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How can you optimize Imagesfor Web Performance, without sacrificing Quality

Did you be aware that optimizing images prior to uploading them to WordPress will have a huge effect on your website's speed?

When starting a new blog, many novices upload pictures without making them web-friendly. These large image files make your website's performance slow.

It is possible to fix this issue by using Image optimizationbest methods as part of your regular blogging routine.

This article in this article, we will show you how to optimize your images for faster website performance, without sacrificing quality. Additionally, we will share automated picture optimization applications for WordPress that can make your life easy.

Since this is a comprehensive guide to image optimization for web We've designed an easy-to-follow table of content:

• What exactly is optimization? (optimized images vs. images that aren't optimized)
• Why is image optimization crucial? What are the advantages?
• How do you save and optimize images to improve web performance?
• Best image optimization tools and programs
• Top photo optimization software for WordPress

What is Image Optimization? (Optimized vs Unoptimized Images)

Image optimization is the method of saving and delivering images in the smallest dimensions without diminishing the overall quality of the image.

While it may sound like a complex process It's actually very simple to do these days. One of the numerous image optimization plugins and tools to automatically compress images by up to 80% with any noticeable loss of image quality.

Here's a good example of an optimized images versus unoptimized:

You can observe, if properly optimized, the same image could be 75% smaller than what it was originally, but without any loss of quality.

What is Image Optimization function?

In simple terms images optimization use compression technology , such as "Lossy" and "Lossless" that helps reduce the total size of the file without causing any reduction in quality.

What is it to optimize Images?

If you've ever received an offer to optimize images through your WordPress hosting support , or a speed test tool, that's all it means is that you must reduce the size of your photos by optimizing them for the web.

Why is Image Optimization Important? What are the Benefits of Image Optimization?

While there are many benefits in optimizing your image, here are the most important ones to know:

• Faster speed of website
• Enhanced SEO rankings
• More efficient overall conversion rate for leads and sales
• Storage and bandwidth are reduced (which could lower hosting and CDN cost)
• Faster backups to websites (also reduces cost of backup storage)

Beyond video, pictures are the second-heaviest items on a web page. Based on HTTP archive, the images account for in the average 21% the total weight of the page.

Since we know fast websites are more popular in search engines (SEO) and are able to achieve better conversion rates and image optimization is something all websites must implement should they wish to make a mark online.

Now , you might be wondering what impact does image optimization really bring about?

According to an Strangeloop study, a one-second delay in loading a website will cost you 7% from sales. This is amounted to 11% less views, and a 16% less satisfaction from customers.

If these aren't enough reasons to speed up the loading time of your site it is important to understand that search engines such as Google offer a preferential SEO treatment to faster loading websites.

This means that by optimizing your images for web and improving your website's speed, you can increase speed of your site as well as increase WordPress SEO rankings.

Video Tutorial

If you'd prefer written instructions, just keep reading.

How to Save and Optimize Images for Web Performance?

The most important factor in success in optimization of images for optimization for web performance is finding the right balance between lowest file size and acceptable image quality.

The three elements that play a crucial role in images optimization are:

• Image file format (JPEG vs PNG vs GIF vs tiff )
• Compression (Higher compression = smaller file size)
• Image Dimensions (height and width)

If you select the most appropriate combination of the three you can decrease your image's size by as much as 80%.

Let's take a look at each one in more specifics.

1. Image File Format

For most website owners, the only three image formats that truly count are JPEG, PNG, and GIF. The choice of the correct file format is crucial for image optimization.

To keep things simple In order to keep things simple, use JPEGs for photos and images with a variety of colors, PNGs when you want simple images or when you need transparent images. You can also use GIF for images with animation only.

For those who aren't sure of the distinction between each file type, the PNG image format is not compressed which means it's a superior quality image. The disadvantage is that it's file dimensions are larger.

However, JPEG is a compressed file format that slightly decreases image quality in order to give a much smaller file size.

The difference is that GIF uses only 256 colors along with lossless compression which makes it the most suitable choice with regard to animation images.

On WPBeginner We use all three image formats , based on the type of image.

2. Compression

The next thing is image compression, which plays an enormous part within image optimization.

There are different kinds and levels of image compression that are available. Each of the parameters vary depending on the image compression tool you employ.

The majority of image editors, including Adobe Photoshop, On1 Photo, GIMP, Affinity Photo and others include integrated image compression features.

You can also save images normally but then you can use a Web tool like TinyPNG or JPEG Mini for easier image compression.

