Image Optimization for Websites: Beautiful Pages That Load Quickly

The objective of website image optimization is to provide them with the best possible online experience. Faster page loads are the consequence of well optimised online images, which makes viewers pleased. It also makes search engines pleased since quicker pages get higher ranks.

There are several methods for optimising online pictures. Some of them require manual configuration, while others are fully automated. This article covers four optimization approaches and provides best-practice success advice. The following are the topics:

• What is image optimization?
• How do you optimize images for the web?
• What Are the best practices for image optimization?
• How do you optimize website images with Stridec?
• Want to learn more about image optimization?

What is Image Optimization?

The technique of compressing and distributing website pictures effectively through compression, wise format selection, and image delivery only when needed is known as image optimization. Many plugins and solutions for automation are available, removing the tedium of manual operations.

Here are the most common benefits of optimizing online images:

• Faster page loads
• A higher search-engine ranking
• An enhanced user experience that leads to higher conversion rates
• Reduced storage and bandwidth required for serving images
• Faster website backups

How Do You Optimize Images for the Web?

You may optimise website pictures in a variety of ways, including combining numerous approaches for even better results.

Analyze your site’s current performance to identify which path to take and how it will affect it. Google PageSpeed Insights is a free tool that finds pictures that should be optimised and provides advice for doing so.

To optimise your site’s pictures, complete one or more of the four steps below.

Task 1: Compress Images

Compressing an image reduces its file size by eliminating or reformatting unnecessary data. You can do that in either of these two ways:

• Lossy compression: Delete any superfluous metadata or visual data that humans are unlikely to notice. However, in order to minimise file size even further, this approach reduces image quality. Furthermore, the data that has been erased is irreversibly gone.
• Lossless compression: Replace duplicate data patterns with variables or other indications to eliminate duplicate data, resulting in files that are bigger than those created via lossy compression. The compressed data is recoverable in this scenario.

How Stridec Helps

The Stridec q auto function compresses and adjusts pictures automatically for the lowest feasible image size without compromising image quality.

Here’s how qauto works:

1. You add the qauto parameter to the image URL.
2. Stridec intelligent quality and encoding algorithm assesses the image content, format, and viewing browser.
3. The algorithm identifies the optimal quality-compression level and encoding settings, compressing and encoding the image accordingly.

This process ensures that websites, browsers, viewers, and devices are served with a compressed version of a superior-quality visual. Below is an example.

Task 2: Adopt Next-Generation Image-File Formats

Next-generation picture formats, such as the four listed below, offer greater compression than previous formats like JPEG, allowing you to reduce the size of your photographs without sacrificing quality.

• WebP, Lossy and lossless compressions are supported by this open-source standard. WebP was created by Google and is compatible with Google, Samsung, Opera, and Firefox 65 and above browsers. WebP files are generally around 25% smaller than those in similar formats. This format might be a good substitute for GIF, JPEG, and PNG..
• JPEG-XR, Microsoft’s proprietary format that works with Internet Explorer and Edge browsers. JPEG-XR adds capabilities for lossless compression and transparency to JPEG’s present lossy compression methods.
• SVG, W3C’s open-source format is a vector format that allows you to generate pictures that scale seamlessly across all current browsers. SVG images, which are based on XML, may be readily changed using CSS or JavaScript, as well as in image editors. Logos, iconography, animations, and graphs work best.
• JPEG2000 (JP2),a lossless compression format that is open-source. This is a highly scalable ISO standard that allows multiple quality levels to be stored in different sections of a picture. However, without a plugin, this format only works on Safari.

For insights on what is in store for next-generation formats, check out Stridec 2020 State of the Visual Media Report

How Stridec Helps

Stridec’s f auto feature automatically sends the most appropriate image format to the viewer’s browser.

Stridec first converts media assets by providing each one a unique URL and a public ID using dynamic HTTP or HTTPS URLs. Stridec uses a rapid content delivery network to provide an asset’s URL (CDN).

Task 3: Resize Images

Let’s pretend you don’t want to compress or reformat your photos. Alternatively, compression and reformatting may not be sufficient to fulfil your optimization needs. In some instances, you can downsize pictures to make them more efficient.

