People like visual content, which is why most websites have beautiful images and pictures that relate to the brand. However, images are a double-edged sword; they can enhance the beauty of your website, but can also compromise its performance.
Pages with heavy HD images often take longer to load. As a recent survey by Google indicates, websites that take more than 2-3 seconds to load have a high abandonment rate. Here are some tips on how to optimise your images to avoid slow load times:
1. Choose a Good File Name
The file name and connected alt-text is a great way to ensure your images are SEO-friendly. Google can’t read images to identify its content, but it can read the file name or alt-text. This gives the search engine a clear idea of what kind of content is on the page and that can help improve rankings.
2. Choose the Right Format
Images come in different formats and file sizes and these formats are designed for different purposes. If you have a larger image or illustration, choose the JPEG file of the image. If the image needs to be transparent, choose the PNG format. WebP is ideal if you want to reduce file size but preserve image quality. SVG integrates well with JavaScript and CSS, which makes it a good choice for logos and brand imagery.
3. Scale the Image
Large file sizes take longer to load, which is why it is important to ensure the image is of a good size. An 1850x900 pixel image will look smaller and cropped when it is displayed in a 250x150 space, but it will still need to upload completely. It is better to scale down the image size according to the page requirements and then upload it to your website.
It is also a good idea to make an image responsive. Responsive images will adjust to the screen size and still look good. If you own a WordPress website, this is done automatically. You will need to add a line of code to make an image responsive on other platforms.
