Image Optimizer

compress-image

How to Optimize Imagesfor the Web's Performance, without sacrificing Quality

Did you have the knowledge that optimizing your images before uploading them to WordPress can have a massive impact on speed of your website?

When the time comes to start a new blog lots of novices simply upload photos without optimizing them for the web. Large image files can make your website less responsive.

You can address this issue by employing the image optimizationbest methods as part of your normal blog routine.

Within this article, we'll help you learn how to optimize your images to improve web performance but without sacrificing quality. We will also discuss automatic picture optimization plug-ins designed for WordPress that will simplify your work.

Because this is an extensive guide on image optimization for the web, we have created an easy-to-follow table of contents:

• What's an image optimization? (optimized as opposed to unoptimized)
• Why is image optimization crucial? What are the benefits?
• How to preserve and optimize images for web performance?
• Best image optimization software and tools
• The top picture optimization extensions for WordPress

What is Image Optimization? (Optimized vs Unoptimized Images)

Image optimization is a method of saving and delivering images in the smallest possible files without reducing the overall quality of images.

Although the process may sound complicated however, it's really quite simple today. You can use one of the many image optimization applications and tools that automatically compress images by up to 80% with any visible diminution in quality.

Here's an example of optimized contrasted with unoptimized images:

The results are clear, when optimized properly the same image may be 75% smaller than the original image without losing any quality.

How does Image Optimization work?

In simple terms, image optimization uses compression technologies such as "Lossy" and "Lossless" that helps reduce the total file size without any noticeable loss in quality.

What is it to Optimize Images?

If you've ever received the suggestion to optimize your images from your WordPress hosting support or by an instrument for speed testing, that's all it means is that you have to cut down the size of your images by optimizing them for the web.

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

While there are many benefits of optimizing your pictures, below are the most significant ones worth knowing:

• Speedier website loading
• Improved SEO rankings
• Higher overall conversion rate for leads and sales
• Storage and bandwidth are reduced (which can reduce hosting and CDN cost)
• More efficient backups for websites (also lowers costs for backup storage)

In addition to video, images are the second-heaviest items in a web page. From the HTTP archivedata, pictures account for an average of 21% of the total weight of the page.

As we all know that sites that are fast rank higher in search engines (SEO) and have better conversions which is why image optimization is a necessity for each business website has to take care of for success online.

Now , you might be wondering what difference is image optimization actually result in?

According to a Strangeloop study, a one-second delay in the speed of loading your website will cost you 7% from sales. This is amounted to 11% less pageviewsand a 16 percent reduction in customer satisfaction.

If that's not enough reasons to speed up the loading time of your site then you should know that search engines like Google also give preferential SEO treatment to sites that load faster.

By optimizing your photos for the web it will improve your the speed of your website and increase WordPress SEO positions.

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 successful images optimization that is optimized for performance on websites is to find the best balance between the most compact file size and acceptable quality of the image.

Three things that play an important influence on images optimization are:

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

When you pick the appropriate combination of the three, you can reduce your image's size by up to 80 percent.

Let's look at each of them in greater detail.

1. Image File Format

For most webmasters, the only three images file formats that actually matter can be described as JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Selecting the appropriate file type is crucial for image optimization.

To keep things simple In order to keep things simple, use JPEGs for photos and images that have a lot of colors. PNGs to create simple images, or when you need transparent images. You can also use GIF to only use animated images.

For those that don't know what is the difference between each type, the image format PNG is not compressed, which means that it's a better quality image. The disadvantage is that it's file sizes are considerably larger.

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

However, GIF only uses 256 colors as well as lossless compression that makes it the best option with regard to animation images.

On WPBeginner we employ all three image formats based on the type of image.

2. Compression

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

There are several types and levels of compression that are available. the settings of each will differ based on the image compression software you are using.

A majority of image editing tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, On1 Photo, GIMP, Affinity Photo and more come with built-in image compression features.

You can also save images normally and then utilize a web tool like TinyPNG , or JPEG Mini for easier image compression.

While it's not the most user-friendly the two methods will allow users to compress images before uploading the images to WordPress that's the method we use on WPBeginner.

