What updates or plans does Webflow have to address the slow serving of the min.css file and improve mobile page speed in light of the upcoming Google page experience update?

Webflow has acknowledged mobile speed performance concerns related to the delivery of critical CSS files (like min.css) and has been gradually rolling out performance-specific improvements. Here's what Webflow is doing or planning to address these issues.

1. Webflow's Past and Ongoing Performance Improvements

• Optimized Hosting Stack: Webflow leverages Fastly CDN with edge servers globally distributed, which should help deliver assets (including min.css) more quickly.
• CSS File Splitting (in progress): Currently, Webflow serves a single large min.css file for the entire site. Webflow has stated its intent to support CSS modularization and per-page critical CSS to reduce unused CSS on first load.
• JavaScript and Asset Optimization:
• Webflow auto-generates and minifies JS and CSS on publish.
• Efforts are underway to load less script on pages that don’t rely on Webflow’s interactions or symbols.

2. Performance Roadmap Announcements

• Webflow Feature Requests and Community Feedback: Items like “Critical CSS”, “Improved Asset Loading”, and “Performance Optimization” are among the top-voted in the Webflow Wishlist and forums, with Webflow staff confirming ongoing development.
• Increased Focus on Core Web Vitals: After the rollout of Google’s Page Experience algorithm (particularly targeting Largest Contentful Paint - LCP and First Input Delay - FID), Webflow has communicated a roadmap to support:
• Smarter lazy loading of fonts and assets.
• Potential support for critical CSS generation.
• Improved built-in image optimization.

3. Current Best Practices to Improve Mobile Speed

While waiting for platform-wide fixes, users can take steps today:

• Enable Responsive Image Support: Use Webflow’s native responsive image generation.
• Use Font Loading Recommendations: Avoid external font services like Google Fonts unless preconnecting or self-hosting.
• Reduce Interactions and Animations: Minimizing interaction complexity can lower total JS execution time.
• Defer 3rd-Party Scripts: Use Webflow’s page settings to add async or defer attributes to non-critical JS.

4. Alternatives While Awaiting Platform Improvements

• Export and Self-Host Site: You can export your Webflow site and implement advanced optimizations manually (e.g., critical CSS extraction, tree-shaking).
• Add External Performance Tooling: Integrate tools like Cloudflare with custom rules to enhance caching or asset priority.

Summary

Webflow is actively working on improving performance and delivery of min.css files through CSS modularization, critical CSS generation, and adjusting asset delivery strategies. While full rollout dates are not officially published, enhancements are being quietly rolled out, and users should follow Webflow’s forums and changelog for updates. Meanwhile, applying in-project optimizations can help improve Core Web Vitals today.