When someone decides to create a WordPress website, the first question is usually not about performance.
It’s something like:
Which theme should I use?
Should I use a page builder?
Should I code everything?
If you search online, you’ll find hundreds of opinions and thousands of tutorials, but very few of them talk honestly about what happens after the website is live.
Before we talk about Best Astra Elementor optimization properly, let’s step back and understand how websites are usually created, and why Astra + Elementor is such a common — and practical — choice.
Table of Contents
Different Ways to Create a WordPress Website (And Their Reality)
There is no single “right” way to build a WordPress website. Each method has its strengths and weaknesses.
1. Coding Everything Manually (Custom Theme / Custom CSS)
This approach is usually recommended by developers.
Pros
Maximum control
Clean code
Potentially the best raw performance
Cons
Requires strong technical skills
Changes take time
Not practical for frequent content updates
Difficult for non-developers to maintain
For most publishers, bloggers, and small teams, this approach is not realistic long-term.
2. Heavy Multipurpose Themes (All-in-One Themes)
These themes promise everything out of the box — layouts, sliders, animations, demos.
Pros
Quick to launch
Many design options
No need for extra plugins
Cons
Bloated code
Unused features load everywhere
Hard to control performance
Difficult to debug when things go wrong
These themes often feel fast at the beginning, but performance problems show up later.
3. Lightweight Theme + Page Builder (Most Popular Approach)
This is where Astra + Elementor fits in.
Pros
Lightweight base theme
Visual control without coding
Easy to update and manage
Huge ecosystem and community
Cons
Easy to misuse
Performance depends on configuration
Too many overlapping controls can cause issues
This approach gives flexibility without heavy coding, which is why so many websites use it.
Why Many People Choose Astra + Elementor
Astra + Elementor is popular for a reason.
Astra loads fast by default
Elementor allows visual design
You don’t need developer-level skills
You can build complex layouts quickly
If configured correctly, this combination can be:
Fast
Stable
SEO-friendly
Easy to manage
The problem is most tutorials stop at “how to build”.
You’ll find endless videos on:
Creating headers
Designing homepages
Adding animations
Making things look fancy
But almost nobody explains:
How to manage Astra + Elementor after launch without breaking performance and rankings
That’s where real problems begin.
Disclaimer
Note: The optimization strategies shared in this guide are based on my personal experience managing Astra and Elementor websites. Every website environment is unique. Before making global changes to your theme, typography, or Elementor settings (especially disabling default fonts/colors), please create a complete backup of your website.
TechMitra is not responsible for any layout shifts, design breakage, or data loss that may occur while implementing these techniques. We recommend testing these changes on a staging site first. This guide is for educational purposes and is not officially endorsed by the developers of Astra or Elementor.
The Real Problems Start After the Website Is Live
Many site owners experience this pattern:
Website looks great
PageSpeed score is high
Everything feels fine initially
Then slowly:
Fonts flash on load
Menus become bolder after rendering
Layout shifts appear
Rankings fluctuate
Every “optimization” creates a new problem
This is not because Astra or Elementor is bad.
It happens because both are powerful tools, and power without structure leads to instability.
First Rule of Best Astra Elementor Settings : Stability Over Scores
Before touching any settings, it’s important to change the mindset.
PageSpeed scores are diagnostic tools, not ranking guarantees.
Google cares more about:
Layout stability
Predictable rendering
Smooth interaction
Consistent user experience
A website that feels stable often performs better in search than one that chases perfect lab scores.
A stable site always beats an aggressively optimized but unstable one.
Make Astra the Single Source of Truth (This Is Critical)
The biggest mistake people make is letting multiple systems control the same things.
Fonts, spacing, and colors should not be controlled from:
Theme
Elementor widgets
Global Elementor styles
Custom CSS
all at the same time.
Why typography should come from Astra
Typography affects:
Text height
Line spacing
Element size
Header and menu height
Astra applies typography early, before the page renders.
