How to Lazy Load Elementor Content with a WordPress Plugin
Last Updated April 17, 2023
Lazy loading is a technique used to improve the performance of a website. It involves delaying the loading of certain elements on a page until they are actually needed, rather than loading all the elements on the page upfront. This can help to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transferred to the user’s device, which can improve the overall loading speed of the website.
A WordPress lazy load plugin allows users to easily implement lazy loading on their WordPress website. This can help to improve the performance of the website and provide a better user experience for visitors. Lazy loading can be particularly useful for websites with a lot of content, such as image-heavy blogs or websites with long pages. By only loading the content that is actually needed, the website can remain responsive and fast, even on slower connections.
In addition to improving the performance of a website, lazy loading can also help to save on bandwidth usage, which can be especially beneficial for websites that are hosted on a limited data plan. This can help to reduce the overall cost of running the website and make it more sustainable in the long run.
Find the Best Lazy Load Elementor Plugin
There are several important features to look for in a good lazy load Elementor plugin. Some of the most important ones include:
- Compatibility with a wide range of themes and plugins: A good WordPress lazy load plugin should be compatible with a wide range of themes and plugins. This will ensure that it can be used on a variety of different websites and that it will continue to work even if the WordPress theme is switched or other plugins are updated.
- Ease of use: A good WordPress lazy load plugin should be easy to use and configure. It should provide a user-friendly interface that allows users to easily enable lazy loading and customize the plugin’s settings without having to write any code.
- Flexibility: A good WordPress lazy load plugin should be flexible and customizable. It should allow users to specify which elements on their website should be lazy-loaded, and should provide options for customizing the plugin’s behavior to meet the specific needs of the website.
- Performance: A good WordPress lazy load plugin should be designed to improve the performance of a WordPress website. It should use optimized algorithms and techniques to minimize the amount of data that needs to be transferred, and should not introduce any significant overhead or other performance issues.
- Support and updates: A good WordPress lazy load plugin should be well-supported and regularly updated. This will ensure that the plugin continues to work well with the latest versions of WordPress and other plugins and that any bugs or other issues are addressed in a timely manner.
Popular Lazy Load Elementor Plugins
Each of the lazy load Elementor plugins on this list is available from WordPress.org. You can download these plugins from the repository and manually install them yourself. Or, if you want an easier way, install and activate them from the Plugins area of the WordPress admin.
Lazy loading is also supported in WordPress Core but it’s not always done in a way WordPress developers want to take advantage of. Finally, It’s worth noting that these are not all plugins exclusively built for Elementor. Many of them are perfectly good fits for general WordPress installations. You should be able to find exactly the right plugin for your project from this list.
a3 Lazy Load
a3 Lazy Load is a lazy load Elementor plugin that helps WordPress sites load faster. The heavier the site, the better the plugin works, and the more site administrators will notice the improvements. The plugin is compatible with WordPress 6.0 and works side by side with WordPress’ Core Lazy Load feature by
- loading images outside the media library
- on older browsers
- iframes
- videos
Site owners can also disable WordPress Core Lazy Load entirely as well with this plugin. Images that can be lazy-loaded include ones in posts, pages, custom post types, widgets, thumbnails, and Gravatars.
a3 Lazy Load also supports loading images in containers that use a horizontal scroll. The plugin gives you the option to use either a fade-in or spinner animation effect when lazy loading your media. If you would like to exclude certain images and videos from the plugin, you just need to add a class name to them. This simple change will prevent them from being automatically lazy-loaded. Some extra features to note are that it has the full support of jQueryMobile framework, is WordPress multisite ready, has backend support for RTL display, and is translation ready.
Plugin Details
This product was initially published by its creator in December of 2014. It is now on version 2.7.3 and last underwent a change on November 9th, 2024. The latest update functions on WordPress 6.7.1. This plugin is actively working on over 100,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 3,879,790 downloads. There have not been many support requests from end-users. Reviews for a3 Lazy Load are very positive. Many of the customers who left an evaluation found this plugin to be useful.
LazyLoad
LazyLoad is a free plugin that allows you to lazy load your WordPress site’s images, videos, and iframes. It is a viable option for anyone searching for a lazy load Elementor solution as well.
