What is Image Optimization?

And Why Is It Important To Your Website?

Image optimization reduces the size of a large image to the file type, dimensions, and resolution needed.

What is image optimization?

Image optimization is the process of taking a large image and converting it to a high quality image the correct size needed for your web page. This is done by optimizing the file type (.jpg, .png), dimensions, resolution, and/or the compression of the image. The file size of the image can also be reduced by stripping metadata, the information that is saved with an image.

What happens when a browser loads an unoptimized image

The browser has to scale an unoptimized image to the size needed, taking more time to load the web page.

Here is a simplified example:

1. A visitor clicks on a website containing an image. The browser requests the image from the web host. In this scenario, the image is unoptimized and too large for its place on the web page. The browser downloads a file larger than needed, taking extra time to download it.

2. The browser scales the image to the size needed on the web page.

3. The browser renders the image on the page.

Unoptimized images increase page loading time over optimized images.

What happens when a browser loads an optimized image

The browser doesn't have to scale an optimized image, taking less time to load the web page.

Here is a simplified example:

1. A visitor opens a website containing an image. The browser requests the image from the web host. In this scenario, the image is optimized and is the correct size for its place on the web page. The browser downloads the correct file size, taking the least amount of time to download it.

2. No scaling is necessary. The browser renders the image on the page.

Optimized images decrease page loading time over unoptimized images.

Why is image optimization important to my website?

We've already shared that images increase website engagement. But images slow down the loading of a web page. Visitors expect pages to load quickly. 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. Image optimization contributes to faster page load times, helping you retain visitors.

If you'd like to improve the performance of your website through image optimization, Linwood Studio can help. Contact us.