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How to Automatically Compress Images for Website Speed
Google has many things that it looks for when deciding where your website ranks within their search results. It is important that you to focus on all of these. One of Google's top ranking factors is website speed. To understand and simplify the many complexities of understanding website speed, it is easiest to look at what is actually slowing down your website.
Why Website Speed Matters.
I think that you can appreciate the fact that anything that hurts your rankings in search engines, hurts your business. Your website speed is obviously one of these.
The reality of this is much deeper than 'Google not liking it' though. Google makes decisions based on their users. If their users suffer from a lower quality experience, it hurts them. Thus, they punish websites for a variety of reasons.
The Main Speed Traps to Watch Out For.
With Wordpress websites (which you are building here), there are only a few main culprits to speed lag. They are as follows.
- Poorly Optimized Images. The most common load issue is images. People tend to use images in their exact state, and then upload them directly to their website. The problem is that many of these are not optimized for websites, high resolution files which can take a long time to load (and prevent the rest of your website from loading). Thus, images need to be compressed before you put the on your website or they will cause load issues, ranking issues, and hurt your overall potential.
- Low Quality Hosting. Also, known as budget hosting, you typically get what you pay for in the hosting world. Most "cheapo" web hosts will actually throttle your service if you get any amount of traffic to your website, or require you to upgrade to a new server.
- Code/JavaScript Loads. Many websites/software platforms will require you to install code so they can verify ownership of our website or in many cases, for tracking purposes. This is common place in the affiliate marketing space for verification, but is also very common with analysis and tracking tools like Google Analytics, Google Console, and various other specialized tracking and linking platforms.
- CPU Intensive Plugins. There are many plugins out there that are complete CPU hogs, some so much so that they can drag an entire hosting server down. Also, each plugin that you put on your website will incrementally add load to your website, so be careful about "overuse" of plugins, in particular if you are using plugins for the sake of "cool", not practicality. The plugin world is not a controlled one
- Theme Issues. Although rare, themes can be a culprit for website lag. Sometimes a theme can be poorly designed and have "required" widgets that cause a lot of servers lag. If you have an issue with a theme, it will be apparent.
- Serving Videos Directly on Website. You should NEVER be putting videos on your hosting, you should be using a specialized video hosting service to serve videos on your website (like Amazon AWS), or you should be uploading your videos to Youtube/Vimeo and then embedding them. It is not good practice to upload videos directly to your website.
SiteContent Compression Technology.
We have solved most of these plugin issues for you here at WA through advanced technology that we have developed, as well as training and creating awareness platforms that let you know where your website speed issues are, and why it is happening.
The first thing we have done is created a platform that is internal to SiteContent that compresses all of your images using some most advanced compression technologies available. When you publish your content through SiteContent, all images within your content will automatically be compressed in several sizes and formats, which will then be rendered appropriately according to the type of page your website loads (mobile, tablet, desktop). This is bleeding edge stuff and there are companies out there charging JUST for this technology, but it is completely integrated and included into SiteContent's publish feature for all Premium members.
*Note: When you upload content directly within your back-office, you are not leveraging the state-of-the-art compression technology available to you within SiteContent. As a result, your website speeds will slow drastically. I don't recommend uploading images directly within Wordpress as they inherently do a bad job of compressing images on their own.
Some Good Plugins if You Are Going To Directly Upload
Image compression plugins are NOT required if you are publishing your content through SiteContent, but you certainly should be leveraging them if you are uploading images directly through your Wordpress back office.
There are plugins that can help you with your load times of images on your website, but you need to be careful about the plugins you choose because some can add a significant load to your website. It is counterproductive to choose a plugin that will actually slow down your website, when you are using the same plugin to speed it up. Thus, I have a few recommendations.
From all of our testing, this was the best plugin. We actually install this plugin with ALL website installs here at WA. It is a good plugin.
This plugins is very easy to install, set-up and use. It will optimize your images as you upload them, so there isn't an independent process to do that with every image upload.