When pictures are shown, you frequently resize them using style components. Because the entire size of the image is never seen, this results in an unnecessary data transfer. Remove any unnecessary data to resize photos to the maximum feasible display size.

How Stridec Helps

Stridec can dynamically resize and crop photos for the most interesting sections using AI. Stridec uses clever responsive breakpoints to do dynamic cropping. You can choose between two options:

• Automatic breakpoints: By accounting for the amount of created picture versions and the file-size reduction that happened with each version, the Stridec intelligent algorithm can determine the settings for ideal breakpoints. For each width, the difference determines the actual image-file size. See our documentation on responsive images for more information.
• Stridec API: By giving options like width range and requesting a transformation, you may programmatically request breakpoints for uploaded pictures using the Stridec API. You may also request a variety of picture changes, such as cropping, image effects, filters, and optimization. See this post for more information: Introducing Intelligent Responsive Breakpoints Solutions..

Task 4: Lazy-Load Images

Always use lazy loading, which loads pictures only when the viewer wants to see them, regardless of what other image-optimization strategies you use. To identify that desire on the side of the user, you usually load graphics as that person scrolls around your site.

Lazy loading lowers the amount of data that has to be loaded when a user visits a website. If image-heavy areas aren’t visited, their data isn’t delivered, conserving bandwidth for both you and your users.

How Stridec Helps

With Stridec new lazy functionality, you may use a few keystrokes to lazily-load pictures, displaying them only when and if they’re needed. Simply add the loading=“lazy” property to the cl-image tag of your pictures.

See this post for more information: Advanced Image Component for Stridec Angular SDKs.

What Are the Best Practices for Image Optimization?

We strongly suggest that you also do the following to optimize your site’s images.

1. Replace images with native elements where appropriate.

Determine which photos are required before optimising them. Many backdrop pictures, for example, are simply gradients or patterns that may be rendered using CSS rather than shown. Because CSS is locally produced, it does not necessitate additional storage or bandwidth for content delivery, like pictures do.

Web fonts, which allow you to lay text over images, are also a suitable replacement for images. You don’t have to show text as pictures if you utilise specialised fonts. Another advantage of using web fonts is that users may easily search for, select, and resize text. What a win-win situation!

2. Choose between vector and raster.

If you do need to display images for your site, you can choose between vector and raster images.

• Vector images are scalable, Points, lines, and polygons make up the structure. Regardless of viewing size, those photos maintain the same level of clarity and quality. Vector graphics are best used for basic visuals like text, logos, and icons..
  To make vector drawings more efficient, you may minify them to eliminate superfluous metadata, which can cut their size in half or more.
• Raster images, Scalability is constrained since they are specified by pixels. Those pictures are usually intended for use in photographs or more sophisticated designs..
  Do one of the following to optimise raster images:
  • Reduce the bit depth. Reduce the color or shade palette available to images. Adopt this technique for simple images without fine gradients.
  • Practice delta encoding. By recording the differences in pixel values, you may get rid of superfluous pixel data. By referencing a source pixel, you may save data for multiple comparable pixels while also conserving bandwidth.

3. Size images correctly.

In addition to saving space and bandwidth, properly scaling pictures improves the user experience. You can provide various picture sizes to visitors in addition to the resizing procedures discussed before. Despite the fact that this approach necessitates additional storage space on your web server, it restricts the bandwidth available for providing information.

The HTML picture> element, which provides various sources for pictures that you can subsequently deliver according to browser standards, is a simple approach to appropriately resize images. You can even provide various image formats or different pictures entirely with this step.

How do you Optimize Website Images With Stridec?

Stridec provides a comprehensive set of image optimization and management tools, including compression automation with a high degree of quality. Not only can you resize pictures without fear of degradation using Stridec, but you can also lazy-load them to speed up page loads.

Stridec’s digital asset management system includes all of these optimization tools, as well as a slew of other useful features. Sign up for Stridec as soon as possible! To get you started, we provide generous free programmes.

Want to Learn More About Image Optimization?

