How to Optimise Images for Page Load Speed

Images play a significant role in grabbing the attention of the audience and delivering effective information to them. Although, if the images are not optimised properly, they can be the reason behind the slow loading speed. 

Whenever a user witnesses a slow-loading website, they are disappointed, which leads to higher bounce rates, reduced conversions, and an overall negative impact on your business.

Page load speed has become a vital issue that may make or break your online presence in an age where customers want lightning-fast experiences, and attention spans are shortening. The performance and user experience of your website can be greatly enhanced by optimising images for page load speed if you run a web development company in India. Therefore, in this blog, we will explore how one can optimise images for a faster page load speed.

How to Optimise Images for Better Website Speed

Choose the Right Image Format

The file size and loading time might be significantly impacted by the image format selection. JPEG, PNG, and GIF are the three main image formats that are often used on the internet:

  • JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): It is an exemplary format for photographs and images that contains various colours. It enables effective compression with the least possible loss to the image quality.

  • PNG (Portable Network Graphics): It is the most appropriate format for images that have uncomplicated graphics and transparent backgrounds. While PNGs offer lossless compression, their file sizes are typically greater than those of JPEGs.

  • GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): Ideal for basic animations and visuals with few colours. GIFs are not appropriate for complex visuals because of their limited colour pallet.

While maintaining quality, file sizes can be decreased by selecting the appropriate format based on the type of image and planned usage.

Compress and Resize Images

While optimising images for websites, image optimise is an important step. Compression allows for file size reduction without sacrificing acceptable visual quality. There are two types of compression:

  • Lossless Compression: With this kind of compression, file size is decreased without any compromise to the image quality. Popular tools for lossless compression of PNG image optimise include OptiPNG and PNGOUT.

  • Lossy Compression: The file size is decreased by lossy compression by removing some of the less crucial image elements. Images in JPEG and PNG formats can be compressed lossily using tools like TinyPNG and JPEG Optimizer.

Moreover, resizing images to the web pages’ specifications can substantially reduce their download size. Use plugins for content management systems (CMS) or image editing tools to reduce the size of any huge photos before using them.

Leverage Image CDN (Content Delivery Network)

The image loading speed can be considerably increased by using a content delivery network. Regardless of the user’s location, CDN caches images across numerous servers globally to ensure faster delivery. The web server's effort is decreased by offloading the image distribution process to a CDN, resulting in faster page loads. This is particularly important for the best software development company in india and web development company in India, as it enables them to serve images efficiently to a global audience.

Lazy Loading

Using a technique called ‘lazy loading’, images are loaded only when they are required. Only images that are visible to the user are loaded using lazy loading, as the user scrolls down, new image optimise are dynamically loaded. This strategy considerably increases the initial page load time by minimising the number of picture requests and the size of the entire page. The implementation of lazy loading through a web development company in India has made the projects easier with a number of JavaScript libraries, including LazyLoad and Intersection Observer API.

Use Responsive Images

Images that are responsive to screen sizes and resolutions offer the best viewing experience across a range of devices. With the use of CSS media queries and the HTML ‘srcset’ tag, you may offer various image sizes depending on the user’s device capabilities, thereby minimising the need for unnecessary image downloads and accelerating page load speed.

Minimise HTTP Requests

For faster website loading, it is essential to minimise the number of HTTP requests. For small images that can be directly incorporated into the HTML or CSS code, combine numerous images into CSS sprites or use data URIs. This technique reduces the number of individual image requests, resulting in improved performance. 

Optimise Alt Text and Image Metadata

For the purpose of screen readers and search engine optimisation (SEO), Alt text gives alternative information about a picture. You can increase accessibility and make sure that search engines appropriately index your photos by optimising the Alt text and image metadata, which also contributes to better page performance overall.

Conclusion

Optimising photos is a crucial component that cannot be ignored, whether you are a web development company in India aiming to provide excellent services to your clients or a business seeking best web development services to establish a strong online presence. You will improve the user experience, your website's search engine rankings, and the possibility of conversi

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