[Support request] Impact of a Page Builder Like ElementorPro on Site Speed

[Holly]

I’m in the process of updating my site on a staging environment and about to go live. The reason I switched themes from Genesis to GeneratePress was to improve up page load numbers on mobile, Google’s latest ranking factor. After searching for tutorials, I ended up with BOTH GeneratePress Pro and ElementorPro.

What is the general consensus of the impact of a page builder like ElementorPro on website speed? I’m using it mainly on my Pages and a landing page and not in Posts. I tried to build pages with the Sections widget but just got frustrated. I plan to eliminate some plugins and move that coding to Elementor (Contact Form, PopUps to integrate with CovertKit, and so on). While doing some mobile speed research, I came across this article: http://pagepipe.com/how-elementor-page-builder-affects-mobile-page-speed/

Tom has done such a nice job keeping GeneratePress fast and a small file. Are we ruining all of that hard work by adding a page builder to the mix?

Thanks, Holly

[David]

Hi there,

i think the general consensus is if you use them considerately, upload well optimized media, serve it from a good host and pair it with a well configured cache plugin then pagespeed isn’t something to worry about.

[Holly]

Thank you. When you say use them “considerately” what would be your top 3 recommendations to avoid site slow down with ElementorPro or any page builder? Time now to clean up my media library. I’ve got a good host that covers the caching.

[David]

FontAwesome Icons – i avoid period. The library is a huge drain. Opt for SVGs if icons are required.

Sliders – can be a huge performance drain both on loading times and the local devices memory. ( Plus there proven to be pretty poor at conversions. )

Background images – if being used behind text or other content and require a color overlay for contrast then it says they’re rather irrelevant. Where this aesthetic is required i would opt to de-res the image as much as i can get away with as no one will notice and can considerably reduce its file size.

[Holly]

GREAT tips! Thanks so much, David.

[David]

You’re welcome – i try to stick with the less is more approach 🙂

[freeform1999]

I agree with most things discussed above…
BUT I also laugh at the nerds (pointing at Pagepipe type articles) dictating that sites need to be so basic as to look like their anemic looking academic site. 😛 The problem is most my clients are artist or photographers or companies with mainly a brochure type site. Text with a few small images just ain’t gonna make it and they’ll tollerate 2 extra seconds page load to communicate their vision.. Granted once the page approaches 3.5 seconds I start to twiddle with images, cache, cdn, etc. Just my 2 cents.

[Author]

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