Unlock Lightning-Fast Speeds: Optimize WP Astra Performance for Elementor

Preface

Are you using Elementor with the Astra theme and experiencing slow loading times? You’re not alone. Many WordPress users face this challenge. But don’t worry! Astra offers built-in performance settings that, when configured correctly, can significantly boost your website’s speed. This guide will walk you through these settings, providing you with actionable steps to optimize your site for peak performance.

Why Website Speed Matters

Before diving into the specifics, let’s quickly cover why website speed is crucial:

• User Experience: Visitors expect fast loading times. A slow website can lead to frustration and a high bounce rate.
• SEO: Google considers site speed a ranking factor. Faster sites tend to rank higher in search results. You can read more about SEO optimization in this complete guide on how to optimize your website for SEO.
• Conversion Rates: Faster websites often lead to higher conversion rates, whether it’s sales, sign-ups, or engagement.

Understanding WP Astra’s Performance Settings

Astra provides several performance-related options directly within its theme settings. These settings are designed to minimize HTTP requests, optimize JavaScript and CSS, and improve overall website performance. Let’s explore these settings in detail.

Accessing Astra’s Performance Settings

1. Navigate to Your WordPress Dashboard: Log in to your WordPress admin area.
2. Go to Astra Options: In the left-hand menu, find “Astra” and click on “Dashboard”.
3. Locate Performance Settings: On the Astra Dashboard page, look for the “Performance” section. Alternatively, you can find it under “Appearance” -> “Astra Options” -> “Performance”.

Key Performance Settings in Astra

1. Enable Static CSS File Generation

This setting is crucial for improving your site’s speed. When enabled, Astra generates static CSS files instead of using inline CSS. Static CSS files are cached by browsers, reducing the load time for subsequent page views.

• How to Enable: Toggle the “Enable Static CSS File Generation” option to the “On” position.

Hint: After enabling this setting, clear your website’s cache and browser cache to see the changes.

2. Preload Local Fonts

If you’re using local fonts (fonts hosted on your server), preloading them can significantly improve loading times. This setting tells the browser to download the fonts early in the page loading process. If you want to know more about fonts for your website, make sure to follow this link: How to choose the right fonts for your Website.

• How to Enable: Toggle the “Preload Local Fonts” option to “On”.
• Note: This setting is only effective if you are hosting fonts locally.

3. Remove String(IDs) From Static Files

This feature removes query strings from static resources like CSS and JavaScript files. Query strings are the bits of text after a “?” in a URL (e.g., style.css?ver=1.0). Removing them can improve caching efficiency, as some proxy servers and CDNs don’t cache resources with query strings.

• How to Enable: Toggle the “Remove String(IDs) From Static Files” option to “On”.

4. Enable jQuery Migrate

jQuery Migrate helps older jQuery code run on newer versions of jQuery. It’s primarily for compatibility. However, if your theme and plugins are up-to-date and don’t rely on outdated jQuery features, you can disable this to save a small amount of load time. If you disable and encounter layout issues you can enable it again without problems!

• How to Disable: Toggle the “Enable jQuery Migrate” option to “Off”.
• Note: Only disable this if you are sure your theme and plugins don’t need it. After deactivating it you can check your pages to see if everything is still working.

5. Preload Google Fonts

Similar to preloading local fonts, this setting preloads Google Fonts, ensuring they load quickly. This reduces the “flash of unstyled text” (FOUT) or “flash of invisible text” (FOIT) issue, where text appears momentarily in a default font before the Google Font loads. Did you know that Google Fonts are one of the most used fonts on websites? If you want to discover great fonts, check out this blog post: Top 10 Free & Best Google Fonts For Your Website

• How to Enable: Toggle the “Preload Google Fonts” option to “On”.

6. Disable Font Awesome

Font Awesome is a popular icon library. However, if you’re not using Font Awesome icons on your website (or using only a few), disabling it can reduce unnecessary HTTP requests. Most of the time all Plugins or the Theme itself will load some Font Awesome libraries. You can chose plugins like Perfmatters (https://perfmatters.io/) that can help you to disable certain Font Awesome Libraries on specific pages to completely optimize those things.

• How to Disable: Toggle the “Disable Font Awesome” option to “On”.

Optimizing Elementor for Performance

Now that you’ve configured Astra’s performance settings, let’s focus on optimizing Elementor. Elementor, while powerful, can sometimes contribute to slower loading times if not used efficiently. Here are some tips:

1. Keep Your Elementor Version Updated

Ensure you’re using the latest version of Elementor. Each update often includes performance improvements and bug fixes.