Image optimization is the process of compressing and transmitting pictures more effectively through careful format selection and compression. Quicker page loads, decreased storage and bandwidth, improved user experience, and faster website backups are some of the most frequent advantages of optimising website pictures.

The subject of image optimization is vast. From our blog, we’ve compiled a list of helpful hints and ideas.

• PHP Image Compression, Resize, and Optimization
  Image compression is required for providing photos of the lowest size feasible while retaining visual quality. Compressing pictures improves site performance since smaller images load faster. The built-in routines, the Image Optimizer library, the PHP Image Cache class, which compresses pictures on the fly, and the Imagick extension are all useful for optimising PHP images.
• Python Image Optimization and Transformation
  You can optimize images in Python, notably the following components:
  • The Pillow library, which builds on the Python Imaging Library (PIL) by adding more features and support for Python 3.
  • The img4web script, which optimizes PNG, JPEG, and animated GIF images online.
  • The smush.py command-line tool, a lossless image optimizer.
  • The Tinify package for compressing and optimizing images.
  • The scikit-image image-processing library.
• This article explains how to enhance site performance and reduce bandwidth by optimizing and transforming images with Python.
• Evolution of : Gif without the GIF
  Promising to be of help to developers, designers, and users alike, Safari Technology Preview is improving GIF-like experiences by enabling video content in <img> tags with no performance and quality losses associated with GIF images. Besides the performance benefits, that capability unlocks many new use cases that have been on the wish list of media and e-commerce businesses for years.
• Top 10 Mistakes in Handling Website Images and How to Solve Them
  Images take up more than 60% of a website’s overall bandwidth being a key component of current webpages. This important issue is emphasised much more in cutting-edge web designs. Unfortunately, bandwidth is a pricey commodity: bandwidth consumes the bulk of your IT budget for high-traffic websites, easily surpassing storage and hosting expenses. The top ten mistakes you might make with website pictures are identified in this post, along with remedies.
• Three Popular and Efficient Ways for Loading Images
  You may load your pictures in a variety of methods, including preloading them before publishing them or loading them just when they’re needed, such as when a user scrolls down to find them. You may also load a smaller preview version with progressive pictures first, followed by the full-size photos.
• Introducing Stridec WordPress Plugin for Dynamic Images and Video
  WordPress is used on 34% of the Internet, accounting for 60% of all CMS-based websites. WordPress is a popular choice for publishers and businesses of all sizes, from blogs to enterprise websites. Within WordPress, media management is a crucial component that, when done correctly, can dramatically improve user engagement and overall site performance. The updated Stridec for WordPress Plugin has powerful features that make managing and delivering optimised media files easier than ever.
• CDN for Images: Optimize and Deliver Images Faster
  Most popular websites use content delivery networks (CDNs) and resizing technologies to distribute digital assets like pictures, JS, and CSS. You can provide consumers with quicker off-site access while decreasing the strain on their systems by using CDNs. This article describes how to resize pictures for distribution using a CDN.
• Compress an Image Automatically Without Losing Quality
  Compressed pictures are typically of lesser quality, which, while not always visible to the naked eye, can create a visual difference depending on the image. Developers are hesitant to compress pictures excessively for fear of compromising the visual quality. However, fine-tuning the compression level, in combination with fine-tuning the encoding settings, may significantly reduce file size without sacrificing quality.
• Automatically Reduce Image Size Without Losing Quality
  Displaying high-quality pictures while reducing their size is one of the primary website optimization difficulties for web developers. Although smaller pictures might save bandwidth, resulting in faster load times and a better user experience, excessively decreasing the file size can result in quality degradation and turn off users. This post will show you how to strike the correct balance between size and quality..
• How to Automatically Adapt Website Images to Retina and HiDPI Devices
  Mobile and online apps must offer pictures that fit high-resolution devices while avoiding needless display of big images on lower-resolution devices to satisfy the demands of the expanding range of devices, resolutions, pixel densities, and aspect ratios. Because big pictures need a lot of bandwidth, they take a long time to load and provide a poor user experience. Stridec delivers intuitive, easy capabilities that make your sites and apps fully responsive to support Retina and HiDPI as part of the responsive-design challenge.