You can also "bulk" optimize feature if you install the EWWW plugin after you have published pages, and it will optimize all existing media files on your website. There are "up sell" features associated with this plugin, but they are certainly not a requirement.
2. reSmush.it
reSmush.it is also a great plugin for image compression, on the scale of effectiveness I would say this plugin goes hand-in-hand terms of quality with EWWW. It also allows you to automatically optimize your images (post install), and it has the same bulk feature to optimize older images that you had uploaded to your website.
It doesn't offer different compression sizes, which can be a downfall. This is something that is offered to you within the SiteContent image technology, as we offer various sizes depending on the device that is used.
Compress JPEG & PNG is a plugin created by the team over at TinyPNG. The instant downside to this plugin is that you need to create an account with them in order to use it. You are also limited to 100 images each month to optimize, which is sufficient for most websites, but for those that create image intensive content it won't be adequate and you will be required to upgrade.
A few of the features that I like are the image size settings (which you can control) and you can set that maximize upload size for your original uploads. Images that are larger than the max size, will automatically be sized to an appropriate size by the Compress plugin.
It is still a great plugin option, but the image compression limits can really be annoying if you are actively building out your website.
PageSpeed Insights, Find Out Load Issues
I have you are having loading issue with your website or you are finding page speed lag, then you definitely want to consider leveraging the PageSpeed Insights platform that you have access to here as a Premium member.
The PageSpeed Insights platform allows you to pinpoint your load issues on your website on a per page basis. It will outline which images are representing the biggest issues, as well as provide you with an instant look into your "Google" rankings.
If you go to the Websites => SiteManager tab: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/websites
You will notice that there is a "Details" button. You will want to click that (as shown below) and this will take you to the page where you have all sorts of features related to your website, including the PageSpeed Insights platform.
If you scroll down to the PageSpeed Insights section, you will be able to 'Check' (if you haven't done a check before), or you will be able to "Refresh" to check again.
If you click the "G" it will take you to Google where you will be able to assess the issues.
My problem with this particular post is in fact images, because I added them after the fact! If I added them through SiteContent, they would have been compressed and much more optimized.
So it is very important and beneficial to create your content within the SiteContent platform here. Not only is it an amazing writing too, it is going to allow you to fully optimize your images and your website load speeds (which help with rankings, as well as conversions).
Anyways, there you have it. I wanted to open up a conversation on the major culprits of a slow loading website and how to automatically compress images on your website using the tools and services that you have access to as Premium member here at WA.
I would love to hear your comments, feedback or questions. Please leave them below.
Just a quick question. I often edit the images I use therefore upload these manually. I always compress these myself using a link leoemery posted, http://compresspng.com/
So my question is, if I am composing on SiteContent and upload manually, is that also compressed? (Hence I can stop compressing these myself.)
Reply
Joe
Does this mean that my images aren't being optimized because I don't use SiteContent to create posts? When I create a new post from my blog, is that what you mean by "back office"?
Am I making any sense?
Hope that helps.
Joe
Honestly, when I checked through the PageSpeed Insights section for several of my posts, not a single one had a green dot. And clicking on the G shows what needs to be fixed but I can't figure out how to do that.
I'm pretty discouraged.
Are the stats not 100% accurate immediately after posting? Do we need to give it 24 hrs before we check our Page Speed? Or should it be instant?
My website is very, very image intensive.
Even though I have the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin, I do some image work in advance of upload.
Using MS Picture Manager:
I crop any unnecessary portions of my images.
Then, I resize them to "Web - Small" (448 to 336 px).
I also make sure my WordPress thumbnail settings in "Settings", "Media" are all set to "0" so that EWWW doesn't create multiple copies of the image.
Jim
I also mentioned in this comment thread that it is important to Name your images on your computer before uploading to your Wordpress gallery. it is better for SEO not to have a string of numbers as your file name. google detects what it is saved as on your computer even if you re-title your images in wordpress.
Thanks again.
