01
Fast from the beginning
There is less work between the tap and the page. I prepare the pages and images before launch, keep the browser code lean, and check performance before the site goes live.
Why I build static
Build the website. Leave the builder behind.
Most small businesses do not need a website-building system running forever. They need finished pages that load quickly, explain the business clearly, and belong to them.
I rebuild Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress sites as fast, portable static websites. The useful pages are prepared before anyone visits, so they need less machinery to stay online and can move with the business.
Why I changed
I didn’t leave WordPress because I couldn’t use it.
I started building WordPress sites in 2003 and made hundreds of them. I know the good, the bad, and the 2am plugin updates. It can do almost anything. That is exactly why it is more machinery than most small-business websites need.
A typical business needs clear pages, good photographs, useful information, and a simple way to enquire, book, or buy. It does not need a live publishing system, public login, content database, and stack of plugins attached just to show those pages.
In 2024 I moved to Astro and static websites. The complicated part is now the work I do—understanding the business, shaping the content, designing it well, and checking every detail—not the website you have to maintain afterwards. I’m not going back.
The complicated part should be the work I do, not the website you have to maintain.
1996
Started building websites
2003
Started building with WordPress
2024
Moved to Astro and static sites
What static means
The page is ready before your customer asks for it.
Static does not mean frozen, plain, or unable to do useful things. It describes how the website is delivered.
I build the ordinary pages in advance. When someone taps the link, the host sends the finished page. Forms, galleries, booking, payment, and search can still be added when they earn their place. If the job needs accounts, live data, or a custom workflow, I build a web app with the extra systems it actually needs.
- Before launchI finish the pagesWords, design, code, and images are prepared
- When someone visitsThe host sends the finished pageNo live CMS or content database has to build it first
- For the customerThey get straight to the businessRead, trust, enquire, book, or buy
02
Less to look after
Ordinary pages need no public CMS login, live content database, theme updater, or plugin catalogue. Important accounts and connected services still get the security they need.
03
Yours to take elsewhere
You receive portable source files and standard web output. A capable developer can work on them, and a suitable new static host does not require the website itself to be rebuilt.
04
Lower running costs
There is no compulsory website-builder plan. Many ordinary business sites fit on a modern host’s free tier; the domain, email, and any paid business services remain separate.
Leaving Squarespace, Wix, or WordPress
Keep what has earned its place. Leave the platform baggage.
Moving is usually a careful rebuild, not a magic export. That is also the opportunity: protect what works without carrying the same limits into another account.
Keep
What has earned its place
- Your domain and useful brand assets
- Words and photographs that still work
- Important URLs and the links they have earned
- Forms, bookings, and business functions you need
Improve
What should work harder
- The structure and language
- Mobile use and accessibility
- Speed and unnecessary friction
- Information for search engines and AI
Leave
What is holding you back
- Template limitations and workarounds
- Unused plugins, scripts, and duplicate pages
- Platform-only code you cannot take with you, where applicable
- Builder plans or plugin-stack costs you no longer need
I keep the old site live while I build its replacement.
- 1
Review
I take stock of the current pages, content, URLs, search foundations, forms, and integrations.
- 2
Decide
We agree what stays, what improves, what retires, and how content changes will work after launch.
- 3
Rebuild
I build and check the replacement beside the old site, including the agreed redirects and useful functions.
- 4
Move
The new site goes live on your domain. The old platform is cancelled only after the replacement is checked.
A real move from Squarespace
Married By Jake left Squarespace—and got his focus back.
Jake’s old site still ranked in traditional search, but trying to improve how it appeared in AI-powered search had become another job. I rebuilt it as a static site shaped around his business and the way people now search.
“Basically my website is now besties with AI and I can focus on my business.”
What the platforms document
This is not a scare story.
Squarespace and Wix are convenient because the editor and hosting are one product. That convenience is also the lock-in.
WordPress is different: it is open source and can move between hosts. I include it here because a working WordPress site can still depend on its exact database, theme, plugins, configuration, and update cycle—not because one company owns the platform.
Squarespace
Squarespace says certain content can be exported, but many page types, style settings, custom CSS, drafts, and platform-dependent features do not export.
Read Squarespace’s export guide (opens in a new tab)Wix
Wix says its sites need to run on Wix’s servers because they rely on Wix’s proprietary technology and services. Your domain can move; the working Wix site cannot move with it.
Read Wix’s hosting explanation (opens in a new tab)WordPress
WordPress is open source and can move between hosts. Its own performance guide also describes the hosting, database, software, themes, plugins, upgrades, and caching that a working site may need managed.
Read WordPress’s performance guide (opens in a new tab)Good people build good websites on all three. A carefully run WordPress site can be fast, and a badly made static site can be slow. I choose static because it makes the fast, portable, low-maintenance result the starting point instead of an optimisation project.
The honest trade-off
Static is my default, not my religion.
If you need customer accounts, live data, a member dashboard, or a complicated workflow, I build a web app. If your team publishes constantly, I can connect an editor. The public pages still stay as simple and fast as the job allows.
I use the simplest technology that can do the job well. For most business websites, that starts with static pages.
Ready to leave the platform behind?
Send me the website you have and tell me what feels slow, awkward, expensive, or outgrown. I’ll tell you what is worth keeping and the clearest way out.