Images are more than just visual elements—they are critical components of user experience, brand perception, and business success.
Too often, poorly optimized images slow down websites, frustrate users, and negatively impact the bottom line. But well-optimized images can significantly enhance website performance, boost SEO rankings, and improve conversion rates.
Here, we’ll explore five best practices in image optimization, drawing on real-world examples from elite brands that have seen substantial business benefits from implementing these strategies.
1. Optimize for mobile-first experiences
With the majority of online traffic now coming from mobile devices, it’s imperative to prioritize mobile-first image optimization. Zadig&Voltaire, a leading luxury fashion brand, offers a prime example of the impact this approach can have.
By optimizing their images for mobile, they improved their page speed by a staggering 66%. This was achieved by using responsive images tailored to various device types and screen resolutions, ensuring that users on smartphones received appropriately sized images without unnecessary data consumption.
The business result? Faster load times led to a smoother user experience, which in turn boosts engagement and reduces bounce rates. In a mobile-first world, delivering optimized images for every screen size is no longer optional—it’s essential.
2. Implement responsive images to reduce page weight
Reducing page weight is crucial for improving load times, especially as images often make up the bulk of a webpage’s data. Swimply, a fast-growing online marketplace, understood this well. By implementing responsive images that adjusted based on the user’s device, Swimply was able to reduce image file sizes by 38% and cut image response time by 50%.
These improvements translated into faster page loads, which not only enhanced the user experience but also positively impacted Swimply’s Core Web Vitals—key performance indicators that Google uses to rank websites. The reduction in page weight also meant lower data usage for mobile users, further improving the overall user experience and ensuring that potential customers stayed engaged with the site.
3. Leverage next-gen image formats for enhanced performance
Next-generation image formats like AVIF and WebP offer significant advantages over traditional formats like JPEG and PNG. These formats provide superior compression, allowing for smaller file sizes without compromising image quality.
Nikkei, one of the world’s largest financial news websites, leveraged these formats to reduce image file sizes by up to 38%. By converting their images to WebP, Nikkei achieved faster load times across their site.
This not only improved user satisfaction but also had a direct impact on their SEO performance, as Google rewards faster websites with higher search rankings. Adopting next-gen image formats is a straightforward yet powerful way to enhance your website’s performance and improve your business outcomes.
4. Automate image optimization workflows to save time and resources
For businesses that handle large volumes of images, automation is key to maintaining efficiency and freeing up valuable resources. Chronext, a luxury watch marketplace, recognized this when they implemented automated image optimization workflows. By doing so, they reduced image response time by 80% and streamlined their image processing tasks, including background removal and resizing.
Automation not only saved Chronext significant engineering time but also allowed them to maintain high-quality visuals across their site without the need for constant manual intervention. This focus on efficiency enabled them to direct their resources toward more strategic initiatives, ultimately driving growth and improving their customer experience.
5. Use intelligent cropping and face detection for better visual impact
Images are most effective when they focus on what matters most to the viewer. This is where intelligent cropping techniques, such as face detection, come into play.
Nikkei again sets a strong example, using face detection to ensure that the most relevant parts of their images—often the faces of newsmakers—are prominently displayed. This precision in cropping helped them reduce their load times by an average of 1.1 seconds.
By focusing on the most important elements of an image, businesses can create a more engaging and impactful visual experience for their users. Intelligent cropping not only enhances the aesthetic appeal of your images but also supports better storytelling, leading to increased user engagement and improved conversion rates.
The business case for image optimization
Optimizing images is not just a technical requirement—it’s a strategic business decision that can lead to substantial improvements in website performance, SEO rankings, and customer satisfaction.
By following these best practices, businesses can deliver faster, more visually compelling digital experiences that drive better results across the board.
Elevate your website’s image performance
Over 75% of your page weight likely comes from images, and heavy images can harm your user engagement, page speed, and SEO.
A custom page weight report analyzes your webpage, revealing how much time you could save on image loading and how much you could reduce image sizes. It’s a crucial step toward boosting your site’s performance, improving conversions, and enhancing user experience.
Find out how your images are affecting your site—get your page weight report today.
