Overview
In Webflow, you can use two types of content to build your site: static and dynamic content.
- Static content refers to content that is not connected to the CMS. Static content is useful on standalone pages and must be updated manually.
- Dynamic content describes content that is connected to data in the CMS. Dynamic content is useful for page templates and updating multiple instances of content all at once.
There is no single correct approach for using static or dynamic content — and both are often combined in many use cases — as it’s more important for a site to effectively meet your objectives and provide a positive user experience for your site visitors. Whether your site utilizes a larger number of static pages or CMS content will depend on your content and goals.
However, there are unique benefits and drawbacks for each to consider while planning your site architecture. The table on the following pages outline some of the key differences in creating and managing content with either approach.
Considerations
Creating new pages
Static pages
CMS pages
- Template pages are automatically created when you create new Collection
- Item pages (for individual CMS items) are automatically generated from the template page when you create a new CMS item
Page limits
Static pages
CMS pages
- Varies with enterprise project tier
- 40–100 template pages
- 15k–500k item pages (generated from templates)
Page templates
Static pages
- Templates can be manually designed and stored as a draft page (for duplication) and/or constructed with design system modules (such as components)
- Recurring layouts and content can be created and managed with components for efficiency with multi-page changes
- Otherwise, changing static content (that is not in a component) on a single page must be manually updated on all other static pages, where needed
CMS pages
- Template is designed and stored on the CMS template page
- Changing static content on the template page automatically carries across to all item pages generated from that template (including existing and new item pages)
Managing page content
Static pages
- Primarily managed on canvas (directly in affected elements, such as text blocks) and through component property fields
- Bulk updates are not currently natively supported (would require developing your own custom App to use Designer APIs)
CMS pages
- Managed through Collection items and data entry into CMS fields
- Bulk updates can natively occur through CSV upload or programmatically via CMS API
Dynamically populated content
Static pages
CMS pages
Design variations
Static pages
- Manually adjusted on individual page (e.g., through placed elements and assigned classes/styles)
- More flexibility with page-specific elements or variations because each page is typically independent of the other
- Ability to set component visibility through properties and element visibility through element settings
- Server-side rendering — if not visible, not written to the DOM (source code of page) at all
CMS pages
- Manually adjusted via template page (e.g. through placed elements and element settings)
- Some variations can be set through dynamic styling (e.g., background or text color)
- Most variations rely on conditional visibility
- DOM content hidden with “display: none” CSS — must remove with custom code to reduce risk of unintentional indexing
- Determined by CMS fields, which may be subject to a max limit of 60 field
Staging changes
Static pages
- Page changes can be staged through page branching
- Page changes can be published to branch staging, site staging, or production environments
CMS pages
- Only CMS templates can be staged with page branching (no branching available for individual CMS items)
- Item changes can be published to staging or production only
Reviewing changes
Static pages
- Static pages have greater compatibility with native Comments, which can be added to individual pages
CMS pages
- Only CMS template pages are compatible with native Comments (no ability to add comments to individual CMS items and fields)
Publishing behavior
Static pages
- Pages can only be published through site-wide publishing
- No ability to publish individual pages or schedule page publishing
CMS pages
- CMS items (and their corresponding item pages) can be published either with site-wide publishing and through CMS item options, including individual item publishing and scheduled publishing
URL structures
Static pages
- Page URLs can be placed at either the root directory (e.g., domain.com/slug) or nested within folders (e.g., domain.com/subdirectory/slug)
- Folders can be nested under parent folders to create deeper subdirectories
CMS pages
- Item page URLs can only be natively placed within subdirectories (e.g., domain.com/collection/slug), not at the root
- Template page can be nested under parent folders to create deeper subdirectories
Page settings: SEO, password protection, site search
Static pages
CMS pages
- Template page settings are Collection-wide
- No way to natively exclude individual item pages from template settings (such as password protection or hiding from internal site search)
- Custom code needed for variations to individual item pages (such as noindex tags)
File hosting
Static pages
- Webflow-hosted assets placed on static pages (e.g., images) are typically uploaded through the Assets panel
- Supports compatibility with WebP compression and alt text manager
- Assets panel files are available to all your designers for reuse on other pages
- Images uploaded to the Assets panel are subject only to Assets panel limitations (no ability to prevent users from uploading unoptimized images)
CMS pages
- Assets uploaded through CMS fields (e.g., image fields or file upload fields) are uploaded to a separate CMS database that is not connected to the Assets panel
- No Assets panel features
- CMS files are not available for reuse (without inline linking), must be uploaded again to be used with other CMS items or pages
- Images uploaded through a CMS image field can be restricted by file size and image dimensions to prevent placement of unoptimized images
Additional readings