The way this plugin works is by taking the load off your server and speeding up your website by displaying media only once they are visible to the viewer as they browse. Images may be lazy loaded in post content, widget text, thumbnails, avatars, and smilies. Youtube iframes may be replaced with a preview thumbnail to reduce loading time.
No jQuery is used in the plugin so the script weighs less than 10KB. Lazy loading is a crucial technique, as it easily improves your Lighthouse performance score and optimizes your Core Web Vitals grades. First Input Delay and Total Blocking Time is greatly improved, and overall your visitors will make fewer HTTP requests.
Plugin Details
This plugin was originally published by its creator in January of 2014. It is presently on version 2.3.9 and last had an update on July 11th, 2024. The newest version functions on WordPress 6.5.5 and requires at least PHP 7.3 to function on your server. This plugin is now functioning on over 100,000 WordPress websites. It has had over 1,489,310 downloads. There have not been many support requests from customers. Reviews for this plugin are very positive. Many of the customers who left a piece of feedback found this plugin to be useful.
Native Lazyload
Native Lazyload is a simple plugin that adds lazy loading to your WordPress site. It even works as a lazy load Elementor solution for those who use the popular page builder plugin.
Native Lazyload is made to be lighter than its other counterparts. It doesn’t need you to write any custom lazy-loading code or use a separate JavaScript library. Using the loading attribute and its values, you can defer loading a resource until it reaches a certain distance from the viewport. Alternatively, have it load like the default from any part of the page.
The feature is supported by Chrome and will be rolled out to other browsers over time. If it so happens that it is not supported yet, the loading attribute will go back to a JavaScript solution for compabilitily.
Plugin Details
This product was originally released by its owner in September of 2019. It is presently on version 1.0.2 and last had an update on December 6th, 2019. The latest version functions on WordPress 5.3.18 and requires at least PHP 7.0 to run on your server. This plugin is actively running on over 7,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 87,160 downloads. There have not been many support requests from end-users. Users score this plugin as average.
Lazy Load Elementor Background Images
Lazy Load Background Images for Elementor is a simple plugin that adds lazy loading specifically for sites utilizing Elementor. The problem this plugin is trying to address is that background images within sections and columns all get loaded instantly on page load. This slows everything down.
This plugin fixes that problem while remaining extremely minimal. There are no extra database tables or admin screens. All it does is inserts a little bit of JavaScript and CSS on the front end of the site. The CSS hides backgrounds and the JavaScript detects your user’s scrolling activity. The plugin will start loading the background images as the visitor gets closer to the areas as they scroll.
Plugin Details
This product was originally released by its creator in February of 2020. It is currently on version 1.1.2 and last had a revision on March 17th, 2020. The latest edition operates on WordPress 5.3.18 and requires at least PHP 7.0 to function on your server. This plugin is now operating on over 2,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 11,980 downloads. There have not been many support requests from customers. WordPress users are positive and think highly of this product.
Speed Up
Speed Up is a useful plugin for website owners who want to improve the speed at which their pages load and save on bandwidth usage. This plugin only downloads images and iframes that are currently being displayed on the screen. Normally, a webpage downloads all of the images everywhere on the page at once. The plugin is easy to install and does not require any configuration. This makes it a convenient and straightforward solution for website owners. Additionally, it is very lightweight at only 5 KB so using it will not slow down your website.
Plugin Details
This plugin was first released by its developer in August of 2016. It is currently on version 1.0.25 and last experienced a revision on March 5th, 2023. The latest edition runs on WordPress 6.0.9. This plugin is presently functioning on over 1,000 WordPress sites. It has had over 44,680 downloads. There have not been many help requests from users. Reviews for Speed Up – Lazy Load are very positive. Many of the customers who left an evaluation found this plugin to be excellent.
Looking for More Ways to Improve WordPress?
Are you looking for ways to improve the admin of your WordPress website as well? Lazy loading on the front end is great but how can you customize the WordPress admin to be easier and quicker to use? Our White Label WordPress plugin was designed to help you do exactly that.
Our plugin is ideal for WordPress developers and agencies with clients who find the admin experience confusing. Rename menus, add custom dashboard elements, and hide entire plugins quickly and easily. Want to rebrand the admin? White Label lets you change the login page, adjust the admin color scheme, and replace logos.
Check out the full list of features to see all of the ways White Label can help you with your WordPress client sites and projects.