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How to Optimize Imagesfor web performance without Losing Quality

Did you be aware that optimizing images prior to uploading them to WordPress can have a huge impact on your website speed?

When the time comes to start a new blog many new bloggers upload images without optimizing them for the web. These huge image files make your website slower.

You can address this issue by employing Image optimizationbest practices as part of your normal blogging routine.

The following article In this post, we'll help you learn how to optimize your images to improve web performance but without sacrificing quality. We'll also show you automatic images optimization applications for WordPress that will make your life easy.

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

• What is image optimization? (optimized image vs. unoptimized)
• What makes image optimization important? What are the advantages?
• How to organize and save images for web performance?
• The best image optimization tools and programs
• The best image optimization tools for WordPress

What is Image Optimization? (Optimized vs Unoptimized Images)

Image optimization is the process that saves and delivers images with the smallest files without reducing the overall quality of the image.

Although the procedure sounds complicated It's actually very simple today. You can use one of the many image optimization programs and tools to automatically compress images by up to 80% with any visible reduction in image quality.

Here's an example against unoptimized image

As you can see, when optimized correctly, the same image can be 75 percent smaller than the original , without any quality loss.

How does Image Optimization function?

In simple words images optimization is achieved by using compression technologies such as "Lossy" and "Lossless" which helps reduce the overall size of the file without causing any loss in quality.

What is it to Optimize Images?

If you ever received an order to optimize your photos by your WordPress hosting service or an instrument for speed testing, the only thing it suggests is that you need to reduce the size of your photos by optimizing them to be used on the web.

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

While there are many benefits in optimizing your image, below are the top ones to know:

• Speedier website loading
• Enhanced SEO rankings
• The higher conversion rate overall for leads and sales
• Lower storage and bandwidth (which can cut hosting and CDN cost)
• Faster backups of websites (also lowers costs for backup storage)

Outside of video, images are the second most hefty item on a webpage. In accordance with HTTP archive the images account for around 21% of the weight of a page's total.

We know that websites with fast speeds are more popular in search engines (SEO) and also have higher conversions in terms of image optimization is a requirement for every business website must perform should they wish to make a mark online.

Now , you may be asking how big of a difference can image optimization really can make?

According to a Strangeloop study, even a one-second delay in the speed of loading your website can cost you 7% of revenue, 11 percent less pageviews, and a 16% lower satisfaction with customers.

If you don't have enough reason to speed up your website You should be aware that search engines like Google are also giving preferential SEO treatment to faster loading websites.

By optimizing your photos for the web it will improve your speed of your site as well as 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 success in picture optimization in order to optimize web-based performance, is to find the optimal ratio between the smallest size of the file and acceptable quality of the image.

The three factors which play an integral part in Image 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 shrink your images' size by up 80%.

Let's look at each one in more details.

1. Image File Format

For most webmasters, the three primary image formats that really require attention comprise JPEG, PNG, and GIF. Choosing the right file type is crucial in image optimization.

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

For those who don't know what the distinction is between each type, PNG image format is uncompressed , which means it's a superior quality image. The downside is that file dimensions are larger.

On the other hand, JPEG is a compressed file format , which can slightly diminish image quality in order to create a significantly smaller size file.

And GIF has 256 colors, GIF uses only 256 along with lossless compression which makes it the most appropriate choice when it comes to animated photos.

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

2. Compression

The next step is image compression, which plays an enormous part in image optimization.

There are a variety of types and levels of image compression that are available. the settings of each will depend on the image compression software you are using.

The majority of image editing software like Adobe Photoshop, On1 Photo, GIMP, Affinity Photo and others are equipped with built-in compression tools for images.

You can also save pictures in normal format or use a web tool like TinyPNG , or JPEG Mini for easier image compression.

Though it's a little manual both methods allow users to compress images before uploading the images to WordPress which is the process we employ on WPBeginner.

