Ready pages, nothing to compute
What is a static website
A static website is a set of ready-made pages, stored as files, that the server sends to every visitor exactly as they are. Nothing is computed when someone opens a page: no database query, no program assembling the page on the fly.
A dynamic website builds each page at the moment of the visit, from a database and a program on the server. Most business sites, portfolios, documentation and blogs show the same content to everyone, so they work well as static sites, and they are faster and safer for it.
Static and dynamic, side by side
| Static website | Dynamic website | |
|---|---|---|
| How a page appears | Built once, sent as a file | Built on every visit |
| What the server runs | Only a web server such as nginx | A program in PHP, Python or Node, and a database |
| Speed | Fast: the file is ready | Depends on the server and caching |
| Security | Little to attack: no database, no admin login | Database, plugins and admin panel need updates |
| Hosting | Cheap or free: GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages | A server or hosting with PHP and a database |
| Content changes | After a new build, usually under a minute | At once |
| Same page for everyone | Yes | Can differ per visitor |
| Good for | Business sites, portfolios, docs, blogs, landing pages | Shops with carts, user accounts, social networks |
What a static site can do
Static does not mean plain. Everything that happens in the visitor's browser works as usual.
Forms
Search
Maps, videos, chats
Several languages
Analytics
What it cannot do alone
Personal accounts
A shop cart and payments
Content that changes every second
Does a website need a database?
Ask one question: does every visitor see the same page? If yes, the content can live in files and the site can be static. A database earns its place when visitors create content themselves: orders, accounts, comments, bookings.
Most small business sites do not need one. Removing it removes the most common reason sites get hacked and the monthly job of updating plugins.
If part of the site does need live data, HERON connects a database through an optional module instead of putting it under every page. The site and the database talk over a private key, the page only reads data or sends requests, and the built container holds nothing an attacker could inject code into. How the database module works
How to make a static website
- 1
Create the structure
A static site generator such as HERON makes the folder for you:site.yamlfor settings,content/for pages,media/for photos,theme/for the look. - 2
Write pages as text files
Each page is a Markdown file: a short settings block on top (title, heading, description), then headings, lists and text. A new page is a copy of an existing file under a new name. - 3
Build
The generator turns the folder into finished HTML pages, images in every size, a sitemap, search tags and llms.txt for AI assistants. - 4
Check it locally
Open the site on your computer atlocalhost:8000and see every page before it goes live. HERON's strict build stops on an empty description or a broken link. - 5
Publish the result
When everything is ready, publish the finished site: as files on any hosting or as an image on a server. With git, a push can start the build and publishing by itself. - 6
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Questions
Is a static website good for SEO?
Yes. Search engines read finished HTML easily, and speed counts in ranking. What matters is that the tags are right: titles, descriptions, sitemap, canonical addresses. HERON writes them on every build.
Is a static site really more secure?
There is no database to steal and no admin login to guess, so the most common attacks have nothing to aim at. The web server itself still needs updates, as on any site.
Can I update a static site without a developer?
Yes. Change the text in the file and publish again. With git publishing, saving and pushing is the whole job.
How much does a static website cost?
Hosting can be free: GitHub Pages takes a site up to 1 GB on a public repository, Cloudflare Pages up to 20,000 files. You pay only for the domain, usually around 10–15 USD a year. A small server of your own starts at about €5–6 a month. Hosting options
Is HTML written by hand a static site too?
Yes. A static site generator simply saves you from copying the menu and footer into every page and from writing search tags by hand.