Improving your website's speed should be a priority of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Whether you run an online store or a business site, your web page speed can directly impact user experience, conversion rates, and SEO rankings. One of the easiest and most effective ways to make your site run faster is by optimizing images.
Images make your site more visually appealing and engaging, but leaving them unoptimized can slow down your website. This article will guide you through simple but effective strategies to optimize images without sacrificing quality.
Image optimization matters for web page speed
Imagine yourself entering a store. As you do, you notice that the door opens too slowly. Once you get in, the lights take a few seconds to turn on. The store assistant also takes an unnecessary amount of time before serving you. Will you still want to shop in that store or leave in frustration?
Website visitors expect swift service, too. In fact, Internet users expect web pages to load in one to three seconds. Any longer, many of them will leave, possibly going to your competitors and never returning to your site. When visitors do stay, each extra second of load time can decrease conversion rates by 7%.
Image optimization does more than speed up your website. It ensures visitors do not wait for images to finish loading. Optimization also reduces the strain on your servers, allowing your site to handle more traffic without slowing down.
Eight critical steps for optimizing images
Here's a technical SEO guide on how to optimize images to improve web page speed:
Choose the right file format
Different image formats serve different purposes.
JPEG is best for photographs and images featuring many colors, offering a good balance between quality and file size.
PNG is ideal for images requiring transparency, such as logos and icons. However, it often results in large file sizes, so use it sparingly.
WebP is a modern format that produces high-quality images at significantly smaller sizes. Many browsers currently support WebP, so it's often preferred over other formats.
SVG is a vector format great for logos, icons, and simple graphics. It's light and scales well without losing image quality, making it perfect for responsive web design.
Which format you choose depends on the type of image and its purpose. Be sure to test different formats to find the best one for your needs.
Resize images to fit display dimensions
Do not upload images that are way larger than your site's display dimensions. For example, if your web page displays at 800 pixels wide, avoid uploading an image that's 3000 pixels wide. This wastes bandwidth and slows down page load times.
If you use large images, resize them to match the exact dimensions on your site before uploading them. Thankfully, free tools like Canva and TinyPNG can help you accomplish this.
Compress images without losing quality
Compression reduces file size without a noticeable loss in quality. There are two types of compression:
Lossy compression slightly reduces quality but results in smaller files. It's suitable for most web images.
Lossless compression retains all quality but achieves smaller size reductions. This compression type is ideal for graphics and icons.
Online tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, and Sqoosh are great for quickly and efficiently compressing images.
Leverage lazy loading
Lazy loading defers the loading of off-screen images until the user scrolls to them. This dramatically speeds up initial page load times because only the images visible on the screen are loaded. Most modern website builders and platforms, such as WordPress, have plugins or settings that make enabling lazy loading a breeze.
Use descriptive file names and alt text
Optimizing images isn't just about fixing file sizes. Proper naming conventions and alt text contribute to technical SEO and accessibility.
Use descriptive, keyword-rich file names. If you're creating a product page for a wire Phillips screwdriver, for instance, you should use "phillips-screwdriver" instead of "IMG1234."
Search engines use alt texts to understand the images in the page. Use the alt text to describe the image and make sure it contains relevant keywords. For the above example, you can use "Phillips screwdriver for home repairs" as your alt text.
Run a page speed test and site audit
After you've optimized images, you should assess your site's performance by running a page speed test. It gives you a detailed analysis and offers suggestions for improvement. Google PageSpeed Insights and GTmetrix are often used for page speed tests.
A comprehensive site audit can further identify other issues that could slow down your website. Aside from confirming your images are optimized, it can also check for broken images, missing alt tags, and other technical SEO problems. A site audit can be done with tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs.
Implement a content delivery network (CDN)
A CDN is composed of servers spread across multiple locations. Your site's contents are spread across these servers, and users are served images by the server closest to their area. Because of this, users experience minimal latency and your pages load faster. Popular CDN services include CloudFlare, Amazon Cloudfront, and Akamai.
Automate image optimization
If manually optimizing images feels overwhelming, automation can be a big help. Many website platforms offer plugins that handle image compression and resizing automatically. For instance, you can use the plugins ShortPixel and Imagify on WordPress, as well as the apps Crush.pics and Image Optimizer on Shopify.
Optimizing images is one of the most effective ways to improve your website's performance, enhance user experience, and boost search engine rankings. It makes your website more attractive and appealing to visitors, leading to increased conversions and a stronger online presence.
If you find tweaking elements of your website overwhelming, consider partnering with a technical SEO agency instead. An agency has experts who can develop and implement technical fixes, including page speed tests, site audits, and other steps for monitoring your website's performance. As a result, you can focus on other essential aspects of your business while ensuring your website is optimized for success.
Invest in technical SEO today and give your business's online presence a boost!
