The Difference Between Static and Dynamic Websites Explained

When designing a website, one of the most crucial decisions you have to make is whether it should be static or dynamic. In this article, we will be explaining the difference between static and dynamic websites, including their pros and cons.

Static Websites
Static websites are static in the sense that every visitor that goes to the site views the exact same information and cannot interact with it. Static websites are written completely in HTML, and each webpage you view is a separate HTML file. So, any changes made to one webpage won’t impact the rest of the pages on a website.

Static websites are relatively straightforward to create, and were the default format in which the majority of the websites were created during the early days of the internet. Due to their lower complexity, bugs and loopholes are easier to find and fix, making them highly secure.

Pros

• Less complex to develop
• Fast loading time
• Small file sizes
• All assets can be cached for even faster loading time
• More secure

Cons

• Non-Interactive
• Changes require directly updating the HTML code
• Doesn’t provide support for complex functions
• Making site-wide updates can be a hassle

Best Used For

Encyclopedias, non-interactive blogs, news pages, and other sites where viewer interaction is not required.

Dynamic Websites
Dynamic websites are sites where the content being shared is largely tailored based on the viewer. Think of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as examples.

Visitors can interact with the website and their input can affect what information is presented to them by the site.
One of the biggest advantages of dynamic websites is that a user can make changes to it without requiring any in-depth knowledge of HTML coding. Furthermore, updates to the whole website do not require the user to go to each webpage individually and make the changes.

Many dynamic websites that you see today are built on Content Management Systems such as WordPress and Magento, which makes it easy for people with no knowledge of coding to quickly create and make changes to a website.

Dynamic websites make use of multiple forms of coding other than just HTML, such as Java, PHP, etc. to generate its context, making them highly complex. Hence, bugs and loopholes are harder to spot and fix, making them generally more vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Pros

• Easier to update
• More flexible
• Enables more complex functions
• Content can be tailored to each user

• Larger file sizes
• More complex to develop (from scratch)
• Less secure

Best Used For

E-stores, social media, forums, online game sites, and other interactive examples.

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