I have concept of static variables but what are the benefits of static methods in a class. I have worked on some projects but I did not make a method static. Whenever I need to call a method of a class, I create an object of that class and call the desired method.

Static variable in a method holds it's value even when method is executed but accessible only in its containing method but what is the best definition of static method? Is calling the static method without creating object of that class is the only benefit of static method? What is the accessible range for static method? What is the syntax to create and calling static method in php?

Thanks