Zoombie
Published
2 min read
Images often account for most of a page’s weight, yet they are also the easiest weight to lose. The trick is to shrink the file without shrinking the quality visitors notice.
Resize, compress, then choose a modern format
Upload images at the size they will actually display, compress them, and prefer modern formats such as WebP where supported. A hero image that is 4,000 pixels wide but shown at 800 pixels is pure waste.
Load only what visitors see
Lazy loading delays images below the fold until visitors scroll to them, which speeds up the first view. Combined with the wider speed habits in improving website loading speed, this can cut load times sharply.
Do not forget the SEO side
File names, alt text, and captions still matter for search and accessibility. Our post on optimizing images for SEO covers that side, while this guide focuses on speed.
Conclusion
Right-sized, compressed, modern-format images with lazy loading give you most of the speed gain for little effort. Audit your heaviest pages first.
Frequently asked questions
What is lazy loading?
It delays loading images that are not yet on screen, so the visible part of the page appears faster.
Will compression ruin image quality?
Not at sensible levels. Most visitors cannot tell a well-compressed image from the original.
What is WebP?
A modern image format that usually produces smaller files than JPEG or PNG at similar quality.
Should I compress old images too?
Yes. Start with your most visited pages and largest files, where the gain is biggest.
