Image optimization for WordPress
Image Optimization for WordPress is not just about reducing the size of an image. More often we just think about decreasing the size of an image is optimization. It is half truth.
But there is more to it…
I know most of the people find it difficult to cope up with the technical stuff related to the Image Optimization for WordPress.
So, I thought of making it easier for you to follow up the process of image optimization for WordPress.
Let’s dive deep into the subject now!
Things you need to know before you optimize WordPress images
Mobile first index algorithm from Google stress upon the page speed. So, Optimize WordPress Images plays a major role in this aspect.
Also, image optimization plays a great role in Social Media Marketing.
According to the research done by HTTPArchive, website page’s weight make over 50% only by the images itself.
Source: Kinsta.com
Don’t you think it is a big number 50%? Wow!
Following two compression techniques would help you optimize images for WordPress:
- Lossy Compression
- Lossless Compression
Lossy Compression
– In general we call it as pixelated that means some of the data in the images have been removed.
Even though you can reduce the file size to a large extent but when it comes to quality of the image, you lose it a bit as well depending on the % of loss you are willing to do.
Most feasible image format for website for lossy compression is JPEGs where in you can balance both the image size and quality.
Lossless Compression
– In case of lossless compression the image size gets reduced without removing the data but by removing the meta data. Moreover the file size reduction is not so significant.
Some of the most used image format for website for lossless compression are PNG and GIF.
You can go ahead with Lossy Compression method for Image Optimization for WordPress.
Important Points to Remember:
Ensure you follow these points to optimize WordPress images.
- WordPress automatically reduces the image size by up to 90%.
Pro Tip – You can manually set the % by implementing the below code in the functions.php file
add_filter( ‘jpeg_quality’, create_function( ”, ‘return 70;’ ) );
Or If you would like to disable the automatic compression change the value from 70 to 100 in the code above. - If you are using Photoshop, use the % of compression to 50 to get an optimal image size which would balances the quality and file size.
- Use some of the top notch tools suggested below.
Optimize Website load time by WordPress image optimization
When you think of WordPress Image Optimization you need to think about website page load seep as well.
Like I had mentioned earlier that page rank algorithm gives more priority to website load time.
To make your website load faster, you need to ensure that you have taken necessary actions on WordPress image optimization.
“Optimizing images would help you rank your website on search engines.”
People now a days are so impatient that there is no chance to ignore the bounce rate as a website owner.
Below is the stats for your reference:
Source: crazyegg.com
So let us know look into the fact that images plays a major role in increasing or decreasing the website load time depending on its size.
Use the tool like Pingdom to get to know what kind of content type is responsible for taking more time to load your website.
Here is an extreme level Case Study in which 22MB File has been compressed to 300KB that lead them to achieve a page load time of 1.8 seconds from 6.1 seconds. That’s amazing is it!?
You can literally double the amount of traffic you are getting right now just by achieving a page load time of less than 3 seconds.
Yes!
Pro Tip: You can even use Content Delivery Network (CDN) Platforms to load the website content to increase the website load time.
Let us look into some of the Online Tools, WordPress Plugins, and Windows Softwares which could help us optimize WordPress images.
Image Optimization for WordPress – FREE WordPress Plugins
Great thing about these tools is that most of them are absolutely FREE and makes the process of Image Optimization for WordPress very EASY!
And, there are few tools which are very cost-effective.
30 Amazing WordPress Image Optimization Tools List. Download Now! <<
I have tested out most of the tools mentioned below and found a great results with them.
Below are the list of WordPress Plugins which would help you with Image Optimization for WordPress.
My Top 3 favorite Image Optimization for WordPress Plugins based on the output/results:
1. Smush Image Compression and Optimization
SMUSH is an award winning WordPress plugin under image optimization and compression category.
This plugin automatically optimize and resize every image you upload on WordPress.
You can deselect this option in the settings if you want to.
You can optimize and compress all of your images in the directory with a just one click using “Bulk Smush” option.
They have both Free and Pro version. You can use free version at an initial stage and based on the need you can opt in to Pro version of the same.
You can download the plugin from here for FREE.
In our Digital Marketing Course, we have shown you how to exactly implement the stuff and increase your page speed quickly. Feel free to checkout the digital marketing course modules.
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer is another great plugin to optimize WordPress images.
The wonderful feature of this plugin is that it has no limitation on the file size, whereas smush has certain limitation on the file size.
Basic version is absolutely free and you need to pay no money for it. However you can use the pro version based on your requirement.
You can download the plugin from here for FREE.
3. Compress JPEG & PNG images
Compress JPEG & PNG images is been developed one of the most used and quite famous online tool: TinyPNG.
One of the unique feature of this WordPress plugin is that it can optimize the images in the background.
So that you can focus on your work front end.
It also supports compressing the animated PNGs.
You can download the plugin from here for FREE.
Here is your 30 Wonderful WordPress Image Optimization Tools. Download Now! <<
Image Optimization for WordPress – FREE Online Tools
There are some cases where you have very less images on your website.
In that case, you would want some online tools which would help you accomplish the tasks.
TinyPNG is one of the best tool to use to optimize the images for WordPress.
You can try the other Image Optimization Online tools available for FREE. Download the list here. <<
TinyPNG has helped many people by optimizing the over 1 billion JPEG and PNG images.
This free online tool will take only 20 images at once and the maximum size limit of each image size is 20 MB.
As you can see from the below image that I have added 4 sample images with the below dimension, TinyPNG is able to save up to 72% of the total file size:
You can try out the other Image Optimization Online tools available for FREE. Download the list here. <<
BONUS TOOL: Standalone Softwares for Image Optimization for WordPress
If you are working offline on optimizing your images, there is this tool which help you accomplish the task.
RIOT: Radical Image Optimization Tool
This is available for only Windows Operating Systems.
Some of it’s features are:
- Compression results are excellent.
- It can accept many different image formats.
- Real time image preview is available.
For Windows Only: Here you can go ahead and download the software.
I have given you the list of Softwares which can support Windows and MAC Operating System as well. You can download from here.
So by now you have got to know the different image compression types, WordPress plugins, online tools, and standalone Softwares to optimize the images for the WordPress.
Best Practices on optimizing WordPress images:
Follow these best practices to improve your website page load speed by optimizing the images for the WordPress.
- Ensure that you are using CDN (Content Delivery Network) to serve the images fast to the website visitors.
- Crop the unnecessary white spaces in the images.
- Choose the proper dimension that your WordPress theme supports.
- Make use of GIFs if you want animation.
- Use PNG version for better clarity and resolution.
- Use JPG for general screenshots and photos.
- If you are using Photoshop, do not forget to save the image using the option optimize for web.
- Make sure you use the WordPress plugins which will compress the images using external servers.
- Remove the metadata which are not required.
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P.S: If you feel that I am missing something valuable information here, please do add your comment. That will be really helpful to others.
Keep Optimizing Images! 🙂