Static Websites vs WordPress, Wix, and other dynamic websites

Key points:

• Static websites load much faster than dynamic websites. Google says 53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. That’s a lot of lost potential customers!
• Google ranks your website in search results based on how well the mobile version of your website performs. And WordPress, Wix and other dynamic platforms have a lot of bloat going on behind the scenes - meaning they’re not well optimised for mobile, slower, not responsive and ultimately not ideal for ranking in Google Search results.
• WordPress is notoriously targeted by attacks and regularly needs to be kept up-to-date to patch vulnerabilities. Static sites simply don’t have these vulnerabilities and are essentially much harder to compromise..
• We hand-make all our static sites to ensure we can get the best performance, ranking potential and security possible.

A static website is made up of just HTML, CSS and JavaScript. There’s nothing fancy going on behind the scenes and all content is pre-defined and ‘static’. This makes them lightning quick, simply structured and more secure.

Dynamic websites (like WordPress, Wix, Webflow, GoDaddy Website Builder and much more) utilise complex code and tie into databases to allow much more advanced functionality on the website. There’s a lot more going on behind the scenes before the page is presented to you.

Now that’s great if you need all this stuff - but it also introduces slower page load speeds and more attack vectors for hackers.

Static Websites have better chances of ranking well in Google

A very important aspect of your website ranking in Google Search results is how fast it loads and how well it performs on a mobile device. As static websites aren’t doing anything fancy before the page is displayed to the user, they tend to load much faster than their dynamic counterparts. They’re not retrieving information from a database, processing complex server-side code, or have a big system holding the whole thing up.

Dynamic websites, such as WordPress sites, tend to get bloated with loads of plugins and a lot of extra features on the backend, which are available to you to use; but you simply don’t need and don’t end up using. But all this ‘bloat’ still adds to the final page load speed - even if it’s not being used.

This leads to potentially ranking worse in Google Search, but also, if people do visit your site, Google also says 53% of visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than 3 seconds to load! Suggesting you could lose a lot of potential customers simply by having a slow page load speed

WordPress sites are vulnerable to attacks - static sites aren’t

While WordPress is a popular and versatile platform, it is vulnerable to attacks due to its open-source nature and widespread use. The common causes of these threats include plugin and theme vulnerabilities, which can expose WordPress sites to unauthorised access, data breaches, and other malicious activities.

In contrast, static sites are generally considered more secure because they don't have a backend or database to exploit. The lack of dynamic elements reduces the potential for vulnerabilities. Additionally, static sites often have fewer components and interactions, which limits the opportunities for attackers to exploit.

This doesn’t mean static sites are immune - they’re simply much harder to compromise because there’s much less attack vectors to be targeted.

WordPress needs regular maintenance such as keeping software & plugins updated, using strong passwords, implementing security features, limiting login attempts, regularly backing up your site and more.

Why should I pay someone to make me a static website?

Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, GoDaddy and all these other dynamic site building tools advertise that anyone can make a website for free or at a low cost. This obviously appeals to people that have a limited budget. However, it doesn’t tell the whole story of why a high-performing static website is actually better.

Static sites are generally more favourable for:

• Page speed
• Loading times
• Security
• Converting more customers
• Ranking higher in Google

With the service we offer, although more expensive than the other options, we feel that the value you gain from our static sites is much greater. Does the monthly cost to us out-weigh the more potential business you could get each month? Our clients generally say yes. They gain more from the website we supply than the cost to us. All whilst you don’t have to worry about managing any part of it or building it yourself.

Yes, anyone can make a throw up a website with Wix and all these other services - but is it going to look as good and perform as well as if an expert did it? Probably not.

Treat your website like a shop window

Nowadays, when anyone is looking for a business to hire, they Google around. And when they find your website you want it looking professional and functionally work well. If your shop window looks messy and doesn’t leave a good impression, are people going to come into your shop?

This is why we believe you should invest in your website. And websites are very-much ‘you get what you pay for’.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the choice is yours. It comes down to your own budget and priorities. If you’re limited on budget and just want to get something up on the internet then it’s fine to use whatever you see fit. But if you see the value in having a professional online presence created by someone knowledgeable on how to get the most out of your website, then it would be worthwhile investing in that.

Our business model helps you negate the risk of shelling out thousands up-front on a website. We aim to make strong, professional & fully managed websites more accessible to smaller budgets by charging monthly with 0% down payment. And we handle any updates you want to the website, security and everything else. So you don’t have to worry about anything.