Best Image optimization plugins refer to reducing file sizes
without compromising quality. This is how to get your product images to rank on Google or other image search engines.
The premium compression API is a way to increase compression without sacrificing quality. It includes PDF compression, convenient 30-day image backups, and allows for easy compression of large files. ExactDN, which costs $9/month, offers automatic compression (with zero server-side compression), automatic resizing, as well as all the benefits of a CDN to provide faster results across any device.
Here are my top picks for image optimization tools or plugins:
1. Optimus Image Optimizer Plugin
The Optimus WP Image Optimizer uses lossless compression for optimizing your images. It is lossless, meaning you won’t experience any quality degradation. It supports WooCoomerce multi-sites and features a bulk optimization feature that optimizes media libraries with large files.
You can also use it with the WP Retina WordPress extension. There are two versions of the plugin: a premium and a free one. The Premium version allows you to compress an unlimited number of images and costs just once per year.
2. WP Smush
WP Smush comes in a free or premium edition. It will extract hidden information from images to reduce their size, but not reduce quality. It will scan your images and reduce the size as you upload them.
This plugin can smush up 50 files at once. You can also manually smush it if you like. It will compress JPEG, GIF and PNG images. The maximum file size is 1MB.
It works with WP All Import and WPML, two of the most well-known media library plugins. All image optimization uses lossless compression techniques. This ensures that your image quality is high.
It doesn’t matter where you save your images. Smush locates them and compresses all of them. It can automatically adjust the width and height of images so that they are all resized in identical proportions.
3. TinyPNG
TinyPNG utilizes TinyJPG. This tool can convert CMYK images to RBG in order to save space. Also, it can compress JPEG files up to 60%, and PNG images up to 80%, with no visible quality loss. It doesn’t have a limit on file size.
TinyPNG is one of most used and popular image optimization plugins. This online tool can compress images to your site in a variety of ways.
It allows you to upload up to 20 images in one shot and up to 100 images per month. Although the maximum image size per image is 5 MB, most users won’t find that a problem. After compression, you can download the images to your computer or save to Dropbox.
TinyPNG also provides a WordPress plugin, and a Magento extension. This means that you don’t have to leave your site to compress your images.
4. ImageRecycle
ImageRecycle is a plugin for image and PDF optimization. It automates image and pdf optimization. This plugin not only focuses on image compression but also PDFs. The ability to specify the minimum file size that you will compress is a great feature.
If you have images over 80 KB, it can automatically exclude them from compression. This ensures that files and images are not compressed too much. Bulk optimization and auto-image resizing are also included.
It gives you a 15-day complimentary trial, with a 100-MB limit. Then, you have the option to choose a paid plan: $10 for 1GB, $20 for 3GB, or $50 for 10GB.
This plugin compresses JPEGs, PNGs, GIFs, and PDF image files. Its interface allows you to drag photos directly from your desktop to the optimizer.
You can also request a free website analysis. It will help you identify which images would be most beneficial for optimization.
It offers a Shopify app, Joomla Extension, and a WordPress plugin. You can use it on other websites to compress your images rather than navigating to a different site.
5. Optimole
ThemeIsle was the brain behind Optimole. It is a popular optimization and image compression plugin. It can compress and resize your images, lazyload them, and host them on its CDN.
The SAAS services aren’t free but you can get started with the system by signing up for a free Optimole Plan.
6. CompressNow
CompressNow allows bulk upload and is another simple-to-use optimization tool. Simply upload your JPEG/PNG or GIF images from your computer and set a compression percentage. You can then download the images to use on your website.
7. Trimage
You can use Trimage as a Linux user to remove EXIF metadata. This image compression tool compresses JPEG and PNG images at the highest possible level.
The other options will work better for you if you are a Mac or Windows user. Linux users will love Trimage.
8. Online Image Optimizer
You can convert JPEGs with this tool to PNGs online. Online Image Optimizer lets you upload images via URL. This is unlike other image optimizers. It allows you to optimize images already posted on your site. It saves you both time and effort to replace the original image with an optimized one online.
This tool can only allow you to upload one image at once. The maximum filesize for that image is 2.86MB.
9. Resize Photos
Resize Photos, another free tool for image optimization is also available. It can help to resize images that you want to use on your website, in emails, or on forums.
Simply upload your images and select the compression level you prefer from 1 to 100. Next, you can download your compressed photos.
10. GiftOfSpeed
This plugin has a range of compression tools to optimize JPEG and PNG images. You can use multiple compression methods to reduce the file size to the smallest possible.
GiftOfSpeed lets you resize images to increase your online performance. You can’t upload multiple files to PNG optimization. This is a drawback.
11. Compressor.io
It ensures that you do not lose the image quality and achieve high compression levels.
This is an incredible tool, known for its ability to easily optimize JPEGs, PNGs, GIFs, and SVG files. Compressor.io is capable of reducing file sizes by up to 90%
But Compressor.io is again plagued by upload restrictions. Compressor.io can only optimize one image file at once.
12. JPEGmini
This tool will send your images on a diet! It reduces the size of your images so that you can have the fastest loading speeds online. It offers a more intuitive interface than other options, and you can upgrade to the Pro version.
13. Convert Image
Convert Image can compress JPEG files on the move. You can convert JPEG files into BMP, GIF, and PNG using this online image optimization software. There are many onboard settings that you can use to reverse, crop, and straighten images.
