7 Benefits of a Static WordPress Site you need to know

Static websites? Is it so old-fashioned? 

The answer is No they are still popular and relevant within the developer community.

In the old days of the internet, all websites were static. 

Today turning your dynamic WordPress site into a high-performing static one might be a viable option for you. 

Visitors can access info at super-fast speeds. Content managers still use WordPress authoring tools and plugins. 

Hackers cannot attack because the only public facing resources are static pages and there is barely any surface area.

So let us go through the benefits of a static WordPress site and find out why old is gold.

Why Turn a Dynamic Website into a Static WordPress Site?

A static website has 7 very vital advantages:

1.Speed:

‍Pre-rendering is one of the key reasons why static sites are often faster. Instead of having a server that processes requests and queries to a database or runs PHP scripts the pages can be sent directly to the user. 

Static sites are also known for their speed as they allow every page to be served by a Content Delivery Network. CDN is only applicable to static assets such as images, CSS and JS for the standard dynamic site. 

The problem is that the HTML pages are not real but virtual so they cannot be CDNed.

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2.Security:

‍Your typical dynamic site presents a large attack surface. Each layer from the Apache server to MySQL and each plugin is potentially a target for hackers. 

Ensuring that all the holes are never left open is difficult.In the case of a static site, the hacker can’t access anything because there is barely anything to breach.

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3.Scalability:

A static WordPress site is a more scalable solution if you expect high traffic or plan to grow your website over a long period. Dynamic sites are inefficient. They rely on database queries and server-side processing. They can even crash under heavy traffic.

Static sites can adapt quickly to surges of traffic because they have to serve static files only.

4.Easy to Maintain and Manage:

A dynamic WordPress website can be difficult to maintain. You should regularly update plugins, themes, and the WordPress core to ensure the system works properly and securely. 

One advantage of a static WordPress site is that there are no moving parts so maintenance is far easier.

5.Low Website Hosting Fees:

‍Another fundamental gain of a static WordPress website is low hosting prices. 

Dynamic websites need extra server resources. They must constantly communicate with databases, run scripts, and generate pages. This requires expensive hosting plans to meet the high demand. 

Static websites use fewer server resources. They can be hosted on cheaper web hosting services.

6.Better Search Engine Marketing:

SEO content can load way faster than on dynamic sites there is no heavy process going on in the background.Ideally, a static site can also be optimized with the usage of terrific tools such as online Yoast SEO.

Effective User Experience: Slow loading, uptime, and security issues can frustrate users and drive them away. A static WordPress site solves those issues. It gives all users fast, reliable satisfaction.

7.Flexibility:

Hosting and deployment of static WordPress sites are free from such limitations as their dynamic counterparts. You can host a static site on various platforms.

Disadvantages must exist, surely?

The downside is that some types of functionality do not come automatically with static sites. Some effort has to be made so that they become compatible with being a static site. 

Sometimes it is simple enough to adapt a website to being static-ready but sometimes it is complex.Furthermore, this is a new paradigm and requires a slight change in mind on how to manage own site. 

If you have your own Static Publishing Plugin then the entire ecosystem starting from WordPress hosting to the static storage up to CDN must be configured. 

You need to ensure that it catches every page, redirect, image etc without crashing the server.Moreover, publishing updates on your live static website involves one more step.

First you publish on the WordPress site followed by publishing to the static site which may take several minutes before becoming live. 

It’s a different flow, which involves just hitting another button.

Static Sites can be Fast, But Optimal Performance Depends on What else you do.

How fast does a static site get? 

It all depends on how you built your site and where you are hosting it. 

Speed tests are difficult to run, hence sometimes conflicting results between numbers shown and perceived speed as experienced by individuals using the website may arise. 

The first time somebody visits one page they don’t notice any loading time but when they try to revisit the second time they notice that speed is far greater than other dynamic sites.

Moreover, all pages in statically generated websites include HTML codes which can be served through CDNs. 

Content pages within conventional sites do not exist as physical files instead served virtually upon request from client computers whenever needed. 

Unlike conventional sites where content exists only virtually all content pages in this case exist physically in the form of numerous standalone files within the static site structure. 

The system prerenders these as HTML files hence they can be served via a CDN that makes them accessible to people around the world at higher speed.

Let's talk more about Security. 

Security is a big plus point for static sites. For instance, a typical dynamic site runs on a LAMP server. 

Each layer of this server has its risks from the operating system to MySQL and PHP. 

Not to mention the fact that there is also a WordPress site running many plugins on top of it. These plugins can require security updates at any time. 

Every minute you spend updating the site exposes you to hacker bots searching for vulnerabilities.Thus, a static site can be regarded as just a bunch of files. 

Since no processing or querying is going on, there’s hardly anything worth hacking. Hence owners of statically generated sites sleep sounder than ever before.

Best Advice for Individuals Starting a Static WordPress Site

• Do proper research and take full advantage of the knowledge you gain. There is a lot of information available on this topic. 
• Find out hosting and publishing options for static WP sites and see if they fit you best.
• Use tools that are favourable to static web pages and are well optimized. For example, third-party form systems like TypeForm and Hubspot, feed form submissions directly to them.
• Test your website before it launches to make sure there are no major bugs or errors.
• Keep the user experience in mind and make sure it has all the core features that are necessary to help your clients.

Conclusion

Static WordPress sites offer so many benefits. They load faster, are more secure, cost less to host and are easier to maintain. They are an extraordinary solution that doesn’t require common updates or dynamic capabilities. 

So if you want to improve your website's overall performance, its security and provide a good user experience then consider a static WordPress site.