A slow website can harm your search engine rankings and turn visitors away. Furthermore, having large image files is one of the main causes of slow loading times. Fortunately, there are several ways you can optimize images for web performance.<\/p>\n
In this post, we\u2019ll discuss the impact of images on your site\u2019s performance. We\u2019ll then share a few different ways to optimize your pictures effectively.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get started!<\/p>\n
How Much Do Images Affect Web Performance?<\/h2>\n
Images can significantly affect your site\u2019s overall performance. To provide the best possible User Experience (UX)<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to ensure that your content is optimized for Google\u2019s Core Web Vitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Core Web Vitals are metrics that Google uses to evaluate the performance of your website. When you run a page speed test, Google will generate a report based on several factors, including:<\/p>\n You can check to see how your site fares in these areas by using an online tool such as PageSpeed Insights<\/a> or GTMetrix<\/a>. All you have to do is enter your URL, and you\u2019ll then receive a report with your scores:<\/p>\n The report also gives you suggestions on how to improve your performance. This advice may include images that need to be optimized for faster loading times.<\/p>\n For instance, the report might identify the largest contentful element on your page as the hero image. If that\u2019s the case, you can resize and compress the image file to improve your LCP score.<\/p>\n Images can also impact your CLS score. A high CLS score suggests that your site contains images without specified height and width attributes.<\/p>\n The browser is therefore spending time trying to resize images appropriately. This process leads to shifting elements as your page loads, disrupting the user experience. You can easily fix this by setting dimensions for every photo you upload on your site.<\/p>\n As we have seen, images can affect your Core Web Vitals scores. Let\u2019s look at two effective ways to optimize images for web performance!<\/p>\n Compression is the process of reducing the file size of your image<\/a>. There are two main types of compression methods:<\/p>\n Large image files can put a lot of strain on your loading times, leading to a slow website. They can also take up a lot of space on your server.<\/p>\n Therefore, we recommend that you compress any images that you upload to your site:<\/p>\n Lossy compression tends to be more effective than lossless<\/a>. This is because it gives you more flexibility with size reduction. The only downside is that lossy compression could impact the quality of your images.<\/p>\n Another effective way to optimize images for web performance is to resize them. Typically, the larger the dimensions, the larger the file size.<\/p>\n Therefore, you may want to consider cropping your images before uploading them to your website. You can do this with an image editing software of your choosing.<\/p>\n Furthermore, when you upload an image to your site, WordPress will automatically generate different sizes for it. These typically include large, medium, and small versions, as well as thumbnails:<\/p>\n This way, WordPress enables you to serve the most appropriate image size to your readers. It also helps the browser show the correct image dimensions based on your visitors\u2019 devices. As such, these settings make your website more responsive.<\/p>\n When adding an image to your posts, you may want to set the size to large rather than full size. Likewise, if you\u2019re designing a blog feed, you can select thumbnails instead of larger image sizes for your featured pictures.<\/p>\n If you use a larger dimension than necessary, you\u2019ll be putting needless pressure on your site\u2019s speed. You\u2019ll also be taking up more space on your server.<\/p>\n Fortunately, there are several tools you can use to optimize images for web performance. This section will look at some best practices to help you get started.<\/p>\n As mentioned earlier, compression helps reduce the file size of your images. You can use many tools to compress your photos, including image editing software such as Adobe Photoshop<\/a> or Microsoft Photos.<\/p>\n You can also use an online tool like TinyPNG<\/a>:<\/p>\n This tool uses lossy compression to reduce the size of your WEBP, JPEG, and PNG files<\/a>. All you have to do is upload your images, and TinyPNG will compress them for you.<\/p>\n Alternatively, you could use a powerful image optimization plugin<\/a> such as Imagify<\/a>:<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve installed and activated the plugin on your site, you can go to Settings<\/em> > Imagify<\/em> to set your compression preferences:<\/p>\n We recommend setting the compression level to Aggressive<\/em>. This setting will reduce the file size by a significant amount without any noticeable differences in image quality.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re ready, click on Save Changes<\/em>. Imagify will now automatically compress any images that you upload to your site.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve also talked about the importance of resizing your images for faster loading times. You can resize your photos on your computer before uploading them to your WordPress site.<\/p>\n However, you can also resize your pictures within WordPress. Simply select the image in your post or page, and adjust the width and height from the settings panel on your right:<\/p>\n Alternatively, you can locate the image in your Media Library<\/em> and select Edit Image<\/em>. This action will take you to a window where you can crop your image and set new dimensions:<\/p>\n As you can see, the WordPress editor also lets you choose one of the automatically generated image sizes. If you\u2019re using graphics in blog posts, we recommend opting for large<\/em> rather than full size<\/em>. This setting will render smaller image sizes without compromising on quality.<\/p>\n WordPress comes with a maximum upload file size. This amount can vary depending on the resources allotted by your hosting provider.<\/p>\n To check your current maximum file size, navigate to Media<\/em> > Add New<\/em> in your WordPress dashboard. On this page, you\u2019ll see your upload limit:<\/p>\n Typically, you won\u2019t need to change this value unless you upload larger files. However, you may want to decrease the file size limit to prevent other users from uploading larger images than necessary. This setting can be handy if you run a multi-author blog.<\/p>\n To do this, you can simply contact your hosting provider and ask them to change the maximum upload file size. Alternatively, you can change the WordPress upload limit by editing your php.ini<\/em> file<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another way to optimize images for web performance is adjusting the placement of your scripts within your HTML code. JavaScript is very resource-heavy, and any form of interactivity embedded within your HTML can cause a delay in loading.<\/p>\n It is standard practice to link to external JavaScript pages at the bottom of your code. This allows the Document Object Model (DOM) to fully load before any interactive elements are activated.<\/p>\n However, some JavaScript snippets<\/a> are commonly used throughout the DOM. One example is the event listener \u201conclick\u201d, which tells a button what to do when a user clicks on it.<\/p>\n Therefore, if you\u2019re using a script to optimize your images, its timing can affect the load time of your page. You can solve this issue by using a plugin such as Flying Scripts<\/a>:<\/p>\n This tool enables you to delay running specific scripts until there is no user activity. This setting can help reduce the time it takes for your page to load.<\/p>\n Optimizing your images can speed up your site and improve the UX. Furthermore, Google\u2019s Core Web Vitals take image sizes into account when evaluating the quality and performance of your site.<\/p>\n In this post, we looked at several effective ways to optimize images for web performance. These methods include compressing images with a plugin and resizing your photos in the WordPress editor.<\/p>\n Do you have any questions about how to optimize images for web performance? Let us know in the comments section below!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
![\"PageSpeed](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/pagespeed-insights-cls.png\")
<\/p>\n2 Ways You Can Optimize Your Images<\/h2>\n
1. Compress Your Images<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/compressing-an-image.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2. Resize Your Images and Use the Right Dimensions<\/h3>\n
![\"Choosing](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/wordpress-image-sizes.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to Optimize Images the Right Way<\/h2>\n
1. Use an Image Compression Tool or Plugin<\/h3>\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/tinypng.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Using](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/imagify-plugin-homepage.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Imagify](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/imagify-settings.jpg\")
<\/p>\n2. Resize Images in the WordPress Editor<\/h3>\n
![\"Resizing](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/resize-images-from-wordpress.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Editing](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/edit-image-in-wordpress.jpg\")
<\/p>\n3. Change Your Maximum Upload Limit<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/media-upload-limit.jpg\")
<\/p>\n4. Delay Resizing Scripts<\/h3>\n
![\"Flying](\"https:\/\/www.elegantthemes.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/flying-scripts-plugin.jpg\")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n