High-quality images make your website look great, but if they’re too large, they can slow things down and create a poor experience for your visitors. Optimising your images before uploading them to WordPress is a quick and easy way to keep your site running fast and smooth – especially for mobile users.
Why does image optimisation matter?
Ever been on a website and the images take ages to load? Yeah – yuck. It’s frustrating, looks unprofessional, and often makes people click away before they’ve even seen your content.
Large, unoptimised images are one of the biggest reasons websites slow down. Optimising them helps your site perform better in lots of ways:
- Faster page load times – keeps visitors on your site longer
- Better SEO – search engines love a speedy site
- Less strain on your server – especially helpful if you’re on shared hosting
- Lower data usage – ideal for mobile visitors
Why optimise before uploading?
While there are plenty of WordPress plugins that help with image optimisation, it’s best to handle the basics before uploading your images. Here’s why:
- You save server space and bandwidth
Uploading smaller, optimised images means your hosting plan isn’t clogged with oversized files, which helps your site stay lean and run more smoothly. - Faster uploads and backups
Smaller files upload quicker, and your site backups will be faster and easier to manage too. - Less work for your website
When you handle image optimisation manually, your site doesn’t have to do that processing on the fly – freeing up resources and improving overall performance.
Our go-to image guidelines
At Pixel & Ink, we recommend:
- Image size: under 300KB where you can – the smaller the better, just keep an eye on image quality and stop compressing once it starts to look blurry or pixelated.
- Max dimensions: 1920px on the longest edge – that’s plenty wide for hero images (full screen size), but still keeps file sizes in check.
Our quick image optimisation process
We use Lightroom in our studio, but for quick tasks or for clients looking to do it themselves, we recommend iLoveIMG – a free, browser-based tool that’s simple, effective, and does the job nicely.
- Resize your image
Head to iLoveIMG Resize and make sure your image isn’t wider or taller than 1920px, and make sure your image isn’t wider or taller than 1920px. This keeps the image large enough for full-width hero sections, without being unnecessarily oversized. - Compress your image
Then use iLoveIMG Compress to reduce the file size without losing visible quality. Under 300KB is the sweet spot.
Don’t forget to rename your images for SEO
Before uploading, it’s also worth giving your image files clear, descriptive names. This helps Google understand what the image is about and can give your SEO a little boost.
Instead of something like: IMG_4832.jpg, try something like: sunrise-over-mt-hutt.jpg or cafe-interior.jpg
Use keywords where relevant, keep it short and simple, and separate words with hyphens (not underscores). It’s a small step, but it all adds up when it comes to getting found online.
Which file type should I use?
Choosing the right file type for your images can make a big difference to quality and load speed. Here’s a quick guide:
- JPG (or JPEG)
Best for photographs, lifestyle shots, or anything with lots of colour and detail. Great balance between quality and file size. Use this for most website imagery. - PNG
Ideal for images that need a transparent background (like logos or icons). File sizes are larger, so use sparingly and only when transparency is needed. - WebP
A modern format that offers high-quality images with smaller file sizes. Supported by most modern browsers. If you’re using a plugin like Imagify, it can automatically convert your images to WebP for you. - SVG
Best for simple graphics, icons, and logos that need to stay crisp at any size. SVGs are scalable and lightweight, but only use them for vector-based artwork (not photos).
Going the extra mile: Imagify WordPress plugin
For our care plan clients, we install and configure Imagify as part of our build – no extra cost, no extra work. It compresses images automatically in the background, keeping sites fast and tidy without our clients having to lift a finger.
You can also use this plugin yourself – Imagify offers a free plan that includes up to 20MB of image optimisation per month, which works out to roughly 200 images, depending on their size. Each individual file must be under 2MB, but if you’ve already resized and compressed your images using iLoveIMG, that upload limit won’t be an issue.
Even with Imagify running, we still recommend resizing and compressing your images before uploading them. It’s a simple habit that helps keep your site running at its best.
Lets wrap it up
A fast, professional website isn’t just about how it looks – it’s also about how it performs. Taking a few extra minutes to resize and compress your images before uploading can make a big difference to load times, SEO, and the overall experience for your visitors.
If you’re on one of our care plans, Imagify is already working behind the scenes for you – just one of the ways we go the extra mile to keep your site running at its best.
Need a hand with your images? Whether it’s one-off support or ongoing help, we’re happy to step in.
