How to Speed Up an Elementor Website for a High Google PageSpeed Score
A step-by-step performance guide covering images, caching, hosting, and Elementor's built-in speed settings
H2: Why Website Speed Matters More Than Ever in 2026
H2: Step 1 – Compress and Optimize Every Image
- H3: Why images are usually the #1 speed killer
- H3: Using ShortPixel for automatic compression
- H3: Switching to next-gen formats (WebP/AVIF)
H2: Step 2 – Set Up Proper Caching
- H3: Page caching vs. browser caching
- H3: Elementor's built-in Element Caching
H2: Step 3 – Choose Fast, Optimized Hosting
- H3: Why shared hosting hurts Elementor sites
- H3: Why Verpex is a strong choice for Elementor/WordPress
- H3: CDN and server location
H2: Step 4 – Fine-Tune Elementor's Own Performance Settings
- H3: Disabling unused widgets and features
- H3: Lazy loading and adaptive asset loading
- H3: Reducing custom fonts, animations, and heavy widgets
H2: Step 5 – Clean Up Plugins and Code
H2: Final Checklist Before You Test Your PageSpeed Score
H2: Conclusion
Why Website Speed Matters More Than Ever in 2026
Google's Core Web Vitals are now a direct ranking factor, and visitors are less patient than ever — most abandon a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. Elementor is a fantastic tool for building visually rich websites, but that same visual flexibility (heavy images, animations, custom widgets) can quietly tank your PageSpeed score if you don't optimize it correctly.
The good news: Elementor sites can absolutely score well on Google PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals. It just takes a deliberate approach across four areas — images, caching, hosting, and Elementor's own settings. Here's exactly how to do it.
Step 1: Compress and Optimize Every Image
Why images are usually the #1 speed killer
On almost every slow Elementor site we've audited, oversized images are the biggest single culprit. A single unoptimized hero image can be 3–5MB — more than the entire rest of the page combined. Before touching any other setting, fix your images first.
Using ShortPixel for automatic compression
ShortPixel is one of the most reliable image optimization plugins for WordPress, and it pairs extremely well with Elementor. Once installed, it automatically compresses every image you upload — including images already sitting in your media library — using lossy, glossy, or lossless compression depending on how much quality you're willing to trade for file size. For most Elementor sites, "glossy" compression strikes the best balance: near-invisible quality loss with dramatic file-size savings.
Switching to next-gen formats (WebP/AVIF)
Beyond simple compression, converting images to next-gen formats like WebP or AVIF can cut file sizes by another 25–50% compared to standard JPEG or PNG. ShortPixel handles this conversion automatically and serves the right format to each visitor's browser. Elementor also includes its own native image optimization tools that compress and convert images to WebP/AVIF directly within the platform, so combining both approaches — or using Elementor's built-in optimizer alone — is a smart first move.
Step 2: Set Up Proper Caching
Page caching vs. browser caching
Every time a visitor loads your site, WordPress normally rebuilds the page from scratch by querying the database and assembling PHP templates. A caching plugin (like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or your host's built-in caching layer) stores a static, ready-to-serve version of each page, cutting load times dramatically — often by more than half. Pair this with browser caching, which tells a visitor's browser to store static assets (logos, CSS, fonts) locally so repeat visits load almost instantly.
Elementor's built-in Element Caching
Elementor also includes its own Element Caching feature, which specifically targets dynamic Elementor widgets and elements, storing their rendered output so the page doesn't have to regenerate complex layouts on every load. Turning this on inside Elementor's performance settings is one of the fastest wins available, and it works alongside whatever site-wide caching plugin you're already using.
Step 3: Choose Fast, Optimized Hosting
Why shared hosting hurts Elementor sites
No amount of plugin optimization can fully compensate for slow, oversold shared hosting. If your server takes 800ms+ just to respond to the first request (Time to First Byte), your PageSpeed score will suffer no matter how well-optimized your images and caching are.
Why Verpex is a strong choice for Elementor/WordPress
Verpex is a hosting provider well-regarded for WordPress and Elementor sites specifically, offering optimized server configurations, SSD storage, and built-in caching layers designed to handle page-builder-heavy sites without the bloat that drags down performance on generic shared hosting. If you're serious about your PageSpeed score, moving to hosting purpose-built for WordPress performance — rather than the cheapest shared plan available — is one of the highest-leverage changes you can make.
CDN and server location
Whichever host you choose, make sure a Content Delivery Network (CDN) is active. A CDN serves your static assets from servers geographically close to each visitor, which meaningfully reduces load times for a global audience and takes pressure off your main server.
Step 4: Fine-Tune Elementor's Own Performance Settings
Disabling unused widgets and features
Inside Elementor's settings, you can disable widgets you never use. Every active widget loads a small amount of associated CSS/JS, so trimming down to only what your site actually needs reduces unnecessary code weight across every page.
Lazy loading and adaptive asset loading
Enable lazy loading for images and background videos so off-screen content only loads once a visitor scrolls near it, rather than all at once on page load. Elementor's performance tools also include adaptive loading and responsive asset delivery, which serve appropriately sized images and assets based on the visitor's device — a smaller image for mobile, a larger one for desktop — instead of forcing every device to download the same heavy files.
Reducing custom fonts, animations, and heavy widgets
Custom Google Fonts, entrance animations, and video backgrounds all look great but come with a real performance cost. Limit yourself to one or two font families, use animations sparingly, and avoid stacking multiple heavy widgets (sliders, complex forms, video backgrounds) on a single above-the-fold section.
Step 5: Clean Up Plugins and Code
Every additional plugin is additional code your server has to load and execute. Regularly audit your plugin list and remove anything you're not actively using. Where possible, favor lightweight, single-purpose plugins over bloated all-in-one suites, and keep both Elementor and your theme updated to benefit from ongoing performance improvements the Elementor team ships in each release.
Final Checklist Before You Test Your PageSpeed Score
- ✅ Images compressed and converted to WebP/AVIF (ShortPixel or Elementor's Image Optimizer)
- ✅ Page caching and Elementor's Element Caching both enabled
- ✅ Hosting upgraded to a WordPress-optimized provider like Verpex, with a CDN active
- ✅ Lazy loading and adaptive asset loading turned on
- ✅ Unused widgets disabled, fonts and animations minimized
- ✅ Unnecessary plugins removed and everything kept up to date
Conclusion
A fast, high-scoring Elementor website isn't about picking one "magic" plugin — it's the combined effect of optimized images, smart caching, solid hosting, and a few adjustments inside Elementor's own performance settings. Tackle these five areas in order — starting with images, since they usually deliver the biggest single improvement — and most Elementor sites can move from a sluggish, red PageSpeed score into the green with a single focused optimization pass. Once your foundation is fast, all of Elementor's design freedom becomes a pure advantage, with none of the performance trade-offs.
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