Optimizing Images for Mobiles

You can make your blog posts thrive with great graphics and photos. But it will affect your results if you don’t do it correctly. In a few steps, you can optimize your images for your mobiles.

Let’s start by explaining why optimizing images is essential. Drag it into your editor, and the CMS will help you figure it out.

Stock photos and raw graphics can be huge

Optimize Images to Your Blog

The width of the most popular desktop browser is 1,366 pixels. Images could be shown at a high resolution on a 55-inch screen.

Every pixel of an image has data. And data adds weight. This image is nearly 4 megabytes large. Even if your CMS compresses it, it will still serve up the whole 3.9 MB to you, which means slow pages and unhappy users. Optimizing website images is a must.

Steps to Optimize Images for the Web

Here are six steps to optimizing images for mobiles:

Step 1: Legally Acquire Imagery

First, get your image. Stock photo sites like Pixabay, Envato, or iStock are the most popular sources. Platforms like Unsplash offer free images. You can also create your own images or photos.

If you choose an image to use on a blog page or website, make sure it is relevant to the topic, content, and theme. You can communicate a message visually and draw people in using an image. The image can also serve as an interpretation or a way of generating curiosity. Give it some thought each time you add an image as it is a strong controller of the readers’ emotions.

No matter what you do, don’t grab images from Google Images. You almost certainly won’t be able to use it. I’ve seen companies hit with thousands of dollars for unlicensed imagery. Resist the temptation by paying a few dollars if necessary or look for free images.

Step 2: Name the Appropriate File

Keep in line with your content’s theme. Choose a keyword or variation related to your webpage or blog post. This is vital when it comes to the ranking of images in search results.

Google must rely on textual cues in the Alt description to determine what an image is about. Therefore, it is crucial to communicate the relationship between the image and the content.

Step 3: Size Your Image

After creating or downloading your image, it is time to size it appropriately.

Blog layouts typically measure between 650 and 1,024 pixels in width. A screenshot app can highlight the entire column if you need a full-width photo – which is quite common. This will give you the column width measured in pixels.

You can choose something smaller if you need it. You can’t usually display images larger than the content column.

Once you have an image size in your mind, you can use any software to crop or compress it (I use BeFunky for resizing.)

Adobe Photoshop is the most popular software for optimizing images for blogs. Although it is not the cheapest, Adobe Photoshop is the most widely used.

You don’t have to buy a Creative Cloud license for Photoshop. Instead, you can try the free image sizing apps:

• Pixlr
• GIMP
• BeFunky

Steps to Resizing Blog Images in Photoshop:

• Open your image
• Click on image>> Image Size to access the menu
• Choose the desired width. The height will automatically adjust.
• Click OK

That’s it! Now your image is in the right size. It’s now time to save your image.

Save Your Image

You can use the old-fashioned Photoshop “Save for Web” command. There are many other options, but this works well for the most basic use cases.

Most users prefer larger images. It’s essential to balance large enough images to be enjoyable and not too large. The first option is to resize large images before uploading or inserting them. The file size of an image in a blog is not reduced by simply resizing it.

An image file should not exceed 25k. You can view the image source to see its dimensions. Don’t scale down the image but simply resize it. You should do it if you can edit an image’s HTML. This is HTML that indicates the exact size of the image. It’s easier for search engines to understand and helps speed up page load times.

Steps to Save Blog Images in Photoshop

• In the menu, go to file>> Export >> Save for Web.
• Choose your file type. You will typically need a JPG file for a photo and a PNG file for a graphic.
• Click Save

That’s it! You can find your properly-sized blog image in the folder where it was saved.

Step 4: Compress Your Images

Now your image is appropriately sized. However, there is another step to make it blog-ready: compression.

Compression reduces file size without compromising on quality. A Photoshop image is almost perfectly optimized. However, this crucial step can help you save precious page weight.

I like Optimizilla for quick online image compression. It’s fast and easy. Drag and drop your image or choose it from an uploader. Once it’s finished, you can download it.

Once you have optimized the image for your blog, it’s time to post it. Your readers will be grateful that you didn’t load unnecessary data. Google will also reward you!

Images on your website can boost your SEO if they are done correctly. Google can index images just like content and make them accessible in organic search.

Step 5: Keep Images to Text Ratio

Images should not clutter your blog posts or web pages. Imagine if all of these images were not visible on your website. Is your content still communicating the message? It is best to have a minimum of one image above your fold. This will allow your content to shine and wrap around your image.

Step 6: Use Alt Text

This is the name that you will link with the image. This is an additional way search engines can identify the image’s content. This text should be clear and concise. Never stuff the alt text with keywords.

It is vital to clearly and concisely describe what the image represents and its relation to your content. You can generally communicate this in five words or less.

Conclusion

To convey a story or concept, use your content with complementary images. First and foremost, focus on your target audience/user. Use images and content to make your message clear and concise.

By making your images optimized for mobiles you will make the experience nice for your readers who will keep coming back to read your articles.

I hope this has helped you to understand the technical side of optimizing your images for mobiles, the way of the future.

Learn more about how to build a website for free and build a successful business as you learn and grow.

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Warm Regards,

Lily