How I Would Fix slow pages and weak Core Web Vitals in a Make.com and Airtable AI-built SaaS app Using Launch Ready.

How I Would Fix slow pages and weak Core Web Vitals in a Make.com and Airtable AI-built SaaS app Using Launch Ready

The symptom is usually obvious: the app feels fine in the builder, then real users hit a slow first load, janky interactions, and poor Core Web Vitals. The most likely root cause is not "one bad script", but a stack of small problems: too many client-side requests, unoptimized Airtable reads, heavy third-party embeds, weak caching, and no production-grade deployment layer.

The first thing I would inspect is the actual route that is slow in production, not the builder preview. I want to see the waterfall, the largest contentful paint element, what is blocking render, and whether Make.com or Airtable is being called on every page view instead of being cached or moved behind a server layer.

Triage in the First Hour

1. Open Chrome DevTools on the worst page.

• Check Network waterfall.
• Note TTFB, LCP element, CLS shifts, and long tasks.
• Confirm whether images, fonts, or scripts are blocking first paint.

2. Check Lighthouse and PageSpeed Insights.

• Record mobile score and desktop score.
• If mobile is under 50, I treat it as a release blocker.
• Capture the top 3 opportunities only. Do not chase everything at once.

3. Inspect the deployed app build.

• Look at bundle size.
• Find duplicate libraries, large UI kits, charting packages, or unused SDKs.
• Confirm whether code splitting exists for non-critical routes.

4. Review Make.com scenarios.

• Identify any scenario triggered on page load or user navigation.
• Check for loops, retries, or multiple Airtable calls per request.
• Confirm if data is being fetched live when it should be cached.

5. Review Airtable base structure.

• Inspect table size, field formulas, linked records, and views used by the app.
• Check whether the app queries wide tables instead of narrow filtered views.
• Look for formula-heavy fields that slow reads.

6. Check Cloudflare and DNS settings.

• Confirm SSL mode is correct.
• Verify caching rules are active for static assets.
• Check if redirects are chained or misconfigured.

7. Review observability and logs.

• Look for 500s, timeouts, rate limit errors, and repeated upstream failures.
• Confirm uptime monitoring exists for key pages and APIs.

8. Open secrets and environment variable setup.

• Verify no API keys are exposed client-side.
• Confirm production env vars match staging values where needed.

9. Audit third-party scripts on the landing page and app shell.

• Remove anything not tied to conversion or core product use.
• Tag managers often add hidden latency that founders do not notice until traffic grows.

npm run build && npm run analyze

If there is no bundle analyzer yet, I would add one before changing anything else. You cannot fix what you cannot measure.

Root Causes

| Likely cause | What it looks like | How I confirm it | | --- | --- | --- | | Airtable used as a live database for every view | Slow TTFB, repeated API calls | Network tab shows multiple Airtable requests per page load | | Make.com scenario runs too often | Delays after form submit or page refresh | Scenario history shows bursts of executions and retries | | Large frontend bundle | Slow first render and bad INP | Bundle analyzer shows heavy vendor chunk or duplicate packages | | No caching layer | Every visit hits origin services again | Repeat loads are nearly as slow as cold loads | | Third-party scripts block rendering | Layout jumps and delayed interaction | Performance trace shows long tasks from ads/chat/analytics | | Weak deployment setup | SSL issues, redirect loops, mixed content | Browser console shows warnings; Cloudflare rules are inconsistent |

Airtable is often the quiet culprit. It works well for operations data and internal workflows, but it becomes expensive in performance terms when founders use it like PostgreSQL without indexes or query discipline.

Make.com can also create hidden latency. If a user action triggers several chained scenarios with waits, webhooks, retries, or branching logic, your app may feel fast in staging but sluggish in production because every step adds delay before the UI updates.

The Fix Plan

I would fix this in layers so we do not trade speed for instability.

1. Separate critical path from background work.

• Keep user-facing responses immediate.
• Move non-essential tasks like notifications, CRM syncs, enrichment, and follow-up emails into background scenarios.
• If a task does not need to block the screen loading, it should not block it.

2. Cache Airtable reads aggressively where safe.

• Use Cloudflare caching for public assets and static pages.
• For dynamic product data that changes less often than every second, cache responses for 30 to 300 seconds depending on risk tolerance.
• Use narrow Airtable views instead of full-table reads.

3. Reduce Airtable payload size.

• Fetch only required fields.
• Split large tables into smaller operational tables if formulas are slowing views down.
• Avoid loading linked records unless they are visible above the fold.

4. Simplify the frontend bundle.

• Remove unused dependencies first.
• Lazy-load modals, charts, editors, video players, and admin-only components.
• Replace heavy libraries with smaller alternatives where possible.

5. Optimize images and fonts.

• Convert hero images to modern formats where supported.
• Serve responsive image sizes instead of one oversized asset for all screens.
• Use font display swap so text appears quickly instead of waiting on font files.

