It’s the question I get most when I explain what a static site is. If the pages are already made, who changes them when the winter hours start?
The short answer is you, if you want to. The long answer is below, along with something hardly anyone tells you: when a static site isn’t the best choice.
How editing works
A static site can have an editing panel, just like WordPress. The difference is what happens after you save.
- You open the panel in your browser.
- You change what you need: opening hours, a price, a photo, the text on a page.
- You press “Save”.
- Within a minute or two, the site rebuilds itself and the change is live.
No code, and no need to know anything about servers. The panel also only shows what makes sense to change on your site. If you have a menu, you see the menu. If you have opening hours, you see the opening hours.
The Linguas Tecidas site works this way: the group adds upcoming sessions from its own panel without touching a line of code.
Or don’t edit it at all
Plenty of people would rather not learn another panel. In that case, send me a message with the change (“Sundays we’re open 10 to 2”) and I’ll do it. A change is a sentence, not a project.
When WordPress is still better
A static site is the right tool for most small businesses that don’t sell online. But not for all of them. WordPress, or something like it, makes more sense if:
- You sell online, with a catalog, a cart and payments. Then you need a real shop, like WooCommerce or Shopify.
- You have a members’ area, where people log in and see different content.
- Several people publish every day, with different permissions and someone reviewing before things go out.
- Your site is a community, with comments, forums or profiles.
What doesn’t need WordPress is a booking system. Most booking engines for guesthouses and restaurants can be embedded in any website, static ones included.
The idea behind this series
In these posts I’ve covered what a website costs over five years, why speed brings in customers and why a static site has so little to attack. All four say the same thing: for a business that doesn’t sell online, simple is usually the most useful and the cheapest.
If you’re not sure what suits you, get in touch. I’ll tell you what I’d do, even if it’s “keep what you have”.