Elementor is an extremely popular page builder for WordPress, but it’s not necessarily the best option for small business, especially if the target customer of the small business is not a tech-savvy person with high-end hardware. If you’re reading this, you may know that WordPress is used by 43.6% of all the websites on the internet. But did you know that according to W3Tech, the Elementor plugin is used by 11.8% of all websites?
A reminder – the most popular doesn’t mean the best. The BetaMax vs VHS example comes to mind.
While its drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, there are several drawbacks that small business owners should consider before committing to it.
1. Elementor – Performance Issues
Elementor can significantly slow down your website. It adds lots of extra CSS and JavaScript client-side code, which increases page load times – negatively impacting SEO and user experience. In web design and development, every second counts, as slow websites drive potential customers away.
It’s also a matter of knowing your audience. Elementor’s performance bottleneck occurs on the client side (the browser / computer used to access the website), not the server side (the computer hosting the website). Is your audience tech-savvy and likely to have high-end hardware? In this case, Elementor may perform just fine. However, if they’re not, you’re better off choosing a different, more lightweight solution.
2. Elementor – Limited Scalability
If your business grows, you may find Elementor limiting. Adding custom features or functionality often requires hiring a developer to work around Elementor’s constraints, which increases costs. Working around a pagebuilder’s constraints is an uphill battle, often, an unnecessary one.
The simplest path is often not the best one in the long run – might as well do things properly from the beginning.
3. Elementor – Dependency on a Plugin
Building your website on Elementor ties you to a specific plugin, and keeps you hostage. If Elementor ever discontinues support, conflicts with WordPress updates, or jacks up their pricing to extents you won’t feel comfortable paying, your website’s functionality is at risk (read: broken pages and website design).
To fix this you will have to hire someone to re-design all the pages of your website without the use of Elementor (a task we once had the immense pleasure of undertaking – good times).
4. Elementor – Bloated Code
Elementor’s visual editor creates bloated code that can hurt your website’s performance and make it harder for developers to maintain or optimize your site in the future.
5. Elementor – Hidden Costs
While Elementor offers a free version, most of the useful features are locked behind a paid subscription. For a small business on a budget, these costs can quickly add up when compared to leaner, more efficient alternatives.
Better Alternatives to Elementor
At Nixi, we’re kind of obsessed about UX, web standards, data backups, and website performance. We make no use of Elementor. If we’re not building a 100% custom web application in ReactJS / NextJS, we tend to either write pure CSS and JavaScript directly in WordPress, or use GenerateBlocks combined with the native WordPress editor (Gutenberg). These options provide faster load times, better scalability, and greater long-term stability without locking you into a single plugin.
Choosing the right website tools is crucial for your small business. A faster, simpler, and more sustainable setup can help you attract and retain more customers and “eternalize” your website, within realistic limits, of course.
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