And, don't forget to add alt text to them - for the visually impaired folks who visit your website.
Jim
I don't know if this relates. Today, I tried to upload an image and the green bar read 100%. I was trying to upload from my gallery and it just wouldn't load. The image from my previous WA blog kept showing up. SO, I decided to blog without a visual.
Because of my lack of expertise, when something is not working for me, I am going to say something.
Maxine
1. What if I want to change the images later? I still need to compress them but I can't afford to spend more. Is there another way we can use site content?
2. What about featured images for my posts? Can I include it in my site content and copy it to place for my feature images?
These were my issues with site content and images.
Cheers,
Brandon.
The aspect of most interest is that on the publishing that the images are rendered for desktop, tablet, and mobile very handy indeed, there is certainly more to site content than meets the eye.
I have written a very detailed training I'd like to share that goes into great detail on how to speed your website using PageSpeed Insights information. Turbo Charge Your Site Speed! Those who have gone through my training have told me its been a big help for them.
Good luck to all of you at WA
However, I decided to add them in Site Content and: (1) either my files were too big to load or (2) it suggested cropping them (which I don't want) so, doesn't this defeat the purpose? These are my own photos that I have taken.
So, what am I missing?
Mary Ann
By too big to load, what are you getting that would indicate that. SiteContent should allow for ANY image to be uploaded, and compressed. If they are too big, let me know what error you are getting and Iwill have look.
2. will it be possible to bulk upload to sitecontent because right now we have to do one at a time and fiddle with expanding those white squares on a tiny screen that has to be arrowed up and down...individually, very time consuming even though the result is good website speed
I have been using Tinypng, uploading every image manually to it prior to inserting them in my library for quite a while now.
I use Site content for all my posts but had no idea that it does compress every image also!
I am wondering if I have been wasting my time with Tinypng since I also upload my images in SiteContent before I publish. An image can only be compressed to a certain degree right?
Thanks once again for your insight!
Denis
It’s all too easy to go paying for services and training elsewhere and forgetting we actually have it all here.
Regards.
Paul
For the odd image I've uploaded directly to Wordpress I usually use free software called 'Riot'. I have no idea how good it is but it does seem to do a decent job with most images.
Is there a guideline about what size is definitely too big? I generally aim to keep those I upload myself under 100 KB.
~Mark
I use Tinypng for compressing images without having to open an account or install the plugin. Google Tinypng, clicking the link will take you to a page where you can compress up to twenty images in one session. If you're prepared to compress images manually, this saves another plugin on your site.
"Code/JavaScript Loads. Many websites/software platforms will require you to install code so they can verify ownership of our website or in many cases, for tracking purposes. This is common place in the affiliate marketing space for verification, but is also very common with analysis and tracking tools like Google Analytics, Google Console, and various other specialized tracking and linking platforms."
ehh Kyle, The JS code for site speed is 200k in size and is missing "Vary: Accept-Encoding" header:
you could also defer parsing of that scrip to aid even faster loading.
May I ask about the possibility of Domain Charding to load faster still...
And CDN..
Storage of images on Cloud...
...What about reducing latency by means of Pjax..
Site speed in the past month has improved dramatically but there is is still plenty room for improvement still.
CDN, easy. And it's coming.
Segmented and off site image storage, coming as well.
Stay tuned Derek.
I have a couple of questions:
1.It seems the best place to do your editing and uploading is from Site Content. This of course has the added advantage of giving you complete stats on your site.
I say this because I recently wrote and published a long article directly in my back office and my stats haven't changed in Site Content. So that is my first question I guess: Are the stats only applicable to what is written and uploaded via site content?
2.This leads to my second question because some might ask why I am not using site content for all my posts.
Fair question and the answer is I recently started using Elementor for ease of use as well as aesthetic purposes and I really like it.
So my second question is can I upload through "Site Content" with Elementor?
Cheers
Lawrence
Question about sitecontent. and The views on the relevance of moving forward with gutenberg. a slightly bugging question i have been pondering and have great interest in your thoughts..
