How to Compress Images for Your Website Without Losing Quality
Large images are the most common reason blogs load slowly. Here’s how to resize, compress and convert them to WebP in a few minutes.
Images usually make up most of a web page’s weight. Optimising them is one of the fastest ways to improve page speed, Core Web Vitals and the reading experience on mobile.
In this article6 sections
Step 1: Resize to the display size
A photo straight from a phone can be 4000px wide, but your blog’s content column is probably under 1200px. Resize images to roughly the largest size they will be shown at — for most blogs, 1200–1600px wide is plenty.
Step 2: Choose the right format
| Format | Best for |
|---|---|
| WebP | Photos and most graphics on the web |
| JPEG | Photos when WebP isn’t available |
| PNG | Screenshots and graphics needing sharp edges or transparency |
| SVG | Logos and icons |
Step 3: Compress
For photos, a quality setting between 75% and 82% usually looks identical to the original at a fraction of the size. Screenshots with text may need 85–90% to stay crisp.
Try it: compress images and convert them to WebP in your browser — free, no sign-up.
Step 4: Upload and add alt text
Name files descriptively (saas-pricing-table.webp rather than IMG_4821.webp) and write alt text that describes the image for screen-reader users and search engines.
Step 5: Let WordPress do the rest
WordPress automatically creates several image sizes and serves the right one with srcset, and it lazy-loads images below the fold. Upload a well-optimised original and it handles the responsive versions.
Final thoughts
Resize, choose WebP, compress to around 80% and add alt text. Do this for every new image and your pages will stay fast as your blog grows.
