Whether you own an online store or operate any website, image optimization is an art you want to master. It is essential to build a successful website – from attracting shoppers to reducing site load time. So, here are some essential image optimization tips that you need to start doing.

Tip #1 – Use The Right File Type in Image Optimization.

The best file format to use for your image depends on the image’s subject and intent. Product photographs, for example, are almost in JPEG or PNG formats. PNG files have bigger file sizes, but they have the bonus of having translucent or invisible backgrounds. 

It is beneficial for product shots that need to get overlaid over a variety of colored backgrounds. On the other hand, Logos, diagrams, and graphics are usually in vector formats like PDF and EPS.

Tip #2 – Take Advantage of the Alt Text Make alt text SEO friendly

You’ve probably seen the “AIt text” section as you upload an image to your website. Make sure to take advantage of it and make it SEO-friendly. The wording you put in the HTML of your site in conjunction with each image as an attribute is the alt text. Search engines use this text to help them figure out what’s on a website, and it’s often used for web accessibility, such as by screen readers.

Since search engines include this information when searching your website, optimizing this text will help you rank higher in search results. Use keywords in the alt text, but don’t overdo it or include something that isn’t related to your primary keyword. Search engines are intelligent, and they can usually find out tampered information, which can result in severe penalties. For example, it can make your ranking on different search engines decrease.

Tip #3 – Avoid Sizing Up Small Images

We understand that reducing the size of your photographs to optimize for your website is one thing. Too big a file size will cause the site to load slowly, affecting the user interface, but scaling up tiny files can also be problematic.

Trying to make a smaller image suit a specific location on the web by extending its dimensions will degrade the image’s accuracy. So, it can affect the site’s customer interface by making it seem less professional.

If you choose to use an original picture, but the resolution or consistency isn’t good enough, it’s almost always better to use another. There are a lot of free stock picture sites where you may be able to find one. We compress the image size but never size up small images.

Tip #4 – Lazy loading

Have you heard of the term “lazy loading” on websites? The theory is that any files that aren’t instantly available will be delayed in loading. If you had a long article page with many photos, just the available ones when the user scrolled down would load right away. 

Any images farther down the page will not load until the user scrolls a certain distance away from the file, known as lazy loading. Lazy loading can help save how much information is trying to load at the same time. It is one of the best ways to speed up your website by not allowing the website to load everything at once. 

Tip #5 – Mobile-Friendly Images

With so many users using the internet from their cell phones and laptops, optimizing the photos for mobile is essential. Due to the intense competition for attention online, consumers will not accept a sluggish or tiresome experience. They will most likely move on to the next thing, potentially resulting in the loss of a future sale or inquiry.

Consider the size of a smartphone. Although the image looks large on a desktop, it is still much smaller than a smartphone or tablet. Be sure that the pictures you want would look good on a variety of screen sizes. On a smaller screen, a photo with a lot going on could be too distracting.

Tip #6 – Use Vector Graphics

If you want to scale an image forever without losing accuracy, use vector graphics. Since vector graphics can maintain their perfect resolutions even when you scale it up. You may use it for a logo or image around the website and viewed in different sizes on different platforms while still looking clean and established. An EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) or PDF (Portable Document Format) file is an example of a vector graphic file style.

Tip #7 – Choose The Right Angles

Choosing the right angle is a must-consider if you are selling merchandise online. The photos you want your customers to view would be influenced by the type of product you offer. 

It’s essential to put yourself in the consumer’s shoes while speaking about views, front view, back view, from the rear, or an inside shot. Consider what they’re going to like to see whether they’re thinking of making a buy or not. 

What technical specifics would they value that is exclusive to the product? Can you show any features that make your product stand out as a better choice than a competitor’s? Consider this point carefully, and include a series of photographs that display the product from several perspectives. 

Tip #8 – Avoid Copyright Issues For Better Image Optimization.

Be sure that the photographs you use on your website are legitimate. It ensures that the photos must either belong to you or your company, or you must have the permits to use them in the format requested. 

You may not have automatic permission to use images used in image searches on the internet, on other people’s blogs, or in books or magazines, so proceed with caution.

If you need anything unique, you can either take images yourself or employ a photographer. Still, there are also several stock picture sites where you can use photos with the appropriate permits. 

Tip #9 – Size Down Unnecessarily Large Photos

You don’t want your image files to take longer than possible to load. Photoshop or the app Paint can help you size down large images. 

The final step is to add an acceptable degree of data compression. Whatever the final size and resolution of your file, you want it to take up as little space on the disk as possible so that it can load as quickly as possible over the internet.

Keep in mind that not everyone has access to fast Internet speeds. Some users even have to pay for every Megabyte of data downloaded or every Megabyte over a monthly limit. So, image compression helps your web visitors while improving the website’s Google success ratings. It is a win-win situation for you and your web visitors.

Conclusion

Before you start posting your image to your blog, make sure you consider the above image optimization tips. All of those are critical in making your website neat, fast to load, and consumes less Megabyte for your web visitors.

Make sure to choose the proper file format and reduce its file size before uploading for faster page load. On-page SEO elements like alternative text also make the difference in ranking your website in search engines. 

Build an image sitemap, or make sure to include your images in your sitemap for better crawlability. Image optimization is challenging regardless of the website type. With advances in voice search technologies, media is becoming increasingly important. Following the steps above would help your website be visible on the first page of different search engines.

SBZD Marketing
3165 Olin Ave Suite #11, San Jose, CA 95117, USA
408-882-1307