Elementor makes it easy to build good-looking pages, but out of the box many Elementor sites score poorly on mobile PageSpeed. The reasons are predictable: deep nested HTML, CSS and JavaScript loaded for every widget, multiple Google Fonts, icon libraries and heavy add-on plugins.
The good news is that an Elementor site can absolutely score 90+ on mobile without rebuilding it. Here is the checklist we use.
1. Turn on Elementor’s built-in performance features
Elementor has added many performance options over the years. Depending on your version, you will find them under Elementor > Settings (Performance and Features tabs). Make sure options such as optimized DOM output, improved CSS loading, inline font icons, lazy loading of background images and element caching are enabled. Clear the Elementor CSS cache afterwards and check your pages.
2. Switch from sections to containers
Older Elementor pages built with sections, columns and inner sections produce many extra wrapper elements. Flexbox containers create a much flatter structure, which means a smaller DOM, less CSS and faster rendering. Elementor can convert old sections to containers, but test each page after converting.
3. Reduce fonts and icon libraries
Every font family and weight is a separate file. Pick one or two families and only the weights you actually use, host them locally instead of loading from Google Fonts, and preload the main one. Disable Font Awesome and Eicons on the frontend if you do not use them, or use inline SVG icons instead.
4. Limit add-on plugins
Elementor add-on packs can load CSS and JavaScript for dozens of widgets on every page, even if you use only two of them. Disable the widgets you do not use in each add-on’s settings, and remove add-ons you can replace with core Elementor widgets.
5. Fix the hero section for LCP
On most Elementor pages the hero section decides your LCP. Avoid sliders and background videos above the fold. If the hero uses a background image, make sure it is not lazy loaded and is preloaded; using a normal image widget is often faster. Compress the image to WebP or AVIF and serve a smaller version on mobile. Our step-by-step LCP guide covers this in detail.
6. Remove unused CSS and delay JavaScript
A good caching or optimization plugin can remove unused CSS, generate critical CSS and delay non-essential JavaScript until user interaction. On Elementor sites this is usually the single biggest jump in mobile score. Test menus, popups, tabs, accordions and forms afterwards, because these depend on JavaScript.
7. Watch out for motion effects and animations
Entrance animations, motion effects and parallax look nice but delay content and add JavaScript work. Remove them from above-the-fold elements. An animated hero heading can push LCP back by a second on mobile.
8. Don’t forget the server
Elementor pages are heavier to generate than simple pages, so full page caching, a current PHP version and an object cache matter even more. If your Time to First Byte is above 600 milliseconds after caching, the hosting is holding you back.
9. Keep the DOM small when designing
Long pages with many nested containers and widgets create thousands of DOM elements. Avoid duplicating whole sections for mobile and desktop and hiding one of them; use responsive settings instead. Hidden elements are still downloaded and rendered.
What results can you expect?
With these fixes, most Elementor sites can reach 90–95+ on desktop and 85–95+ on mobile, while the design stays exactly the same. You can see real client results on our speed optimization page, including sites that went from 16 to 96 and 37 to 100 on mobile.
Want an expert to do it?
Optimizing Elementor safely takes testing on every page and device. Our WordPress speed optimization service includes all of the above at a fixed price, with a full backup first. Request a free speed audit and we will tell you what score is realistic for your site.