Static sites are making a comeback, and for good reason. They offer simplicity, performance, and security that dynamic sites often struggle to match.

What is a static site?

A static site is a website that serves pre-built HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. There's no server-side processing happening for each request.

The advantages

// Static site: Just serve files
app.use(express.static('dist'));

// Dynamic site: Database queries, templating, etc.
app.get('/posts/:id', async (req, res) => {
  const post = await db.findPost(req.params.id);
  res.render('post', { post });
});

1. Performance: No database queries, no server processing
2. Security: No SQL injection, no server-side vulnerabilities
3. Cost: Can be hosted on CDNs for free
4. Reliability: No server to crash or scale

The modern approach

Modern static site generators like Next.js, Astro, and Hugo combine the benefits of static sites with developer-friendly workflows:

• Write in React/Vue components
• Use modern tooling (TypeScript, ESLint, Prettier)
• Deploy to CDN with a single command

# Build your static site
npm run build

# Deploy to Vercel
vercel deploy

Conclusion

For most content-focused sites (blogs, documentation, marketing pages), static is the way to go. Fast, secure, and simple.

This blog itself is built with Next.js and deployed as a static site!