Why you should have a Static website

Most websites use a Content Management System, or CMS. But in recent years, some sites are being converted into Static websites.

Why?

Scroll down for the top seven reasons.

Reason 1. No CMS to have to Upgrade

All CMSs require upgrades. Most issue several upgrades per year.

In most cases, installing those upgrades is not an option. They provide important security updates and bug fixes.

However, in many CMSs, installing an upgrade is quite technical. It requires the expertise of a Developer.

That means you as a site owner cannot upgrade your own site. Instead, you must search for and hire a Developer. You might need to spend thousands of dollars in Developer fees each year.

But with a Static site, there is no CMS. There are no upgrades to install.

Reason 2. No Migrations

There are three main scenarios where a site owner must migrate their site to a new CMS:

SCENARIO 1

The CMS had an upgrade that was quite disruptive. To install the upgrade was essentially the same as switching to a different CMS.

An example of this happened in the Concrete CMS. The upgrade from version 5.6 to version 5.7 was essentially the same as switching to a different CMS. It was disruptive and costly.

SCENARIO 2

Over the course of time, the nature of all CMSs changes. New features are added. Old features are downgraded or removed. It is possible that the CMS will no longer serve your needs. You have no choice but to migrate to a different CMS.

An example of this is happening in the WordPress CMS.

WordPress is switching from their beloved “Classic Editor” to a new editor called Gutenberg. Gutenberg is not compatible with the needs of many sites. Site owners will have no choice but to migrate to a different CMS.

SCENARIO 3

The owner of the CMS no longer supports the CMS. Effectively the CMS is out of business.

This happens more frequently than you might imagine.

CONCLUSION

In any of those scenarios, the cost of migration can be quite formidable. You as a site owner must search for and hire a Developer. You will spend thousands of dollars in Developer fees.

But with a Static site, there is no CMS. Thus there will never be a migration. It saves money, effort, and heartache.

Reason 3. No “LAMP Stack”

Most CMSs run on what is called the “LAMP” stack. LAMP is an abbreviation. It stands for four software packages that work together:

Linux
Apache
MySQL
PHP

Whenever you think of paying for “hosting,” or whenever you think of getting a “server,” what you are usually getting is a computer with those four software packages.

Each of those four software packages is its own thing. Each has an owner that shepherds it, as well as Developers who donate their time to improve it.

And each requires upgrades.

Whenever any of the four requires an upgrade, you need to brace yourself. The upgrade might be trivial. Or it might be terribly disruptive.

You as a site owner must search for and hire a Developer. You will spend thousands of dollars in Developer fees.

But with a Static site, there is no LAMP Stack. Thus there will never be an upgrade to Linux, Apache, MySQL or PHP. You save money, effort, and heartache.

Reason 4. No Computational Server

Most CMSs run on a computational server. Think of it as a computer.

Sometimes your hosting company upgrades a key aspect of your computational server itself. You have no choice but to cooperate.

However, there is a chance this upgrade will be terribly disruptive to your website.

If your computational server is going to be upgraded, you as a site owner must prepare. You must search for and hire a Developer. You will spend thousands of dollars in Developer fees.

But with a Static site, there is no computational server. Thus there will never be an upgrade to a computational server. You save money, effort, and heartache.

Reason 5. Super-Fast

You want your site to be fast. Blistering fast.

The fastest site that is possible is a Static website. No other type of website is faster.

Most pages load in about a quarter of a second!

And at Google PageSpeed Insights, static sites score the highest.

Reason 6. Ultra-Light Payload

When you click to go to a URL, your browser fetches the content from the website. But how much content must your browser fetch?

At many modern websites, you are fetching 10 to 50 megabytes per page. That is the “payload” of the page.

The payload includes many things:

The actual text
The actual images
Header, Footer, Navigation
A document that defines the style
Javascript
Google Fonts
Ads
Cookies
Surveillance Trackers from perhaps 10 other companies

That’s a real mess.

But with a Static site, your payload is probably less than 100 KB. That’s 20 to 50 times less!

A small payload is very important for several groups of people:

People using a mobile connection
People with a slow Internet connection
People in a Developing nation

Reason 7. Use any computery device

To work in pretty much any CMS, you must be using a laptop computer.

Almost no CMS is optimized for working with a tablet or smartphone.

Although some CMSs have a mobile app, in my testing, the mobile apps are deeply compromised.

I’ve witnessed limited functionality. I’ve witnessed sync problems that were dangerous. I’ve seen them completely fail when a site had more than a few hundred pages.

But with a Static site, you can use pretty much any computing device.

Originally published on July 6, 2023

Last updated on July 14, 2024

TOPICS: Blot, CMS, Concrete, HTML, Linux, Static Site, Website, WordPress,

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