Webflow Site Speed Test Insights Never Passes - What Am I Missing?

Publishing help SEO
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Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out to this knowledgeable community because I’ve hit a wall with my Webflow site’s performance, specifically regarding the Speed Test Insights. Despite trying just about everything I can think of to optimize my site, I can’t seem to get the speed test insights to pass.

One of the main culprits appears to be a significantly large JavaScript file: https://assets-global.website-files.com/61f2ae441f84ad7d99bf311c/js/webflow.bbf12636c.js. This file seems to play a big part in slowing down my site. I’ve meticulously ensured that all JavaScript on my page is as clean as possible, including scripts in the global head, footer, and any custom code sections.

To isolate the problem, I even created a minimalistic page that contains only text, available here: https://www.innocard.me/speed-test-insights. Surprisingly, this “naked” page also fails the Speed Test Insights, pointing towards a more systemic issue with my site’s performance.

Considering Webflow’s no-code nature, I’m at a bit of a loss for further actions on my end. I suspect legacy content and scripts from a previous commerce plan might be contributing to these issues, but I’m not entirely sure how to address this.

I’m contemplating whether migrating to a clean workspace, page by page, might be the solution, but before taking such a drastic step, I wanted to seek your insights:

  1. Has anyone faced similar issues with Webflow, especially related to legacy content from previous plans affecting site performance?
  2. Are there specific strategies you’ve successfully employed to reduce the impact of large JavaScript files on your site’s speed?
  3. Would migrating to a clean workspace likely resolve these performance issues, or are there other avenues I should explore first?

I appreciate any advice, tips, or experiences you can share. Speed Test Insights are crucial for SEO and user experience, and I’m eager to resolve these issues and improve my site’s performance.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Here is my site Read-Only: LINK
(how to share your site Read-Only link)

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@Marketing_INNOCard -
Webflow delivers a monolithic project-specific JS file comprising the core libraries and functions for all components available, plus any animations you include on every page. This is not a modern performant way to deliver it, but that is what they do. The only option is to export your site, break it into chunks for HTTP2 benefits, or circumvent it using a reverse proxy and workers on the edge to modify the delivery.

If you ever enabled e-commerce, you will get an even bigger file. Even if you don’t use that feature, you will be stuck with the bloat as part of your build unless you restore it to a point before enabling it.

A plain site can score just fine before impactful choices are made.

I maintain a “base stock” build and a “base e-commerce” build for reference and testing. Both were republished today so they are current.

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