As a small business, your website is the key to your success. It often serves as potential customers’ first impression of your company, and visitors will come to your site to learn about your business, products, and services.

So, what kind of website is best for a small-to-midsized business (SMB)? One decision you’ll have to make is whether to build a static or dynamic website.

In this post, we’ll compare static vs. dynamic websites and discuss which is better for SMBs to help you decide which type of site your business should use.

How websites work

Understanding how websites work, specifically how they are supplied to your web browser, is helpful in understanding the difference between static and dynamic websites. Here’s a quick rundown of how it all works.

When a user views a website, their browser sends a request to the server that stores the content. The server answers to the request by sending the page’s code to the browser, which the browser then displays.

Static website definition: What is a static website?

A static website is one that relies on fixed content that was created and uploaded to a server in advance of a user’s browser requesting the page. When a browser requests a page, the server delivers a page based on pre-written HTML and sometimes also CSS and JavaScript.

The browser then displays the page based on the HTML and other code. With static pages, the page looks the same for every user.

Sites that don’t change much or can display the same pages to each user are good candidates for the static website method. Sites such as company websites, blogs, and other informational sites may be static.

Dynamic website definition: What is a dynamic website?

When a browser requests a page, dynamic websites use server-side processing to produce it in real time.

The user does not view a page that is based on an exact HTML document you uploaded to your server. Instead, the website gathers information from a database, loads it into a template, and generates HTML code in real-time.

Sites with often changing information and sites where you want to offer each user individual pages are suitable candidates for the dynamic approach.

Dynamic sites, such as eCommerce and social networking sites, where users may log in and view their individual profiles, are possible. Each user’s profile page is not hard-coded by the site developer. Instead, the web generates these pages dynamically.

based on the information the user entered when they created their account.

Some disclaimers about comparing static vs. dynamic websites

Comparing static vs. dynamic websites can sometimes be confusing. The lines between dynamic and static are somewhat blurred, and you can blend the two approaches. Some sites may be mostly static but have a few dynamic elements, for example.

If a page is static, that also doesn’t mean that users can’t interact with it. You can include forms, buttons, and other elements that users can interact with on static web pages. Some people may refer to these types of elements as “dynamic” elements.

In this post, when we say “dynamic,” though, we’re referring to pages that are generated dynamically using server-side processing in real time when a user visits a page.

Static vs. dynamic websites: Which is better for SMBs?

So, which is better for SMBs? Static or dynamic websites? Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons.

Static website pros

The advantages of static websites include:

Simple to create

Static websites are simpler than their dynamic counterparts. You can create a static web page with only HTML, while with dynamic sites, you’ll need to work with the languages you’ll use to pull the data and generate the pages.

Less expensive to build and host

Because static websites are simpler, it’s often less expensive to build and host them.

Flexibility

Because you build each page ahead of time, it’s often easier to change elements from page to page or use completely different designs on different pages.

Fast load time

Load time tends to be fast with static sites since the pages are already made. Load time depends on numerous factors, however, and with modern technology, dynamic sites can load quickly as well.

Simpler SEO

Static sites are also often easier to optimize for search engines. The pages on static sites already exist, and search engine crawlers may see them just like users. If you want your dynamic site to rank in search, you’ll need to incorporate certain static parts on your page or construct optimized static pages for your dynamic site.