Really I just want to ask whether you think gutenberg usage will impact the future of seo in the eyes of search engines,
FYI after watching a recent google webmaster YT video they were talking it up as being the WP goto for sitespeed content
When I reduce the original file size of a Dreamstime photo I am using as a header photo, EWWW compresses the original file to 487.2 KB. The two programs I am using in combination with each other reduce it to 117 KB. I am not sure whether I am missing something here or can I use the EWWW compressed thumbnail image 150 x 150 as my header photo?
I didn't know the EWWW plugin has a bulk editor. I really underestimated the need for that plugin and at one point, I deleted it. When I noticed several red marks in my pageinsights, I went and reinstalled it, but it didn't immediately speed up my site. I was dreading the process of deleting every image and reuploading it like what I've heard others do, so I was thinking I'd have to pay somebody to help me with optimizing my site until you posted this. I'm using the Bulk editor now.
Thanks so much!
I just thought I would add some further advice to fellow WA members since we are talking about images. This is to title your images BEFORE uploading them to site support or directly to the wordpress gallery. I thought re titling them in the gallery area was enough. But google still see's the old file name, whatever it was before you upload it. If it's nicely named already, then your golden.
Please save yourself a lot of grief from my mistake of not titling my images ahead of download! In my case, on one of my websites, I sell product, Antique books to be exact. My theme is store front, woocomerce. It allows you to have a lot of gallery images next to your product description. I uploaded about a dozen books, each with about 15 - 20 images without pre- titling them.
I asked the WA community why my images were not showing up in google image searches. I found out that the problem is that google doesn't like images that are not titled. If it see's long-number file name then that isn't SEO friendly. Google detects whatever the file name is of the image prior to your upload, even if you re title it in the wordpress gallery title and alt text section. In my case, it was a long string of digits for each image, AGAIN, NOT SEO-friendly!
Unfortunately, the only way to fix this was to delete each image one by one, re title them prior to upload, and re upload them.
I had two choices, I could have left them like that and just made sure in all future posts I uploaded correctly, or fix each image one by one. The latter is a huge pain in the ass but then google will rank my page better. Also a lot of people use google images to search for product, I do with antique books, this way my books will show up in google images and that may draw more people to my site.
Since we were talking about images I thought this might help a few folks. I'm still going crazy re titling and re uploading all mine, so thought throwing this out there was on subject and perhaps helpful.
I'm not someone with really any website building background skills, so i have to ask the WA community for a lot of advice and constantly have questions as I learn, so please if anyone else has anything else to add with this post, feel free! I just wanted to help prevent someone else from possibly making my mistake.
Q: Sometimes the page speed on my posts varies quite a bit from day to day, even when I haven't made any changes to the site. For example one day it might be in the 90s for a particular post, and next time I check down in 70s. But still seems to be loading fine. What might be the cause for the wildly fluctuating numbers?
Mary
Mary
If your PageSpeed scores are good, and you are using the Glossy compression, not to be concerned.
The SiteSpeed and the security elements just got a huge upgrade last week, but we are never going to be content. We know we can continue to push the boundaries of technology and lead the industry in the hosting space.
I personally use photoshop to compress my images to start with really small sizes before they are optimized in SiteContent.
Just a quick note Kyle about the post - I think you have duped content here. Looks like your post is repeated twice from top to bottom.
Thanks!
Kim
I have a question - when adding images through SiteContent, do these images still appear in Google images?
I think that even though images were in the post itself, there weren't shown in media section of Wordpress so I thought that they won't show up in Google's images search.
P.S. Just a friendly feedback: your text was pasted twice.
To your question - if you have images in settings for indexing, then they should be indexed by Google.
Generally my images do get indexed but again when I first published through SiteContent a while ago, I didn't see those images get indexed (it's very possible I just missed it).
Just wanted to confirm with Kyle/WA members. Thanks your response Jovo!