There are many well-known WordPress plugins such as Optimole, EWWW Image Optimizer and others that automatically compress images after you upload them for the first time. A lot of newbies and large corporations are using these images optimization plugins as it's quick and easy.

We'll go over more of these WordPress plugins in the next article.

3. Image Dimensions

Normally when you transfer a photo from your smartphone or digital camera it will have an extremely high resolution and massive file dimensions (height and wide).

Typically, these photos come with a resolution of 300 DPI with dimensions starting from 2000 pixels and up. High-quality photos work well for desktop publishing or printing. They're not suitable for use on websites.

Sizing down the dimensions of files to something more reasonable can significantly decrease image file size. It is easy to resize images by using an image editing program on your computer.

In this case, we optimized photos with 1.8 megabytes original size The image has a 300 DPI resolution, and dimensions of 4900x3200 pixels.

We opted for the Jpeg format to allow higher compression and changed dimensions to 1200x795 pixels. In addition, it reduced the file size to 103 KB. This is 94% smaller than the original size.

If you're aware of the three essential elements of image optimization we can take a to look into various image optimization techniques for website owners.

Best ImageOptimization Tools and Programs

Like we mentioned earlier, most image editing software come complete with images optimization in addition to compression adjustments.

Beyond the image editing software, there are several other powerful free image optimization tools that you can apply to optimize images for websites (with just two clicks).

We recommend making use of these tools to improve images before uploading them to WordPress especially if are the type of person who is obsessed with perfection.

This approach helps you conserve memory on the WordPress hosting account, as well as guaranteeing the fastest image and the finest quality because you manually scrutinize every image.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a premium software with a feature that lets you save images optimized for the web. Simply open the image, then click on the "File >> Save for Web" option.

This will open a brand new dialog box. To the right, you can set different image formats. In the case of JPEG format, you will get a range of quality options. When you select the quality option, it will also reveal the file's size on the bottom left.

GIMP

GIMP is a no-cost and open source alternative to popular Adobe Photoshop. It can be used to make your images more attractive for use on the web. The disadvantage is that it is not as easy to use as some other alternatives on this list.

First, you need to open your image within GIMP before you can select the File >> Export as option. This will bring up the dialog box for saving your file. Give your file a new name, then click"Export Now.

This will bring up options for exporting images. If you are using JPEG files, you can choose the compression level to reduce the size of the file. Then, click an export option to download the image you have optimized.

TinyPNG

TinyPNG is a no-cost web application that employs a clever lossy compression technique to reduce its size PNG files. All you need to do is go to their website and upload your images (simple drag and drop).

They will compress the image and then provide you with the download link. It is possible to use their companion websitecalled TinyJPG in order to get JPEG Image compression.

They also have Extensions for Adobe Photoshop that we use for the image editing process as it is a blend of TinyJPG and TinyPNG in Photoshop.

For developers, they've an API that allows you to convert images on the fly, and for beginners , they provide the WordPress plugin that can perform the conversion for you (more on this later).

JPEG Mini

JPEGmini uses a lossless compression technique that significantly reduces the size and size of images without altering their perception. You can also test the quality of the original image with the compression image.

You can access their web version for no cost and then purchase the software to run on your personal computer. They also offer a premium API that automates the process for your server.

ImageOptim

ImageOptim is an Mac software that allows you in compressing images and without sacrificing any quality. It does this by finding the optimal compression parameters and getting rid of color profiles that aren't needed.

Windows option to do this would be Trimage.

Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress

We believe that the best way to optimize your images is by doing it before uploading them to WordPress. If you have a multi-author site or need an efficient solution you could try a WordPress image compression plugin.

Below is our list of the best WordPress Image compression software:

1. Optimole an extremely popular plugin created by the team behind ThemeIsle.
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
3. Compress JPEG & PNG images - plugin by TinyPNG team that is mentioned earlier in the article.
4. Imagify - a plugin from the popular WP Rocket plugin team.
5. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
6. WP Smush
7. reSmush.it

Utilizing any among these WordPress image optimization plugins can help you improve the speed of your website.

Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Image Optimization

If you're not saving images optimised for web, you should start doing that immediately. It'll make a massive difference in speed and your users will be grateful for it.

Furthermore, faster websites are great for SEO and you will likely see an increase in your search engine ranking.

use this tool >> convert to png