Launching a new website for business or personal reasons means choosing the platform or type of website fitting your needs best. Often, you will have to decide between static HTML and WordPress for your website. These are both very beneficial, but only one will fit with what you need the best.

<h2>What is WordPress?</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/13027811_s-300x300.jpg" alt="Static HTML vs. WordPress" width="300" height="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10082" />When designing a new website, WordPress is the CMS or content management system you can use to manage your blog, website, design, theme and everything else having to do with your site. You can easily make changes from the admin area and even an absolute beginner can figure out the basics of WordPress.

WordPress isn't the only CMS choice, but it's the most popular. Today, WordPress powers more than 25% of all the websites found on the internet, which is far more than any other CMS. 

It's important to understand that the WordPress we are talking about is WordPress.org, not WordPress.com. WordPress.org is an open source CMS that usually comes free of charge with your hosting package, while WordPress.com is a blog hosting service. 

<h2>Benefits of Using WordPress</h2>

WordPress, when combined with the right shared, VPS or dedicated hosting plan, provides some excellent benefits for your business or personal website/blog. It's set up to allow users to create both static pages and regular blog posts. This provides quite a bit of power for businesses and for personal websites.

Some of the benefits gained by using WordPress include:
<ul>
<li>Easy to Update - All you have to do to update your site is log into the admin area and add content, images and video to your pages or posts. You don't need a developer to create any code when you want to add pages to your website.</li>
<li>Very Powerful - WordPress provides all kinds of power with many free and premium plugins you can use to customize the look and function of your website. From reservations systems to contact forms, you can find a plugin for just about anything.</li>
<li>Professional Themes - WordPress provides many free themes you can use, along with many premium themes.</li>
<li>Full Ownership and Control - When you use WordPress with the right hosting company, you get to own the domain name, content and gain full control of your website. This gives you the ability to grow your site without any worries.</li>
</ul>

Even though there are many benefits to using WordPress, there are a few disadvantages, as well. It's an easy to use system, but does come with a learning curve when it comes to advanced functionality. However, there are a number of tutorials out there to help beginners learn how to use WordPress.

The only other real disadvantage to WordPress is the maintenance. You will need to take care of it when it comes to updating your theme, plugins and the core system. However, you can choose managed WordPress hosting, which means your hosting company will take care of this for you.

<h2>What is a Static HTML Website?</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/13027811_s-300x300.jpg" alt="Static HTML" width="300" height="300" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-10082" />Before content management systems and website builders came along, HTML was used to create pages for website. It's a markup language still used to create pages and can be combined with CSS, JavaScript and other languages for additional functions and customization.

Most of the time, you will need to hire a developer to create your static HTML website. When you choose a CMS, such as WordPress, this isn't an issue and you can still use HTML within the CMS, if you choose. WordPress stores your files in a database, while an HTNL website will store all the content in static files. 

<h2>Advantages of an HTML Website</h2>

There are some advantages of choosing static HTML for your business website. You will get the most out of this type of website or any other type of website when you choose the right hosting company. Some of the main advantages of a static HTML website include:
<ul>
<li>Little Maintenance - After your website is live, you won't need to do any regular backups or updates. If nothing is changing, there's no reason to create a new backup.</li>
<li>Low Requirements - HTML websites don't need servers with MySQL or PHP. They can run on a very cheap server with very little resources. However, most hosting companies still give you support for PHP and MySQL.</li>

These are the only two real benefits of using static HTML for your website. There are several disadvantages including:
<ul>
<li>Hard to Update - If you don't understand HTML and CSS, you may struggle to update your website. Every time you want to add something or change something, you will need to hire a developer.</li>
<li>Cost - Hiring a developer for every little thing you want done can get very costly. HTML websites often end up costing much more than a WordPress website.</li>
<li>No Added Features - You cannot simply add a plugin to get something new. It has to be coded into your website, which means you will need a developer.</li>
</ul>

<h2>Should You Choose WordPress or Static HTML?</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/32012103_s-300x216.jpg" alt="WordPress" width="300" height="216" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-10083" />Unless you are certain you will never want to update your website once it's created and you don't want to run a blog, you will want to use WordPress. However, if you don't ever plan to change anything, you may be able to use a static HTML site, which will be faster and will fit with what you desire.

Those looking for control, freedom and the ability to run a blog with their website will need a CMS, such as WordPress. This makes it much easier to add images, content, videos and advanced functionality. You will also be able to easily change the look and layout of your site, if necessary.

With WordPress, you can simply add content to your website without hiring a developer. You can use a blog section for updates or to build a larger library of content within your industry. If you want to really benefit from an online presence, using WordPress is one of the best choices. With so much free help and resources out there, it's far cheaper than paying for a developer every time you want to make a change.