In a world of instant gratification, it’s important for businesses to ensure that customers enjoy a fast-loading eCommerce site . Research shows that if an eCommerce site loads slower than expected, visitors are less likely to make a purchase. Often, the biggest culprit behind a slow-loading site is large, under-optimized images . While image quality is certainly important for creating great product photos, image optimization is the real secret to creating a successful online store . Learning how pakistan b2b leads
to optimize your images can reap big rewards, from reducing site load times to strengthening your brand and engaging shoppers who are browsing Google Images .
Contents hide
1 What is image optimization?
2 Why do we optimize images?
2.1 Improved website speed
2.2 Improved web browsing experience
2.3 Improved search performance
3 How to Optimize Images for the Web
3.1 Use short and direct image titles
3.2 Carefully optimize alt attributes
3.3 Choose the image size and angle of the product wisely
3.3.1 A small caveat regarding large images
3.4 Resizing images
3.5 Select the correct image format
3.6 Optimize your thumbnails
3.7 Use image sitemaps
3.8 Beware of decorative images
3.9 Use caution when using content delivery networks (CDNs)
3.10 Test your images
3.11 AVADA SEO:Image Optimizer
3.12 TinyIMG SEO, Speed & Image Optimizer
3.13 TinyPNG
4 Preserve the functionality of your photos with image optimization
5 FAQ on Image Optimization
5.1 Related publications:
What is image optimization?
Image optimization is about reducing the file size of your images as much as possible without losing quality, so that page load times stay low. It also includes image SEO , which means ensuring that your banners and product images rank well in Google and other search engines . Image optimization means ensuring that your images look great on desktop and mobile. And that they don’t interfere with your site. The goal of image optimization is to create high-quality images with the smallest file size possible. There are three main elements at play:
Image File Size (JPEG vs PNG vs WEBP Images)
Image compression level
Height and width of the image
By finding a balance between these three parameters, you can reduce image size and improve site performance .
Why do we optimize images?
Images are the biggest contributor to overall page size, causing pages to load slower. Data from HTTP Archive shows that unoptimized images make up an average of 75% of a web page’s total weight . This can negatively impact your site’s performance. Optimizing images helps reduce web page weight and is a core principle of good eCommerce web design, resulting in the following benefits:
Improved website speed
Image optimization for web and mobile devices exists to make web pages load faster. They create a better browsing experience for shoppers. If your page load speed is delayed by just two seconds, your bounce rate can increase by 103%. Page speed is how quickly the content on your page loads . It is often described as:
Page load time , or the time it takes for the content on your page to display.
Time to first byte is the number of milliseconds it takes for a browser to receive the first byte of information from a web server.
Google has suggested that site speed is one of the signals its algorithm uses to rank pages. Moz research suggests that Google may be specifically measuring time to first byte when considering page speed . A slow page means search engines are crawling fewer pages, which can negatively impact indexing.
Improved web browsing experience
Page speed is very important for the visitor experience . People can notice a delay of as little as 1/10th of a second. Anything longer than that does not feel “instant”. A one-second delay is enough to interrupt a person’s thought process. The BBC found that for every extra second of page load time, 10% of users leave. Pages with longer load times tend to have higher bounce rates and lower average time on page. Reducing page load time by even one second will improve the user experience. Improved user experience and engagement with your site positively impacts search engine rankings , which can improve engagement , conversions , and customer retention .
Improved search performance
Optimized images help both readers and search engines better understand your site and get your content seen online. Recent data shows that images account for 32% of Google searches . Image optimization can help your images rank in Google Image Search, which can drive more traffic to your site and strengthen your brand. What’s more, visual search is becoming increasingly important, as evidenced by Google’s introduction of a new search feature that combines images and text into a single query . About 62% of Gen Z and millennial consumers want visual search more than any other new technology .
How to Optimize Images for the Web
Use short and direct image titles
It's easy to upload images to your site and keep the default file names that your camera assigns. But when it comes to image SEO, it's important to use relevant keywords to help your web page rank in search engines. Creating descriptive, keyword- rich file names is crucial for image optimization. Search engines look at more than just the text on your web page, they also look at the file names of your images. Take this image , for example .
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You can use the generic name that the camera gave the image (e.g. DCMIMAGE10.jpg). However, a much better name would be 2012-Ford-Mustang-LX-Red.jpg. Think about how your customers search for products on your site. What naming patterns do they use when searching? In the example above, car shoppers might search for terms like:
2012 Red Ford Mustang LX
Ford Mustang LX Red 2012
