When it comes to website design, one element is often overlooked by the novice, and that is the size of the images used and how they can impact the operation of that site. In this article, we will take a closer look at why image size is important for the speed of your website. As well as examining ways in which to optimise your photos for a more responsive design.
Why webpage speed is important
Another downside to slow running websites is the negative effect on search engine optimisation and user traffic, which can severely impact the relative success of your business. Several things can slow a website down, but the main bugbear is large image sizes.
Understanding image compression
Prior to uploading an image to your website, it is a good idea to settle on a format, for example .jpg or .png. You will want to compress that image before it goes live on your site.
It is important to recognise that before you begin to compress an image, you will need to start with the highest resolution image you can get; this way, you will not lose picture quality after compression. If you begin with a low-resolution image, then compressing it will lead to lower quality images that will make your website look cheap and amateurish.
How to optimise images
If your website contains multiple images, it is a good idea to make sure they are all the same dimension for a more polished look. Images with varying dimensions can often be prone to stretching or distortion, which in turn will be off-putting for the visitor.
The next thing to look at is file size or the resolution of the image, and you should aim for a dpi of between 72 and 200 for websites, with a file size of less than 100kb. Anything over 200dpi and 100kb and your website will become sluggish on computers, but even more so on mobile devices.
Cropping an image can reduce the file size, but often you will need to make use of a file reducing website such as tinypng.com.
As you can see, reducing the image and file size is important to how your website runs, but if done correctly, it won’t affect the quality of the overall image, and you’ll be left with an attractive website that can handle traffic and attract customers for years to come.
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