Choosing a template that is suitable for Elementor
The theme is the skeleton of your WordPress site, and it has a significant impact on performance and the overall user experience. When you build a site using Elementor, choosing the right theme becomes even more critical. A theme that is not optimized for Elementor can be a bottleneck. Many themes come with a wide range of built-in features, scripts, and CSS styles that are unnecessary for most websites. With Elementor, you essentially build most of the website's appearance and functionality yourself. A cluttered template will put unnecessary strain on the website, resulting in long loading times, server overload, and a negative impact on the user experience and the website's search engine ranking.
Templates such as Hello Elementor are specifically designed to work ideally with Elementor. They provide a minimalist framework free of unnecessary code, allowing Elementor to take control of the website's design. This means fewer conflicts between CSS styles, fewer conflicting scripts, and better overall performance.
Each template adds its own CSS and JavaScript files. Heavy templates will include many files, some of which are completely unnecessary in the context of Elementor. Using a minimal template reduces the number of files that need to be loaded, which significantly improves website load times.
In addition, a minimalist template such as Hello Elementor allows you to take full advantage of Elementor's potential. You are not limited by the template's predefined styles, and you can design every element on the site exactly as you want. This gives you complete design flexibility and allows you to create unique websites that are tailored to the needs of your customers.
Optimizing Elementor Settings
Elementor offers built-in performance settings that can be used to speed up your website. For example:- Optimized CSS loading: Go to Elementor settings and select the option to use CSS Inline only when elements are displayed on the page.
- Automatic file compression: Make sure that compression settings are not running twice if you are also using an external cache plugin.
- Disable unnecessary widgets: Elementor has dozens of widgets, but you probably won't use them all. Disable unnecessary widgets in the system settings to reduce the number of scripts loaded on the pages.
Use "light" elements in Elementor
Elementor allows you to create complex elements such as animations, sliders, and tables. Despite their aesthetic advantages, such elements are heavier to process. Prefer to use a grid or flexbox to create layouts instead of tables, which reduces the amount of CSS required. Only use animations when absolutely necessary, and only when they add real value to the user experience.Elementor Pro Optimization
Elementor Pro extends the capabilities of WordPress with advanced tools such as a form builder, header and footer builder, and dynamic sliders. Each of these tools, if not configured correctly, can weigh down the site. For example, the form builder allows you to easily create complex forms, but a form with many fields or conditional fields may add significant JavaScript code. Therefore, it is important to plan each form wisely and use only the necessary fields. If, for example, you are building a newsletter signup form, avoid adding unnecessary fields such as "phone number" if it is not needed, and instead focus on the email field only. In addition, limit the use of complex client-side field validation and move some of the validation to the server side to reduce the load. Elementor Pro's header and footer builder can also affect performance. A header cluttered with many widgets, such as social media icons, complex menus, and autocomplete searches, can weigh down the site. Instead, aim for a minimalist design with fewer widgets and external code. For example, instead of adding social media icons directly to the header, you can use simple links within a menu. Also, avoid using heavy background images in the header, and instead use a solid color or a light gradient. Dynamic sliders, another powerful Elementor Pro tool, can also slow down the site if they are not optimized. If you use a slider, make sure it doesn't contain too many slides, and use compressed and minimized images as much as possible. In addition, use lazy loading so that images are only loaded when the user scrolls to them.Advanced use of Custom CSS
Elementor allows you to add Custom CSS to any widget. Instead of loading styles at the template level, add custom styles to each component as needed. For example: instead of loading an extensive CSS file for the entire site, use short CSS code that is applied only to specific pages.Using Cache Plugins with Elementor
Cache plugins are an essential tool for improving site speed, but using them incorrectly can cause problems with Elementor's design or functionality. Plugins such as WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or WP Super Cache are known to be stable plugins that work well with Elementor. WP Rocket in particular offers built-in integration that is optimized for Elementor. When working with Elementor, the cache plugin may save outdated versions of pages, which will cause display issues. To prevent this, configure the cache plugin to not cache for logged-in users. Add the edit pages to the list of exceptions so that they are not loaded from cached versions. Elementor generates unique CSS and JS files for each page. If the cache plugin minifies these files incorrectly, layout issues may occur.- Ensure that CSS Minification and JavaScript Minification do not break the design. If the design is broken, disable these options or set exceptions for Elementor files.
- Use the "Load JavaScript Deferred" option with caution, as deferring JavaScript loading may affect the functionality of Elementor widgets.
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