Brochure sites versus application sites
Small businesses often need a public face: hours, services, location, a contact path, maybe a landing page for a seasonal offer. That is a brochure site. It is an excellent static hosting workload. Separately, some small businesses need bookings with server-side logic, member portals, or WordPress blogs their nephew updates on Fridays. That is an application or CMS workload. StaticHost is for the first category, not the second.
This article stays precise about that line so you do not buy the wrong thing. You are choosing infrastructure for files: zip or GitHub of built HTML, HTTPS preview, custom domain certificate after DNS verifies, rollback when a bad edit ships. Starter ($9/mo, 1 site, 2 GB) covers most brochure footprints. No forever-free after ~1 day trial. No email on this host—use Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or similar. No cPanel. No built-in CDN product. No remote npm. nginx try_files $uri $uri/ =404.
When static is enough
- Marketing homepage and a handful of interior pages
- Menu PDF or downloadable price list as static files
- Embed of a Google Map, booking iframe, or third-party scheduler
- Form posts to a SaaS form endpoint
- Generator-built site (Hugo/Eleventy) maintained by a contractor
Prefer multipage HTML over fashionable SPAs for brochures—static landing page hosting, how to put an HTML website online.
When static is the wrong purchase
- WordPress (or similar) as the editing requirement → PHP host.
- Inventory with a server-side cart you own → commerce platform.
- Authenticated customer dashboards rendered on your origin → app host.
Read when static hosting is the wrong choice before forcing it.
Worked example: neighborhood clinic site
Files the clinic actually needs:
clinic/
index.html # hours, insurance list, parking notes
services.html
team.html
contact.html # form posts to a SaaS endpoint
forms/new-patient.pdf
styles.css
images/storefront.jpgcd clinic
zip -r ../clinic.zip index.html services.html team.html contact.html forms styles.css imagesUpload on Starter. QA on HTTPS preview with a phone on cellular data. Confirm the PDF downloads. Confirm the form endpoint still accepts submissions from the preview origin (CORS/allowlists on the form SaaS). Only then attach clinic.example.com—static hosting with a custom domain, HTML website with custom domain.
If a contractor delivers a React marketing SPA with BrowserRouter, either demand real HTML pages or hash routing—host a single-page application. Brochure sites should not 404 when a patient refreshes /services.
Contractor-friendly workflow
- Registrar login or DNS access for the domain.
- A StaticHost seat on the right plan (Starter, or Pro $30 if they want staging).
- Agreement that deliverables are static files with real page URLs.
- A handoff note naming who rebuilds after launch.
Avoid history-mode SPA marketing sites unless the freelancer owns the routing implications. Keep email DNS (MX) untouched when pointing the website—StaticHost is not your mail host.
Domain and trust
Customers notice padlocks. Attach the domain properly and eliminate mixed content—static hosting with free SSL. Hosting email elsewhere does not prevent using the same domain for the website.
Cost framing
$9/mo is not the dominant cost of a small business website; photography, copy, and contractor time are. Paying for clear quotas beats a free host that fights commercial use policies when you start running ads—free vs paid static hosting. Pricing overview: static website hosting pricing.
If you later need three properties (main, careers, event), Pro’s 3 sites / 10 GB / staging fit. Scale ($65) and Business ($130) exist when you grow into many properties—rare for a single location shop, common for multi-location brands.
When not to DIY on StaticHost
- Nobody on the team can edit HTML and you refuse a contractor.
- You need online booking inventing its own server sessions on your domain.
- You insist on forever-free hosting for a commercial site.
Failure table (small business sites)
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Site is down” but preview works | DNS not updated / not verified | Fix DNS; wait for cert after verify |
| Form spam or silent fail | Endpoint misconfigured | Fix SaaS form keys and allowed domains |
| PDF 404 | Omitted from zip | Include forms/ in archive |
| Mobile layout broken | CSS issue, not hosting | Fix CSS; redeploy; rollback if needed |
| Email breaks after “DNS change” | MX records altered | Restore MX; change only web records |
A realistic week shipping static hosting for small business
Monday starts with a broken relative CSS path that only appears once the files leave a designer’s laptop. You flatten the zip so index.html sits at the archive root, redeploy to StaticHost, and HTTPS preview finally matches local intent. There is a short trial (~1 day), not a forever-free tier; no cPanel, no email, no built-in CDN product.
Wednesday adds a custom domain. DNS is created exactly as the dashboard specifies; verification lags an hour; the certificate appears afterward. Someone asks whether email is included—you point them at a mail vendor and keep MX untouched. Preview HTTPS is available immediately; custom-domain certificates issue only after DNS verifies.
Thursday an engineer enables history-mode routing for a “cleaner URL.” Refresh on a nested path 404s. You revert to hash routing for the week’s deadline and schedule prerender work properly instead of inventing an nginx rewrite StaticHost will not apply. StaticHost serves prebuilt files via zip or GitHub and does not run npm, Hugo, or Jekyll remotely.
Friday staging on Pro receives a build with staging API URLs baked via public env prefixes. Production stays on last week’s known-good deploy until Monday’s review. Rollback remains one click if marketing’s late copy drop breaks mobile layout. Plans: Starter $9 (1 site, 2 GB), Pro $30 (3 sites, 10 GB, staging), Scale $65 (10 sites, 30 GB), Business $130 (30 sites, 100 GB, teams).
WordPress/PHP needs a different kind of host.
That week is what static hosting for small business looks like when the host stays boring and the team respects file truth.
FAQ
Can I update text myself without code?
Not via WordPress admin on StaticHost. Options: learn basic HTML, use a generator with simple Markdown, hire the contractor, or choose a CMS host.
Can I take payments?
Link out or embed third-party checkout. No server-side payment processor runs here.
Do I need a CDN for a local business?
Usually no. Optimize images; measure—fast static site hosting.
Will my site work on phones?
That is your HTML/CSS. Hosting only serves files.
Can I host webmail?
No. Use a mail provider.