6. Tighten Cloudflare configuration through Launch Ready style deployment work.

• Set proper SSL mode end-to-end.
• Add redirects once only; remove chains and loops.
• Enable caching rules for static assets with sensible TTLs.
• Turn on DDoS protection and basic bot filtering if needed.

7. Move secrets out of the client entirely.

• Store API keys in environment variables only.
• Rotate any key already exposed in shipped code or browser bundles.
• Confirm least-privilege access to Airtable bases and Make.com connections.

8. Rework page rendering strategy if needed.

• Server-render landing pages that matter for SEO and conversion speed.

* This reduces time to first meaningful paint on mobile networks.*

• Keep authenticated app sections lighter by deferring non-critical widgets until after initial render.

9. Add monitoring before shipping again. * Track LCP, CLS, INP, * Track uptime, * Track API error rates, * Track Make.com failure counts, * Track Airtable rate-limit events.*

My rule here is simple: do not "optimize" by adding more tools. Most founders make things worse by layering new plugins over an already overloaded stack.

Regression Tests Before Redeploy

Before I redeploy anything, I want proof that the fix improves real user experience without breaking workflows.

• Mobile Lighthouse score at least 75 on key pages after fixes are applied
• LCP under 2.5 seconds on a normal 4G connection
• CLS under 0.1
• INP under 200 ms for core interactions
• No increase in form submission failures
• No broken authentication redirects
• No missing environment variables in production
• No exposed secrets in client bundles
• No Airtable rate-limit errors during test traffic
• Make.com scenarios complete within expected SLA
• Uptime monitor returns green for homepage and login page

I would also run these checks:

1. Fresh browser test on iPhone-sized viewport plus desktop viewport 2. Repeat-load test to verify caching works 3. Form submit test to ensure background jobs still fire correctly 4. Error-state test with Airtable temporarily unavailable 5. Permission test to confirm users cannot access data outside their account scope 6. Smoke test across signup, login, dashboard load, and billing entry points

If any fix improves speed but breaks onboarding or creates data leakage risk through API misconfiguration or loose permissions, I would stop there and tighten security first.

Prevention

I prevent this class of problem with guardrails that fit founder reality instead of enterprise theater.

• Add performance budgets:

* JS bundle size cap * LCP target under 2.5 seconds * CLS target under 0.1 * Third-party script count limit

• Add code review checks:

* No new client-side calls to Airtable without a reason * No secrets in frontend code * No direct Make.com triggers from render paths unless absolutely necessary

• Add API security checks:

* Authentication on all sensitive routes * Authorization checks per record or workspace * Input validation on webhook payloads * Rate limiting on public forms and webhook endpoints

• Add UX safeguards:

* Skeleton states instead of blank screens * Clear loading feedback after form submit * Empty states that explain what happens next * Error states with retry actions

• Add monitoring:

* Uptime checks every minute for critical routes * Alerting when Make.com failures exceed a threshold such as 5 failures in an hour * Alerts when p95 response time crosses your target by more than 20 percent

This matters because performance bugs become business bugs fast: lower conversion rates, more support tickets about "the site being broken", wasted ad spend from slow landing pages, and higher churn when users do not trust the product experience.

When to Use Launch Ready

Launch Ready is the right fit when you have a working AI-built SaaS app but launch basics are shaky: domain setup is messy, email deliverability is unreliable, SSL is inconsistent across subdomains so browsers show warnings or mixed content issues; deployment has no clear handover; secrets live in too many places; monitoring is missing; Cloudflare rules are half-done; or your pages are simply too slow to trust with paid traffic.

• Domain setup
• Email DNS records including SPF/DKIM/DMARC
• Cloudflare configuration
• SSL verification
• Redirect cleanup
• Subdomain routing
• Production deployment checks
• Environment variables and secret handling review
• Uptime monitoring setup
• Handover checklist

What you should prepare: 1. Domain registrar access 2. Cloudflare access if already connected 3. Hosting/deployment access 4. Make.com account access relevant to production flows 5. Airtable base access with admin permissions where needed 6. Any email provider credentials used for transactional mailers like SendGrid or Resend

If your app already works but feels unstable under real traffic, I would not start with redesigning everything at once. I would stabilize launch infrastructure first because broken delivery plumbing makes every other improvement less valuable.

References

• https://roadmap.sh/frontend-performance-best-practices
• https://roadmap.sh/api-security-best-practices
• https://roadmap.sh/qa
• https://developers.cloudflare.com/cache/
• https://airtable.com/developers/web/api/introduction

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Take the next step

If this is a problem in your product right now, here is what to do next:

• [Use the free Cyprian tools](/tools) - estimate cost, score app risk, check launch readiness, or pick the right service sprint.

• [Book a discovery call](/contact) - I will tell you honestly whether you need a sprint or if you can DIY the next step.

*Written by Cyprian Tinashe Aarons - senior full-stack and AI engineer helping founders rescue, launch, automate, and scale AI-built products.*