How can I optimize my website's speed in Webflow to improve its PageSpeed score on Google and increase performance on Pingdom?

To optimize your Webflow website’s speed and boost its PageSpeed Insight and Pingdom scores, you need to streamline assets, improve loading efficiency, and use best practices supported by Webflow.

1. Optimize Images

• Use WebP format where possible for better compression without loss of quality.
• Set proper image dimensions in the Designer to avoid layout shifts and large file requests.
• Enable Webflow’s image compression by exporting assets using Webflow’s built-in uploader, which auto-compresses.
• Use CMS thumbnails (smaller versions) in collection lists rather than full-size images.

2. Enable Lazy Loading

• Webflow automatically applies lazy loading (loading="lazy") to images and iframes. Confirm it’s active by manually checking the image settings.
• Avoid using custom code that disables or overrides this behavior.

3. Reduce Custom Code and Scripts

• Minimize use of third-party scripts (e.g., chat widgets, analytics tags) and load them asynchronously or defer them.
• Defer non-critical scripts using the defer attribute in your settings or embed codes.
• Remove unused CSS/JS if you’ve migrated from another platform or imported libraries manually.

4. Use Clean and Efficient Webflow Interactions

• Avoid long chains of timed animations or excessive “While scrolling in view” interactions that cause repaint or heavy render loads.
• Optimize complex animations by simplifying transitions and limiting simultaneous animated elements.

5. Use Proper Hosting and CDN

• Use Webflow Hosting, which includes global CDN via Fastly and Amazon CloudFront.
• Ensure your domain is correctly configured to point to Webflow’s IPs: (a) 75.2.70.75, (b) 99.83.190.102, for optimal delivery performance.

6. Enable Minification for Code

• Go to Project Settings > Hosting and enable:
• Minify HTML
• Minify CSS
• Minify JavaScript
• These reduce overall payload and improve time to first byte (TTFB).

7. Limit Fonts and Use Efficient Typography

• Choose system fonts or load only the necessary weights/styles from Google Fonts.
• Disable unused weights in Project Settings > Fonts, particularly bold or italic variants you don’t use.

8. Preload Key Assets

• Add <link rel="preload"> tags in Project Settings > Custom Code > Head for fonts and large hero images to speed first render.
• Only preload above-the-fold assets; overuse can degrade performance.

9. Eliminate Unused Pages and CMS Templates

• Unused CMS templates, static pages, or old collection lists can increase load complexity.
• Clean up your Pages panel, delete redundant CMS content, and unpublish what you don’t need.

10. Test and Monitor Regularly

• Use Google PageSpeed Insights, Pingdom, and WebPageTest.org to evaluate real-world loading behavior.
• Run tests with repeat sessions to account for browser caching and image delivery improvements.

Summary

To boost site speed in Webflow, compress and lazy-load images, minimize external scripts, enable code minification, limit fonts, and rely on Webflow's fast CDN hosting. You can dramatically improve your PageSpeed and Pingdom scores by cleaning interactions, preloading key assets, and removing unused resources.