Top 9 Differentiating Factors Between Static vs Dynamic Website

Having to choose between static vs dynamic website might be a little overwhelming for a businessman who is totally clueless about it. So if you are designing/redesigning your website and have been asked to choose between a static website and a dynamic website by your web designer, fret not. You have landed on the right page. Through this blog, we would not only help you understand the difference between these two types of websites but also make you confident enough to explain it to others.

Let’s start with the basics. There are web pages and web applications. While a web application can also be a website (like Facebook), a website can’t always be a web application. If this made some sense to you, we are going the right way.

A static website is the simplest form of websites and is often the easiest to develop and design. The dynamic website, on the other hand, is a bit complex and difficult to develop. Each has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. The kind of website design you choose must entirely depend on your business requirement and the purpose it is expected to serve.

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Differentiating: Static vs Dynamic Website

There are many points differentiating static and dynamic pages from each other. We would, however, restrict ourselves to the most significant ones which can help you decide if it would suit your business needs.

#1. Cost

Isn’t this the first thing that comes to our mind while trying to analyze the static Vs dynamic web site debate? It is natural that the dynamic website cost is slightly higher than the static website cost due to the sheer complexity of coding and developing the former over the latter. However, this is just the upfront cost. If you consider on a long run, the price involved in updating and editing the content in a static website will surely make it more expensive than its dynamic counterpart.

But if you plan on adding additional functionalities and features at a later stage which would mean rewriting the source code, the cost would be really high for a dynamic website.

#2. Flexibility

It is a clear observation that a website that can be updated easily is the more flexible. One can then safely say that the static websites are slightly more rigid than the dynamic ones as they are designed to display a variety of content with the same source code. This ideally means that you don’t have to run to your web designer to get the source code edited or changed every time you need to change a small content on your website and are often less time-consuming.

Also, in a static website, the number of web pages you can have and its format is static and can’t be changed individually.

#3. Speed

In today’s virtual business place, speed is everything. If you are looking out for a website which is quick to load and display content, then the static website is the ideal solution for you. The main difference between the static Vs dynamic website is that the former is quick to load as it doesn’t need to send a request to a server like the latter.

#4. Scalability

If you have an e-commerce business and would need to keep adding pages to your website, then a dynamic website is the best option for you. It is very difficult to construct and update individual pages and also takes up a considerable amount of cost and time.

#5 Ease of functioning

Unlike the static websites, you have the option of connecting a dynamic website to a database and use it to extract information and data in a streamlined and structured manner. This can help in structuring and sorting your individual pages and products display in a manner that your user deems fit. In addition, you can also link it with a CMS to enable the client to manage and edit data through web-based administration at no additional cost.

#6 Design

One of the main differences between static and dynamic website is that of its design. The design and structure of a dynamic website are rigid as they are originally from a pre-designed template into which content is inserted to generate multiple pages. A certain level of customization can be incorporated in these web pages even though its scope is very limited and bound to cost you more.

#7 Favoritism

Whoever thought search engines would pick sides! But believe us when we say this, between static Vs dynamic website the search engines definitely have their favorites. Search engines prefer the dynamic websites over the static ones as they are more likely to be updated often and have fresher content. The users also pick the dynamic website over the static ones as these ensure a rich and enhanced experience to their customers with varied content.

#8 Tools and Add-on

This is one more place where the static websites get overshadowed in the static Vs dynamic website debate. While it is very effortless to add additional add-ons, tools and additional features in a dynamic website, the same can’t be said about its counterpart. You can have easily accessible dashboards, tools, payment gateways, shopping carts and other add-on features in a dynamic website to suit your business needs making it highly interactive and engaging for its users and customers.

#9 Website Platforms

You can develop a static web page with client-side processing technologies like HTML, CSS, and Javascript. It is hence a very primitive form of website wherein neither is anything stored nor can be changed by the user. For a dynamic website, you would require PHP, Javascript and Actionscript languages and frameworks like Django, Ruby on Rails or Flex for its creation. You can also create static pages using these complex languages. However, it would unnecessarily complicate the source code making it more complex to maintain and manage.

In Conclusion

While there is no right or wrong option and both the choices come with their own set of disadvantages and advantages, a static is clearly overshadowed by the dynamic websites. If you still feel confused in static vs dynamic website, outsourcing website development can help you out in clearing your head. Get the advice of an expert web designer to help you understand which type of website would suit your business requirements.

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