There are a number of well-known WordPress plugins such as Optimole, EWWW Image Optimizer and many more that automatically compress images once you upload them for the first time. A lot of newbies and large companies choose to utilize these images optimization plugins because it's easy and efficient.

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

3. Image Dimensions

Normally when you transfer a photo from your smartphone or digital camera, the image has an extremely high resolution as well as massive file dimensions (height and wide).

Most often, these images have resolutions of 300 DPI and sizes ranging from 2000 pixels and up. High-quality photos work well for desktop publishing or printing. They are not suitable for websites.

Reduced file size to something more reasonable can significantly decrease the size of the file. Resize images using an image editor software on your personal computer.

We optimized, for instance, the image with 1.8 MB original file size and 300 DPI resolution, and image dimensions of 4900x3200 pixels.

We opted for the Jpeg format to allow larger compression. The dimensions were changed to 1200x795 pixels. In addition, it decreased the image file size to 103 KB. That's 94% less than the original file size.

If you're aware of the three essential elements of image optimization, let's take a look at the various image optimization software for webmasters.

Best ImageOptimization Tools and Programs

As we said earlier, the majority of image editing software comes featuring image optimization and compression settings.

Outside of the editing software for images, there are other effective and free image optimization tools that you can use to optimize images for web use (with just a few clicks).

We suggest using these tools to optimize images before you upload them to WordPress particularly if you are a perfectionist.

This technique helps you save memory on the WordPress hosting account, as well as guaranteeing the fastest image with the top quality, as you manually review each image.

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a premium software that comes with the capability of saving images designed specifically for the web. Open your image and click on"Save for Web. "File >> Save for Web" option.

This will open up a new dialog box. On the rightside, you can select different image formats. For JPEG format, you'll be able to select different quality options. When you select your options the program will show you the file size at the bottom left.

GIMP

GIMP is a free and open source alternative to popular Adobe Photoshop. It can be used to optimize your images to be used on the internet. However, it's not as simple to implement as other options on this list.

The first step is to open your image within GIMP and then click File > Export as option. This will bring up the save file dialog box. Give your file a new name, and then click"Export.

This will bring up options to export images. In the case of JPEG files you can select the compression level to decrease the size of the file. In the end, you can click on"export" to save your optimized file.

TinyPNG

TinyPNG is a free online application that utilizes a lossy compression technique to shrink its size PNG files. All you need to do is go to their site and upload your pictures (simple drag and drop).

They compress the image and send you a download URL. You can utilize their sister web site called TinyJPG, for JPEG Image compression.

There is also Extensions for Adobe Photoshop that we use for our image editing workflow because it is a blend of TinyJPG and TinyPNG in Photoshop.

Developers can use an API that can convert images on the fly, and for newcomers, they have the WordPress plugin that can automatically do it for you (more on this in the future).

JPEG Mini

JPEGmini makes use of a lossless compression technology that reduces the size of pictures without affecting their perceptual quality. You can also compare the quality of the original image with the compression image.

You can use their web version for no cost and then purchase the software for your computer. They also have a paid API that will automate the process for your server.

ImageOptim

ImageOptim is a Mac software that allows you in compressing images and without sacrificing any quality, by locating the most efficient compression parameters and taking out unnecessary color profiles.

Windows Alternative to this Trimage.

Best Image Optimization Plugins for WordPress

The best way to optimize your images is to optimize them prior to uploading images to WordPress. However, if you run an online site with multiple authors or require an automation solution you might want to try a WordPress image compression plugin.

Here is our list of the best WordPress compressors of images.

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

Using any Of these WordPress image optimization plugins will help accelerate your website.

Final Thoughts and Best Practices for Image Optimization

If you're not saving images optimized for the web, then you should begin doing the task now. It will make a huge impact on the speed of your website and your visitors will be grateful for it.

In addition, faster websites are excellent for SEO, and you'll likely see an increase in your search engine rankings.

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