delivers. Due to their lack of variation in content, static websites are also easier to cache. In addition to affecting search engine rankings, site speed is also crucial for a positive user experience.

Static websites have several disadvantages

Static websites aren't suitable for all situations. Scalability is a major concern: Each HTML file must be changed individually every time you want to make a site-wide change, such as changing the header of your pages. As well, adding a new page requires manually creating a new HTML file every time. Large websites cannot use this method.

Static websites also lack the ability to personalize content. If you can't tailor content to your visitors, you might not be able to create a more engaging experience for them. You can show visitors different information about your business based on their location, for example, if you use dynamic sites.

Also, static sites cannot be built for many types of sites, such as e-commerce sites, which allow users to add products to their carts and check out.

Taking a closer look at what dynamic generation is, let's see why most websites today are generated dynamically.

What are dynamic websites?

As opposed to static websites, which display the same content to everyone, dynamic websites display different information to different visitors. The way an individual interacts with a website can be tailored based on several factors, including their location, local time, preferences, and/or actions (e.g., shopping preferences).

The back end of dynamic websites must be more complex in order for the front end to be more flexible. The HTML files on these websites are not separated. As soon as a request is received, servers create HTML files customized for clients by pulling information from databases and constructing them on-the-fly. Once the page is completed, the HTML file is sent to the user's browser.

To build their pages, dynamic websites utilize server-side scripting languages (PHP, Python, Ruby, or server-side JavaScript in addition to client-side languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript). Depending on how much data is being pulled, this process can get quite complex. Like static websites, this process is invisible to the user - all they see is a loaded page in the browser.

In today's world, a majority of websites use some type of dynamic technology. Dynamic content is used on online stores, social media sites, membership sites, news sites, publishing sites, blogs, and web applications.

You might find e-commerce sites that recommend products based on what they think you'll like. In the end, each visitor will see a different home page. It would be time consuming to hard code a page for every visitor and store it on the server. It is the server-side code that determines what content you should see, fetches it from various databases, and builds the page based on that content.

Additionally, dynamic content allows you to change the language of the page based on the user's location or settings, display previous orders after the user logs in, and gate certain content based on membership status.

Dynamic websites have many advantages

A dynamic website has the primary advantage of customizing content for each visitor, resulting in a more engaging user experience and higher conversions.

In addition to personalization, server-side scripting opens up a multitude of possibilities beyond just personalization. Dynamic code allows us to create web applications, SaaS applications, and rich experiences that are impossible with static code.

Dynamic websites can also be updated much more easily. For websites to remain competitive, they need to regularly update their content and appearance. Instead of updating each HTML file individually, administrators can make sweeping changes to their site quickly and easily.

The server stores fewer pages on dynamic websites than on static websites, so they are more scalable. Thus, the server constructs a page when it is needed. Suppose you wanted to add several new products to your e-commerce site. Instead of creating separate HTML pages for each product, you could store product information in a database. Server-side scripts can construct the product pages automatically.

Dynamic websites have some disadvantages

For those without technical expertise, investing in a developer or development team can help you build and maintain a dynamic website.

If you prefer to concentrate on the content and design of your website, then you can use a website builder or content management system (CMS). WordPress, for example, uses PHP, a server-side language, to dynamically build its pages.

A dynamic website can also affect performance. A dynamic website does more processing on the back end to deliver pages to visitors, which can affect load times. Website building software has improved in this area, so you can optimize your site's speed. Although delays of fractions of a second can increase bounce rates, it is still important to think about speed when managing a dynamic site.

Static vs. Dynamic Websites

In the early days of the web, static websites were primarily collections of pages stored on servers that could be delivered to clients upon request.

The method became less viable after users began expecting more from websites, including personalized displays, automatic content generation, and cloud-based software.

The static approach works for small websites without personalization that you want to view quickly. Anything beyond that will require a dynamic approach.

It makes no sense to spend thousands of dollars creating static websites when Sirkle offers interactive websites at a fraction of the cost of static websites with high monthly fees. If you don't have a marketing, design, or technical background, why not do it yourself at a fraction of the cost? It would be better to pass along those savings to your customers. With Sirkle's VIP plan, we will handle your marketing for you step-by-step.

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Sirkle is designed for small businesses. With Sirkle you'll be able to interact with your followers directly. You can provide your customers with branded eGifts or coupons. With the Sirkle platform, small businesses can maximize their marketing return at the lowest cost by managing their marketing strategies.

If you have any questions, please visit https://www.sirkle.com