However, digging deeper, it becomes clear that this technique is central to the traffic a site obtains, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and much more. On the surface, image optimization is simply a solution for making images load quicker. For now, let’s discuss why this is so important in the first place. There are a plethora of ways to do this, and I’ll discuss them later. To combat this, image optimization enables you to reduce the file size of your images without affecting their appearance. You’ll likely have many images on a website, meaning the page size will quickly rise, as will the load times. While I won’t get into the full technical details here, the larger the files on your page, the longer it will take to load.

You may think this is acceptable, but it’s actually a hefty size for a website to process. However, unoptimized images usually weigh in at roughly 500KB to 1MB. For high-resolution examples with a lot of detail and color, you can find files in the tens of megabytes (MB). However, the more information a file includes, the larger its file size becomes. Some, such as JavaScript or CSS files, are literally “byte-sized” most of the time. To put it simply, every file takes up a certain amount of space. However, before this, let me give you a primer on image optimization in general! Image Optimization: What it is and Why you Need Itįirst, let’s talk about optimization as a “high-level” concept.

In this post, I’ll introduce a number of solutions to consider. For example, there are websites that let you run your images through their algorithm, WordPress plugins to handle the process automatically, and even image optimization servers for sites needing that extra level of “grunt.” As such, it helps to have dedicated tools on hand to make the process easier and more effective-especially if you run an image-heavy site.įortunately, there are many methods available to “shrink” your image’s file size. Optimizing your site’s images is vital for keeping performance high without sacrificing quality. Posted in Performance, WordPress by WP Engine

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