Although it's manual These two methods permit users to compress images before uploading them to WordPress This is the process we employ on WPBeginner.

There are many well-known WordPress plugins such as Optimole, EWWW Image Optimizer and many more that automatically compress images after you upload them. A lot of beginners and even large companies choose to utilize these images optimization plugins because it's easy and convenient.

We'll talk more about these WordPress plugins in the coming article.

3. Image Dimensions

Normally, the moment you import a picture from your phone or digital camera, it comes with an extremely high resolution as well as big file dimensions (height and width).

The majority of these photos have a resolution of 300 DPI and sizes starting at 2000 pixels up to. These photos of high quality are suitable for desktop or print printing. These images are not appropriate for use on websites.

A reduction in file dimensions to something more acceptable can dramatically decrease the size of an image. You can simply resize images using an image editing program installed on your personal computer.

In this case, we optimized photos with 1.8 1 MB of file size with a 300 DPI resolution, and image dimensions of 4900x3200 pixels.

The format we chose was jpeg for more compression. We changed the dimensions to 1200x795 pixel, and it reduced the image's size to 103KB. That's 94% less than the size of the original file.

Now that you've learned the three primary factors that affect image optimization Let's take a to look into various images optimization tools for owners of websites.

Best ImageOptimization Tools and Programs

As we mentioned earlier, most image editing software come including image optimization as well as compression options.

Outside of the software for editing images, there are also several efficient and cost-effective image optimization tools you can use to optimize images for web use (with only several clicks).

We suggest using these tools to enhance images before uploading them to WordPress particularly if you are one of those people who are always perfect.

This approach helps you conserve disc space from your WordPress hosting account and guarantees your image is the most speedy and has the best quality since you manually review every image.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a premium software with a feature that lets you save images that have been optimized for use on the internet. Simply open your image and click the "File >> Save for Web" option.

This will open an additional dialog box. To the right, you can select different image formats. If you select JPEG format, you will be presented with a variety options regarding quality. When you pick your option, it will also provide the file's size in the lower left.

GIMP

GIMP is a no-cost and open source alternative to popular Adobe Photoshop. It can be used to boost your images' performance for use on the internet. However, it's not as simple to use as other methods on this list.

First, open your image within GIMP then click the File > Export As option. This will bring up the save file dialog box. Create a new name and then click on"export.

Then, you will be presented with options to export images. When you export JPEGs, you can choose the compression level to decrease file size. And finally, click on"Export", to store the optimal image.

TinyPNG

TinyPNG is a completely free web application that employs a clever lossy compression process to decrease in size your PNG files. All you have to do is visit their site and upload your images (simple drag & drop).

They will compress the image and send you a download link. You can also use their sister webpage, TinyJPG that allows JPEG Image compression.

There is also an extension for Adobe Photoshop which is what we use for our image editing workflow because it blends the best of TinyJPG and TinyPNG in Photoshop.

For developers, they offer an API that allows you to convert images for them automatically. And for newcomers, they have an WordPress plugin that can automatically perform the conversion for you (more on this later).

JPEG Mini

JPEGmini utilizes lossless compression method that dramatically reduces the size of pictures without having an impact on their visual quality. You can also compare the quality of your original image with the compression image.

You can download their web version for free and then purchase the software to run on your personal computer. They also have a pay API that automates the process of your web server.

ImageOptim

ImageOptim is an Mac utility that allows you to reduce images, without sacrificing any quality. This is done by identifying the best compression parameters , and eliminating color profiles that are not needed.

Windows Alternate to this Trimage.

Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress

The best way to make your images more efficient is by doing it before uploading them to WordPress. However, if you run multi-author websites or require an easy solution you could consider using a WordPress plugin for image compression.

Here is our list of the best WordPress photo compression plug-ins.

1. Optimole is a popular plugin developed by the company behind ThemeIsle.
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
3. Compress JPEG & PNG images using the plugin developed by the TinyPNG team mentioned above in the article.
4. Imagify - plugin by the popular WP Rocket plugin team.
5. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
6. WP Smush
7. reSmush.it

Using any among these WordPress image optimization plugins will allow you to speed up the performance of your website.

Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Image Optimization

If you aren't saving images that are optimized for webuse, then it's time to begin doing that immediately. It'll make a significant difference on your site speed and your users will thank you for it.

Not to mention, faster websites are better for SEO and you will likely see an increase in your ranking on search engines.

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