Improving Website Speed With Image Size

If you’ve  noticed that posts and pages on your site are loading too slowly, it’s possible that you’re using the wrong image sizes!  Don’t worry it’s not your fault, because image sizes and format can be somewhat confusing.  Luckily, WPBeginner just posted a great article on optimizing website images.

By properly saving your web images, you can keep your website running quickly, improve the customer experience, and prevent the loss of page views and conversions (aka new customers!).  This is also super-important, as website speed can cost you money in the long run according to a study by Strangeloop.

There are few different image aspects to consider when saving a file for the web: file type, compression type, and image size.  The easiest thing to understand is image size–you’ll want to make sure that the image your loading is only as large as it needs to be displayed on your website (but never too small!).  This will reduce unnecessary load times.

Second, you’ll want to choose the right file type.  For transparent images, you’ll need to use a PNG file, or for images with subtle gradient variations, you’ll want to use a properly compressed JPG file.

Third, compression type matters and can help you cut file size for faster load times.  Remember,  compression is a trade off with image quality, so be careful and think through how the image will be displayed before compressing your images too aggressively.

By the way, we love the work that the team at WPBeginner puts together,  so head over to their site and wander around a little.  We actually use some of the plugins and recommendations provided in their Beginner’s Blueprint.