How to Optimize Images for WordPress Websites
Optimizing images for WordPress websites can be a pain. There are so many different approaches that it can be hard to know where to start. Today we are going to give you the basics of how to properly optimize images for WordPress so that you can start getting the benefits right away.
Make Sure You Always Have The Latest Software
One of the first tips we always give new users is to make sure that they have the latest versions of the software they are using. Just because your photos look great in a digital darkroom doesn’t mean that the same photos look great when uploaded directly to a website. The software that you use to touch up your photos before uploading them determines how they will look. In today’s world of ever-changing software, this can be quite the hassle. Optimizing software can be a royal pain, which is why many photographers choose to avoid it altogether. Even if you keep up with the upgrades, there is always that one program that you use and it breaks the rules.
The best way to avoid this pain is by making sure that you always have the latest version of the software. Update your WordPress installations and keep your software up to date as much as possible. This will ensure that your photos look great and don’t require any touch-ups. Sometimes photographers find that old versions of Photoshop or Lightroom are the root of all their image optimization woes. If you run into this issue, make sure you update your software as soon as possible to avoid any trouble.
Use The Right Tool For The Job
There are numerous tools available for image optimization, but not all of them are made equal. Some tools are better than others, and you need to make sure that you are choosing the right one for the job. If you are looking for a bulk image resizer that is going to save you a ton of time, Download Tons Of Free Image Optimization Tools Here may be the one for you. There are also numerous tools available for webmasters and designers that are going to optimize images for the web. WordPress itself has a built-in function for optimizing images for the web and it’s a good idea to turn on this option.
This option is going to help you make your images accessible on all devices even when they are resized. It will also help keep your site’s loading times as quick as possible by serving the right images to visitors. When WordPress decides to serve a certain image, it will first check if that image is the right size for the web element it is being put in. If it isn’t, it will serve an optimized version of the photo.
If you are looking for a tool that is going to make your life easier, the WordPress image optimizer is a great option. There are also numerous WordPress plugins that are going to do the same thing. The best part is that you don’t need to run after this plugin to make your site accessible to all devices. Simply log in to your WordPress site’s dashboard and look for the image optimizer plugin. Once installed, you will find the option to Automatically optimize images as you add them to your site. This means that you can continue adding images to your site and they will be automatically resized and optimized. It’s a great way to save time when designing and uploading images to your site.
If you decide that this option isn’t for you and you want to manually optimize your images, you can click the button next to the above option and choose Manually optimize images. This will allow you to browse through all the images on your site and decide which ones to optimize. Once you decide which ones you want to optimize, you can click the gear icon next to the Automatically optimize images option to choose which ones you want to optimize. You can click the gear icon next to Manually optimize images to customize which ones you want to optimize as well.
There are multiple options to choose from when it comes to optimizing images for the web. To make your life easier, always download the free trial version of the software you are using before buying it. You can also use tools like Canva or Square to create free images that you can use as templates for your blog posts. These are just some of the many tools that are available for webmasters and designers who need to optimize their images to get the best possible results. Don’t be afraid to try different tools to see which one is best suited for the job. It’s nice to have options.
Use The Correct Sizes
It’s quite common for photographers to come across a problem where their images don’t look the same when they are resized for different platforms. For example, if your image is designed for an Instagram post, but you decide to upload it to your website, the image is going to look different. While this may not seem like a big deal, when you are dealing with a large number of images it can add up.
If you want to keep your images exactly how they are meant to be and don’t want to modify them in any way, it’s best to use the correct sizes and don’t rely on the viewer to resize the image. This can lead to all sorts of issues, so always be sure to check the dimensions of the image before using it. In some cases, it’s quite handy to have a graphic designer help you create proper-sized images for the web. Even if you are doing this yourself, it’s not a bad idea to Check The Dimensions Of Each Image Before Using It.
There are numerous tools online that can help you determine the dimensions of an image. If you are using WordPress, there is a built-in option that can help as well. Simply go to Settings and click on Media. From here you can see the dimensions of each image hosted on your site. You can use this as a guideline to make sure that each image is the correct size before using it.
Keep Your Images At The Right Resolution
When it comes to digital images, there is no such thing as a perfect resolution. The more pixels you have, the better the image looks, but at the cost of file size. You always want to have a nice balance between the two. While having a high-resolution image is appealing, having a huge image just to have a perfect resolution can make your site load really slow. To prevent this from happening, you should always choose images that are the right resolution for the device or platform that you are using them on.
If you are designing for the web, you should always keep your images at a Minimum Of 500px By 500px. Small images look incredible when zoomed in, but on a desktop they seem really tiny. To give you an idea of what I mean, if you compare the zoomed-in image below to the one below it, you will see that the first one is actually much smaller than the second one. This means that the first one is ideal for displaying on a mobile device and the second one is better for desktop use.
The reason why you want to keep your images at this resolution is so that when a visitor zooms in on your image, they will see the same resolution as you are used to. If you are viewing images on a mobile phone or tablet, the pixels will be considerably smaller than those on a desktop computer. As a result, you will see more fuzzy edges, which can be distracting.
Use The Right File Type
When it comes to images, there are numerous reasons why you should avoid using some file types and use others. The most popular ones are jpg and jpeg. These are the two files that are used to store pictures in a format that is easy to view on a computer or mobile device. Although they are quite straightforward, there are several reasons why you shouldn’t use these file types. To begin with, both jpg and jpeg are Compressed Files, which means that you are losing information as you are storing it. To give you an idea of what type of information is being lost, take a quick peek at the dimensions of a jpg or jpeg image file. They are usually 8bit Signed Delta-Reduced JPEGs, which basically means that you are losing about 1% of the pictures’ quality every time you reduce their size for the web. You will end up having to reduce the size of your pictures a lot to make them work on the web. While these are popular file types because they are easily accessible and require little to no effort to use, they are not necessarily the best choice.