Speed Up Elementor: Fix the Slowest WordPress Page Builder

Elementor is the most popular WordPress page builder — and one of the most likely to tank your PageSpeed score. Here is how to fix it.

Why Elementor is slow

Elementor loads a significant amount of CSS and JavaScript on every page — regardless of which widgets you use on that page. The global stylesheet alone can be 60–120KB. Add the inline styles Elementor generates for each element and the JavaScript for interactive widgets, and you have a substantial performance overhead built into every page load.

This is not a reason to abandon Elementor — it powers millions of sites effectively — but it does mean you need to be deliberate about performance.

Step 1: Enable Elementor's built-in optimisations

In Elementor → Settings → Performance:

Improved CSS Loading: Enable this. It loads only the CSS required for widgets on the current page rather than the full stylesheet.

Improved Asset Loading: Enables per-page asset loading rather than site-wide.

Inline Font Icons: Reduces an external request for Font Awesome icons.

Optimised DOM Output: Reduces the number of wrapper divs Elementor adds, shrinking HTML size.

These are free and built in. Enable them first.

Step 2: Pair with a good caching plugin

Elementor alone does nothing for server-side or browser caching. Pair it with:

WP Rocket (paid, best compatibility with Elementor)

LiteSpeed Cache (free, excellent if your host uses LiteSpeed)

W3 Total Cache (free, good but more configuration required)

Enable page caching, minification of CSS/JS, and browser caching in whichever plugin you use.

Step 3: Reduce widget usage on key pages

Every Elementor widget adds CSS and potentially JavaScript. Review your most important pages — homepage, landing pages — and ask whether every widget earns its weight.

Sliders, animated counters, and video embeds are the heaviest offenders. Replace sliders with static hero sections wherever possible. Load videos only on click using a facade.

Step 4: Use a performance-focused Elementor theme

The theme underneath Elementor matters. Hello Elementor (free, from the Elementor team) is the lightest option. GeneratePress and Astra are also well-optimised.

Avoid using Elementor with heavy bundled themes (Avada, Divi, TheGem) — the combination of two heavy systems compounds the performance problem.

Step 5: Optimise images

Images uploaded through Elementor's media library are not automatically optimised. Use a plugin like ShortPixel or Imagify to convert all images to WebP and compress them on upload.

Measuring Elementor performance

Run a Loadzen check on your homepage and your most important landing page. With the optimisations above, a typical Elementor site can go from a score of 40–55 to 65–80. A score above 80 is achievable but requires careful widget discipline and good hosting.