14. Gauntlet PNG
You can only use Gauntlet PNG with PNG file formats. This software is available as a downloadable file. It works with multiple compressors, such as PNGOUT, OptPNG, and DeflOpt.
You can compress images without affecting their quality. You can only use it to compress JPG and GIF files, as well as TIFF and BMP files into PNG. The downside is that it takes a bit longer to optimize than the other options.
Speed test Using JPGs Compressed
There are few optimizations that can reduce load times by more than half of the ones you can do on your site. This is a hands-off way to make your WordPress site more efficient.
You could change your WordPress hosts to achieve dramatic optimization and will see over 45% speed improvements.
You can optimize your images by using a photo editing tool, or a WordPress plugin, and you will also be able to fix the “Optimize image” warning in Google PageSpeed Insights.
- PageSpeed Insights Optimize Images Warning
You may receive other optimization warnings from speed testing tools.
- SVGs:
You should use SVG files in conjunction with other images. SVG, a vector format that is easily scalable, works well for logos, icons, and text.
BeFunky Tool
This is your super easy quick-fix software tool to compress your pictures with no drama. BeFunky can do it all for free, which is a great way to start when your business is brand new. Just Google, join, and start compressing.
Here are two reasons SVG is so popular:
SVGs automatically scale in browsers as well as photo editing software. This makes the file format a dream for graphic and web designers. Google indexes SVGs the same as JPGs or PNGs.
SVGs typically have a smaller file size (but not always) than JPGs or PNGs. This can mean that load times are faster.
Image Optimization Tips
These image optimization tips will help you optimize your images for SEO.
1. Do Keyword Research for Your Images
Do your research as you would for optimizing the rest of your website. Most likely, you know what key search terms people use when searching for you online. It’s great if you know the keywords that rank you. It is likely that you already know the keywords to include in your SEO for images.
It’s time for you to research keywords if you aren’t sure. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to find out what people are looking for in relation to your business. Once you have the right keywords, it’s time to start the process of applying SEO to images.
2. Use Best Practices to Name Images for SEO
It’s easy to label images with whatever title you give them. This is fine, but search crawlers will not be able to read filenames. Your image filenames must accurately describe the content.
Include a keyword that is relevant to your image in the file name. However, you shouldn’t use random keywords to improve your image SEO rankings. Keyword stuffing, even though search engines might not immediately recognize that the description is not relevant, isn’t a good idea.
3. Create Image Sitemaps
Google recommends that you create image sitemaps in order to publish images.
You should adhere to its guidelines for publishing images online. Your images won’t rank as high in search engines if you don’t.
4. Optimize Image Alt Tags
Search engines don’t process images in the same way as the human brain. Alt tags are used to identify what search engines are displaying. Each image on your website should have unique alt tags that describe them. Many should also include relevant keywords.
These images also make it easier for users to understand your pages if they can’t view your images.
As part of your SEO image optimization, you should add alt tags to all images on your website. Although it can be tedious if there are many images that you don’t have alt tags for, the SEO benefits are well worth the effort.
All browsers should be able to display your images, I hope. An alt tag displays when users hover their mouse cursor over an image. If your browser is unable to display the image, an alt tag will replace it with text.
Try to describe images accurately in alt tags. If the image is relevant to the keyword on the page, include them as well.
Alt tags should not be used to “keyword-stuff” your pages. Search engines such as Google will eventually catch up to you, which can only be bad for your SEO long-term.
5. Be Accurate with the Dimensions of Your Product Angles and Image Dimensions
It is common to show multiple angles when displaying your product. Filling out your alt attributes is the best way to make money from these additional photos. You can do this by creating unique alt attributes to each product shot.
It is important to include descriptions in your base alt attribute to help potential searchers find your site. Google will reward you for doing the extra work with more searchers.
Be aware that larger images can be difficult to upload.
No matter what you do, don’t put the largest image on your website. Instead, shrink the dimensions using the source code. Because of the large file size, this will slow down your site loading speed.
Instead, you can make the image smaller and give users the option of viewing a larger version in a popup or separate webpage.
Tip: Use jQuery image zoom to zoom product images in your theme.
Conclusion
Nearly half of all consumers will not wait more than 3 seconds for a page to load. Globally, page loads take longer.
Amazon discovered that their pages would slow down by one second and they would lose $1.6 million per year.
Google considers page load time a ranking factor in its algorithm.
If images take more than 15 seconds to load, or if they “drool down” the screen slowly, you can say goodbye to your potential customer!
Learn all this and more on the best learning platform in the world, you can start free today and I will mentor you!
If this has helped you in your research, I would love you to leave a comment, or a like and share.
Thanks for visiting.
LILY
Thank for your great information. This will surely helps for my website images. I always neglect the Alt Text before.
Now I understand the importance of having that.
I never know there are other images optimizer other than WP Smush and Optimole. I like the fact that Images Recycle offers a Shopify app, Joomla Extension, and a WordPress plugin. Nice!
Great write up. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your kind comment Azmi. There are lots of great image optimization plugins out there it is only a matter of finding the one that works best for you.
I was checking how my site was working and it’s doing terrible in loading times. And I checked closer and it’s that my images have a lot of weight. So, researching, I discovered that I need to apply compression to my images. I would like to apply it without sacrificing quality.
Thank you very much for giving us all these tools to optimize my images. I will start checking them.
That is great to hear Paolo. You will like many of these, I use BeFunky every day to shrink my images down to jpg of 800 x 250 which are around the 75kb range. These load super fast.