Websites are not built slow, they become slow. Every plugin that was tried out and never removed, every font somebody once wanted to test, every template from a discarded draft — none of it is a problem on its own. Together they make a site that loads considerably more than it shows.
Here is my approach when I tidy up an Elementor website that has grown over the years. In order, from the biggest lever downwards.
Beforehand: backup
Not negotiable. Everything that follows can be undone — but only with a backup. Create a complete backup of files and database before you delete anything.
1. Plugins nobody needs any more
The single biggest lever and the most frequently overlooked. Go through the plugin list and ask of each one: what happens if I switch this off?
Pay particular attention to duplication. Two caching plugins side by side are not twice the benefit, they are a source of faults. The same goes for two form plugins where one only still runs a single old form.
Deactivate first, check the site, and only then delete. Incidentally, deactivated plugins left lying around for months are a security risk — actually delete them.
2. Fonts
Every font family and every weight is a separate file. Anyone using three different families in three weights each for headings, body text and buttons is loading nine files before the first letter appears.
Two families are almost always enough, often even one in two weights. Set this centrally rather than correcting it widget by widget — how is set out in global colours and fonts.
Also check whether your theme is loading fonts of its own in the background that you do not use at all. That happens frequently with extensive premium themes.
3. Icon libraries
By default Elementor loads a complete icon set — even if you use three icons. Under Elementor → Settings → Features you can switch off the loading of older icon libraries.
Check your pages after switching. If an empty box appears somewhere instead of an icon, it comes from the old library and has to be set once more.
4. Switch on the Elementor optimisations
Also under Settings → Features: optimized CSS loading and improved asset loading. Both ensure that only what the particular page actually needs is loaded.
Switch on individually, check each time. In rare cases a style that came from a third-party widget is then missing.
5. Old templates and drafts
Under Templates → Saved Templates a fair amount accumulates over the years. These templates cost no loading time on the website, but they cost clarity — and searching time.
The same applies to page drafts that were never published, and to the trash. Empty it.
6. Limit revisions
WordPress saves every intermediate version of a post. On a page that has been worked on for a long time, that quickly becomes a hundred records — and Elementor revisions are large, because they record the entire layout.
You can limit the number of stored revisions. A value between ten and twenty is a good compromise between safety and database size. A database tool will clear out existing stock — with a backup beforehand.
7. The media library
Look for images that are not embedded anywhere. There are plugins that list them. Go through the result by hand before deleting, though: images that only sit in a template or a popup are occasionally reported as unused by such tools by mistake.
And check the image sizes. A 5-megabyte photo in the media library does not matter — the same photo embedded on the home page does. What that means for loading time is set out in Elementor and Core Web Vitals.
8. Regenerate the CSS
Finally: under Elementor → Tools → Regenerate Files & Data the accumulated CSS is rebuilt. After larger changes this is the step that prevents old style remnants from continuing to take effect.
Then clear the cache — in the caching plugin and, if there is one, at the host.
Elementor Pro: the Pro version changes nothing about this tidying up. It helps more indirectly: anyone who gets the form, popup and header from one tool has three fewer plugins to maintain. View Elementor Pro
How often this is needed
Once a year is enough for most websites. More important than the frequency is that you schedule it at all — otherwise it never happens.
And the best moment is beforehand anyway: anyone who removes a plugin right after testing it does not have to tidy up later. Further maintenance topics are covered in Elementor updates without breaking the layout; if you would like to go through an existing site together, that is a typical case for my Elementor training.
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