Have a slow Divi website?
Whether or not Divi is slow isn’t something I’m going to debate here (much). You’re already using Divi, so I wanted to provide you with solutions which are also found in the Divi Theme Users Facebook Group. If you’re not part of that Facebook group yet, you should really join. In addition, I added a few other solutions compiled over my 6 years of doing speed optimization.
The easiest way to speed up Divi is by fixing server issues in Divi’s system status, as well as using solid plugins, hosting, and an optimization plugin. After your infrastructure is fast, focus on the smaller tweaks. Lighthouse, GTmetrix Waterfall, and Query Monitor are your friends – use these tools to find out what’s slowing down your Divi site so you can improve load times.
1. Remove Unused CSS + JavaScript From Divi
Divi adds extra CSS and JavaScript throughout your website. So do plugins, fonts, and other assets. Sometimes, these assets load across your entire site even when they’re not being used.
By unloading unused assets, this removes unused code which improves CSS and JavaScript load times (an item in PageSpeed Insights). You can either use Perfmatters or Asset CleanUp for this.
I use Perfmatters since it’s more user-friendly and lets you disable assets “everywhere but posts” (good for things like social sharing plugins), but Perfmatters is a paid plugin ($25/year).
Choose a plugin then go to it’s script manager. You’ll see scripts/styles loaded on the page and options to disable them in certain places. Do this with assets that don’t need to load site-wide.
Disabling assets that are being used can break your Divi site – test carefully!
Unloading assets in Asset Cleanup
Unloading assets in PerfmattersTry disabling other scripts/plugins as well:
- Disable contact forms everywhere but contact page
- Disable social sharing plugins everywhere but posts
- Disable table plugins everywhere but content with tables
- Disable rich snippet plugins everywhere but content with rich snippets
- Disable WooCommerce scripts/styles except on non-eCommerce pages
- Disable fonts everywhere except certain
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This article was written by Tom Dupuis and originally published on Tom Dupuis.