Sonoscanner designs and manufactures ultra-portable, portable, and stationary ultrasound scanners in France. Its multilingual WordPress site (French, English, German, Spanish) attracts thousands of healthcare professionals every month thanks to its ultrasound guides.
On mobile, however, none of the tested pages exceeded 67/100 on PageSpeed Insights. In one day, without changing the design or features, the article page went from 57 to 99/100, the rental page from 46 to 90, and the product page from 67 to 92–95. On desktop, all pages reach 99 to 100/100.
The context: a heavily visited medical site, but a slow one
The site is built on the Salient theme and the Elementor builder, with around thirty plugins: forms, testimonials, consent management, Google Tag Manager. A feature-rich foundation, but heavy to load, especially on mobile.
The diagnosis: a cache installed but never used
We measured four representative pages: the homepage, the ultrasound scanner rental page, a blog article, and a product page. Real visitor data (Chrome UX Report) confirmed the issue: 2.5 s before the server response and 3.6 s before the first render, for 75% of mobile visits.
The audit revealed five causes:
- The cache was not serving any pages. The cache plugin was active, but the constant that enables it in the WordPress configuration was disabled. Each visit recalculated the page.
- The files were being served in development versions. A forgotten debug mode was loading unminified jQuery, Elementor, and theme files.
- Three of the most visited pages were excluded from the cache, as was Googlebot.
- 48 stylesheets and 66 scripts were blocking rendering, with fonts lacking a display rule.
- The layout shifted during loading: full-width sections calculated in JavaScript, font changes, and a title animated with a fade-in effect.
The method: fix first, optimize afterward
Our principle: change nothing in the design or features, and test every modification as a visitor, on mobile and desktop.
- Restore caching. Page caching enabled, unnecessary exclusions removed, files switched to minified versions. The server now responds in under 100 ms.
- Load only the useful CSS. The 48 stylesheets are replaced by only the CSS used on each page, with a safety list for the menu, carousels, and cookie banner.
- Load JavaScript on the first interaction. The theme and Elementor scripts start on the first scroll, click, or tap. The mobile menu works from the very first click.
- Defer Google Tag Manager. Measurement tools start on the first interaction, or after 5 seconds at the latest: the statistics remain complete.
- Stabilize the layout. Fallback fonts calibrated to the same dimensions as the web fonts, full-width sections fixed directly in the CSS, and the first-screen title displayed without a fade-in effect.
- Load videos and maps as users approach. YouTube, Google Maps and off-screen images wait until the visitor gets close to them.
Every setting is documented and reversible. The recipe covered the mobile menu, dropdown menus, the consent banner, carousels, counters, the product video and the contact form. It is the same approach as for Ikone Textile’s WooCommerce store.
The results: up to +50 points on mobile
All tested pages reach 99 to 100/100 on desktop, and at least 90 on mobile.
| Page | Mobile before | Mobile after | Desktop before | Desktop after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Article (DPI) | 57 | 99 | 80 | 100 |
| Ultrasound scanner rental | 46 | 90 | 63 | 100 |
| U-Lite Pro product page | 67 | 92-95 | 70 | 100 |
| Home | 43 | 93 | 74 | 99 |
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) on mobile: from 4.5 s to 1.7 s on the article, from 5.4 s to 3.3 s on the rental page.
- Stability (CLS): from 0.38 to 0.035 on the article; the page no longer jumps while reading.
- Blocking time (TBT): from 1,250 ms to 50 ms on mobile for the rental page.
What this changes for Sonoscanner
The ultrasound guides, which generate most of the traffic, now load in under 2 seconds on mobile. A doctor checking an article between two patients can read the content immediately, with no page shift.
For SEO, Google finally receives pages served from the cache, including pages that were previously excluded. The Core Web Vitals signals from real visitors should follow within Chrome’s 28-day collection period.
For the team, nothing changes day to day: the same editor, the same pages, the same measurement tools.
Limitations and next steps
On the homepage, the 454 KB GIF animation in the first screen was replaced with a 248 KB WebM video with an 18 KB preview image: the page went from 84 to 93/100 on mobile. An MP4 version and a 1080 px source still need to be produced for Safari and high-definition screens.
Other media need to be lightened: three certification logos alone weigh 2.8 MB, even though they are displayed at 290 pixels. They will be recompressed or converted to SVG.
Finally, the settings were grouped into a dedicated plugin, by Maintenance WP, to last through updates. A new measurement is planned in one month, based on real visitor data.
Is your WordPress site slow? We optimize it without a redesign.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to optimize a WordPress site like Sonoscanner’s?
One day of work was enough: auditing four page types, configuring the settings, then complete acceptance testing on mobile and desktop. Heavy media are handled afterward, separately, with the site’s team.
Do you need to change themes or leave Elementor to gain speed?
No. The site keeps the Salient theme, Elementor, and all its plugins. The improvement comes from caching, only the useful CSS, JavaScript on the first interaction, and layout stabilization.
Do the statistics remain reliable if Google Tag Manager is deferred?
Yes. The tags start on the visitor’s first interaction, or after 5 seconds at the latest. All visits are measured, and the consent banner remains the priority.
When do Core Web Vitals improve in Search Console?
Real visitor data is calculated over a rolling 28-day period by Chrome. It therefore takes about a month to see the full effect in Search Console.
