Dynamic vs Static Website Design
Over at WebProWorld someone asked a question about which is better- a dynamic website or a static website? “I maintain several web sites and have ideas for many more that I’d like to create. I often go back and forth between the pros and cons of creating a dynamic versus static site and would like opinions from others.”
I found it interesting that anyone would suggest a static website these days. With the web morphing into one giant worldwide conversation, why would ANYONE want a website that just sits there passively?
Though I admit that I have a somewhat biased opinion, it’s easy to find many reasons why a dynamic website is more desirable.
It used to be that dynamically generated sites weren’t as easily indexed by the search engines as static sites, but that’s not true anymore. Not only have the Search Engines gotten better at indexing dynamic urls, we now also have search engine friendly urls courtesy of mod-rewrite tricks, and the added bonus of rss feeds and update service pinging that’s either standard or easily added as a plug-in to most dynamic web applications. A dynamically generated website page is “out there” with links pointing to it almost immediately after you press the button to post it, not to mention the update that is immediately added to your dynamically generated sitemap. Adding this type of functionality to a static site is time consuming and expensive. So I think the opposite is quickly becoming the case– Dynamic sites are better indexed and indexed faster (and more often) than static sites.
The best web applications out there these days are pretty easy to learn. You don’t need to be a brainiac or have a degree in geekspeak to use any of them. If you can use an email program, make an online purchase using a web shopping cart, or post on a web forum, you have all the skills you need to build and maintain a dynamic website after it’s set up, configured, and skinned for you.
Dynamic sites also offer a wealth of interactive features and add ons via plugins– podcasting, squawkboxes, commenting, forums, newsfeeds, polls, weather boxes, calendars, events planners,– you name it, and it’s probably got a plugin or add on that will do it for most of the major web aps. These add-ons make your site sticky– if there’s a conversation going on, then people come back, they subscribe, they become a “regular” which, in turn, develops a certain trust between you and that visitor that would be hard to achieve on a site that just sits there. So though I don’t have any statistics to offer, my gut tells me that dynamic sites probably convert better than static sites.
The best dynamic web aps allow sites to be designed in almost any way you can imagine, with very few limitations. They aren’t the dynamic sites of 5 years ago, which all had a certain look. The dynamic sites of today allow vast variations in the skinning, variations that I never would have believed possible when web aps first made their appearance. Before the advent of css, this would have been impossible, but with the separation of the appearance from the frontend code from the behavior, many beautiful and creative things are made possible.
The best dynamic web aps allow sites to be maintained by numerous people, each with only the degree of access that they need to accomplish their part of the job. So Ginny, from Human Resources, can post the job listings without having access to the code, the sales copy, or the main administration level. Liz in Marketing can tweak the sales copy to her heart’s content, without having access to the HR postings, the code, or the main admin levels. And all of these additions can be set to be “moderated” by a master administrator, who can control all. Etc. When they’re approved the updates are near instantaneous. And there are no ongoing web maintenance fees for updating the content. The site owner has complete control over content, even content added by visitors!
With dynamic web aps all parts of the site share the same skin. All looks uniform throughout.
Dynamic web aps can have their functionality extended in myriad ways. Most of these extensions or “plug-ins” can be easily installed without calling the webgeek, though a few need a minor template tweak to get them functioning. This extensibility allows you to grow your website in response to your business and your audience.
Even better, because there are great open source web applications available free to use, and because templating for these applications has been so improved, a skilled professional can put together a custom web ap skin much easier than in the past. Gone are the days when these types of sites cost thousands of dollars. The cost for a dynamic website is within reach of most small to medium sized businesses these days, and with the savings in maintenance costs, they will actually be cheaper over the long haul. And reskinning is simple, affordable, and can be accomplished with no down time, if you decide you need a fresh look three or four years down the road.
There are an incredible number of choices in Web Applications these days– Content Management Systems, Shopping Carts, Directories, Real Estate Listing Management, Blogging aps, Classified ad systems, etc. If you have an idea, there’s most likely already an application that, with some creativity, can do what you need it to.
So to me the choice is clear. I’ll pick a Dynamic Website Design over a Static Website to grow my business. Shouldn’t you?
If you have questions about which web application might work best for you, feel free to contact me.
[tags] Dynamic vs Static Website Design, Web Applications, Content Management Systems, Shopping Carts, Directories, Real Estate Listing Management, Blogging aps, Classified ad systems, Search Engines[/tags]
