How to Compress Images for Website Speed

Images account for 50% of average webpage size. Properly compressed images can cut your page load time in half and significantly improve your Google ranking.

Why Image Compression Matters

Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. According to their research, 53% of mobile users abandon sites that take longer than 3 seconds to load. Images are typically the biggest culprit.

Step 1: Choose the Right Format

• •WebP — Best for most web images. 25-35% smaller than JPG with same quality.
• •JPG — Good fallback for photographs. Use 80% quality for web.
• •PNG — Only for graphics with transparency or sharp edges like logos.
• •SVG — Perfect for icons and simple graphics. Infinitely scalable.

Step 2: Resize Before Compressing

Never upload a 4000px image if it displays at 800px. Resize first, then compress. This alone can reduce file size by 80% or more.

Step 3: Compress Intelligently

Modern compression algorithms can reduce file size dramatically while keeping images visually identical. The key is finding the right quality setting.

• •80% quality — Sweet spot for most images. Visually indistinguishable from original.
• •60-70% quality — Good for thumbnails and background images.
• •90%+ quality — Only for hero images where every detail matters.

Step 4: Use Lazy Loading

Even compressed images add up. Lazy loading defers offscreen images until users scroll to them. Add the loading attribute to your img tags:

Real Results

Here's what proper image optimization looks like for a typical blog page: