One of the most important decisions you need to make when having your website built is deciding whether you require a Content Management System (CMS) or a static website. Although, this is an important decision to make the right choice is actually quite easy – You simply need to decide whether you would like to make changes to the website yourself or would prefer this to be left to your chosen web designer.
What is a Static Website?
Static websites are usually smaller sites featuring a small number of pages and require less updates and content changes. The updates would usually require a web designer to implement because at least a little knowledge of HTML is needed.
Advantages of a static website
- Cheaper to develop at initial build stage
- Web hosting can be cheaper because you require less space and no database.
Disadvantages of a static website
- Can be tricky to update
- If the content isn’t updated regularly, search engines will penalise these sites ahead of a website that is
- You will need to pay a web designer for their time
What is a CMS Website?
A CMS (Content Management System) website are built usually with the view of increasing content and possibly functionality over time. The site owner is given access to an admin area where they are able to add or edit content themselves without breaking any of the code in the structure of the website.
As well as editing basic wording throughout the site, a CMS will usually have additional bespoke functions such as adding photo galleries, news articles and events.
Popular Content Management System’s used are WordPress and Drupal, both allow scope for the site owner to edit large portions of the website without the help of a web developer.
Advantages of a CMS website
- Extensive control over your websites content
- Most basic changes can be made yourself, which means you won’t need to pay a web developer for their time as often
- Search Engine’s prefer a website that is updated frequently, a CMS website gives you the opportunity to make your own amendments
Disadvantages of a CMS website
- Initial development time to create the website is longer than a static website so will cost more
- You will need to take time to learn how to use the basic and more advance features of your Content Management System
- More resource thirsty – Because a CMS is generally larger and requires a database, you may need to pay more for your hosting to support the required files and database. In addition, there is like to be more media (eg. images) which means the website could load slower for people with a slower internet connection (Due to increase in internet download speed this is less of a problem in recent times).
In our experience a lot of our clients like the idea of keeping their website up to date themselves but realistically they struggle to find the time to do so and end up leaving this task to us.
However, we believe paying a little bit more for a CMS gives the flexibility and functionality incase you or one of your employees situation changes and are able to free up some time to keep the website up to date – This can also offer a more personal feel to your website because the content comes directly from somebody who knows about the ethos of the company.
At Give the Dog a Bone we have experience in both types of websites and would be happy to help you make the right choice for your first or next website… Please contact us and we will guide you in making the best solution for your company.