• How to Update: Go to “Dashboard” -> “Updates” and update Elementor or Elementor Pro if there’s a new version available.

2. Use Optimized Images

Large, unoptimized images are a common cause of slow loading times. Before uploading images to your WordPress media library, compress them using tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim.

• Best Practices:
  • Use the correct image dimensions. Don’t upload a 2000px wide image if it’s only displayed at 500px.
  • Use appropriate file formats (JPEG for photographs, PNG for graphics with transparency).
  • Compress images without significant quality loss. Also use modern formats like webp to reduce filesize even more.

3. Limit the Number of Elements and Sections

Each element and section you add to an Elementor page increases the page’s complexity and can impact loading times. Use only the necessary elements and sections.

• Tips:
  • Avoid excessive use of columns and nested sections.
  • Simplify your design where possible.

4. Use Elementor’s Built-in Optimization Features

Elementor has some built-in optimization features. In Elementor settings, you can find the following options:

• Improved CSS Loading: Improves how CSS is loaded to reduce render-blocking issues.
• Improved Asset Loading: Optimizes the loading of JavaScript and CSS assets.
• How to Enable: Go to “Elementor” -> “Settings” -> “Experiments” and activate all available features.

Hint: Be careful when enabling all of those experiments since some of them might break your layout. So please cleck your page after enabling the experiments.

5. Lazy Load Images and iFrames

Lazy loading means that images and iFrames are only loaded when they are visible in the viewport. This can significantly improve the initial page load time.

• How to Implement:
  • Elementor has lazy loading as an built in feature:
  • Go to “Elementor” -> “Settings” -> “Experiments” and activate the lazy loading feature.

6. Reduce External HTTP Requests

External HTTP requests (e.g., loading scripts from other websites) can slow down your site. Minimize the number of external requests by hosting files locally whenever possible.

• Best Practices:
  • Avoid embedding content from too many different sources.
  • If you use external scripts, consider hosting them on your server.

7. Leverage Browser Caching

Browser caching allows visitors’ browsers to store static assets (like images, CSS, and JavaScript files) locally. When a visitor returns to your site, their browser can load these assets from the local cache instead of downloading them again. This drastically improves loading times for returning visitors.

• How to Implement: Add the following code to your .htaccess file:

<IfModule mod_expires.c>
  ExpiresActive On
  ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 30 days"
  ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 30 days"
  ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 30 days"
  ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 1 month"
  ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 1 month"
</IfModule>

Info: Always back up your `.htaccess` file before making changes.
You can check out where to find the `.htaccess` file here: WordPress functions.php: What it is and where to find it

Info: The `.htaccess` file is a configuration file used by web servers running the Apache software. It allows you to make changes to the server’s configuration on a per-directory basis.

Hint: You can also use a plugin like W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache to manage browser caching.

8. Choose a Fast Hosting Provider

Your hosting provider plays a significant role in your website’s speed. Choose a hosting provider that offers fast servers, SSD storage, and optimized caching. Some popular options include Bluehost, DreamHost, and HostGator.

9. Content Delivery Network (CDN)

A CDN stores your website’s static files on multiple servers around the world. When a visitor accesses your site, the CDN delivers the files from the server closest to their location, reducing latency and improving loading times.

• Popular CDNs:
  • Cloudflare
  • MaxCDN
  • BunnyCDN

10. Check your website with Google PageSpeed Insights

After you apply all those settings make sure to check your websites speed with Google PageSpeed Insights (https://pagespeed.web.dev/). Google PageSpeed Insights will provide you a detailed analysis of your websites speed and will provide ways to improve it even more.

11. Use Artificial Intelligence to generate Content

Using AI in Wordress can also benefit to your websites SEO-Optimization. There are many plugins out there that can help you with your webpage content. If you want to deep dive into that topic you can check it here: Top 10 Valuable AI Plugins for WordPress to Boost Your Blog

Conclusion

Optimizing your WP Astra and Elementor website for speed involves several steps, from configuring Astra’s performance settings to implementing best practices for Elementor and image optimization. By following the guidelines outlined in this guide, you can significantly improve your website’s loading times, enhance user experience, and boost your SEO rankings.

Remember to regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and make adjustments as needed. A faster website not only delights your visitors but also contributes to your overall online success.

If you’re eager to further enhance your website-building skills, consider exploring our other helpful guides and resources here at STARTMAKINGWEBSITES.com. We’re here to help you master the art of web design and development!