Elementor often applies typography later, after the first paint.
Even if both use the same font (like Roboto), the timing difference causes:
Flash of unstyled content (FOUC)
Font-weight changes
Layout shifts (CLS)
Correct approach
Set all main typography in Astra Customizer
Base font
Headings
Menu / header
Once done:
Do not re-select fonts inside Elementor widgets
Let Elementor inherit typography
This single decision removes many performance problems.
Inside the Astra Dashboard (Settings → Performance), enable “Load Google Fonts Locally” and “Preload Local Fonts.” This serves fonts directly from your server instead of Google, ensuring they render faster and more stably.
Elementor Settings That Help (Without Breaking Things)
Elementor itself is not slow.
Problems usually come from conflicting settings.
Two important Elementor settings
In Elementor → Settings → Advanced:
Disable Default Fonts → ON
This prevents Elementor from injecting late font rules.Disable Default Colors → ON
This simplifies CSS and avoids unnecessary overrides.
The Critical Fix: Navigate to Elementor → Settings and check both Disable Default Colors and Disable Default Fonts. This stops Elementor from loading unnecessary CSS and forces it to inherit your stable Astra typography.
These settings:
Reduce conflicts
Improve consistency
Help prevent CLS and FOUC
Be careful with Elementor “performance” options
Not every performance toggle improves real-world UX.
Some options:
Improve lab scores
But delay visible elements
Or introduce visual instability
A simple rule:
If a setting changes when or how something appears, think twice.
Why “Default” Font in Elementor Is Actually the Best Choice
Seeing Font Family: Default inside Elementor often scares people.
But “Default” simply means:
Use the theme’s font settings
If Astra is using Roboto:
Elementor Default = Roboto
But without late overrides
And without repainting text
Selecting the same font again inside Elementor often creates the problem, instead of solving it.
Menus: The Most Sensitive Part of the Website
If CLS or FOUC appears anywhere, it’s usually the menu.
Menus:
Are above the fold
Load first
React strongly to font changes
Why menus cause issues
Font weight changes after load
Spacing recalculates
Header height shifts
Even small changes are very noticeable here.
How to keep menus stable
Prefer theme-controlled menus
Avoid very heavy font weights
Avoid unnecessary animations
Let menu typography inherit from Astra
Menus should be boring and predictable — that’s good UX.
How FOUC and CLS Can Happen Even With the Same Font
This confuses many people.
Using the same font everywhere does not guarantee stability.
Roboto 400 and Roboto 500:
Have different heights
Different spacing
Different metrics
If the browser:
Renders one weight
Then applies another later
The layout changes — even though the font name never changed.
That’s why fixing key elements is more effective than changing everything.
Why You Should Avoid Changing Everything at Once
Once something is fixed, the temptation is to optimize everything.
That’s risky.
Frequent changes:
Reset Google’s evaluation
Delay Core Web Vitals data
Create inconsistent signals
Especially during Google algorithm volatility, stability matters more than perfection.
If the site looks stable and feels smooth, stop touching it.
How to Know When Your Site Is Finally Stable
Instead of checking PageSpeed all day, look at real signals.
Visual signs
No font flashing
No layout jumping
Clean menu rendering
User experience
Smooth scrolling
Predictable interaction
No sudden visual changes
When you reach this point, you’ve already done the hard work.
Final Thoughts: Best Astra Elementor Optimization the Right Way
Most tutorials teach you how to create a website.
Very few teach you how to run it safely after launch.
Managing Astra + Elementor performance is not about:
Adding more plugins
Chasing 100 PageSpeed
Copying aggressive tricks
It’s about:
One system controlling structure
One source controlling typography
Minimal overrides
Long-term stability
Good performance is not about doing more.
It’s about breaking less.
If you manage Astra + Elementor with restraint and clarity, it can remain fast, stable, and SEO-friendly for years.
