A static page is a web page that actually contains the content and information displayed to visitors in itsself. This page will always present the same content unless someone actually modifies the html code of the page.

A dynamic page is driven by the database. That is, its content will change depending on the information that is called into it from the database. It changes, hence the term dynamic.

The great advantage of a dynamic website is that it means that the actual content of the site (text and images) can be changed without actually editing the web page itself. By changing the contents of the database we can simply change what appears on the web page. This is usually done via a web based form.

This article for example - was written in Note pad and then pasted into a form in the administrative backend of our site and was retrieved from the databse and placed on the page in front of you. This is what is known as a content management system.

If the same article were to be added to a static website, we would have to create a new html page, upload it to the server, make sure that all other pages got linked to it and so on. Dynamic sites make administering a website a lot easier - it makes it possible for anyone with basic internet skills to maintain even very complex websites.