You probably know that images can be an extremely important aspect of every kind of website. Not only do pictures get the attention of your website visitors, but they also have tangible search engine optimization (SEO) purposes.
Image size can affect your page speed, so a smaller file means a page will load faster. You certainly want to utilize high-quality images, but you have to make sure they are properly sized for your website to get the best results when it comes not only to creating content that really gets a person’s attention but also loads rather quickly.
Determining the best image size for websites
When it comes to images, you first need to look at what purposes your images will be serving. Here are a few of the possible scenarios.
Regardless of the file format, you are using, be it a JPG, PNG, GIF, or TIF, do not upload any high-resolution images to your website simply for display purposes. Even when a website is displaying images at a smaller size, a URL for an original image can be reverse-engineered from source code and images end up being stolen.
This is not to mention that large images also take more time to upload and can be slower to optimize. Try to use a plugin to handle resizing for you.
To achieve optimal website performance, your images should only be as large as necessary to fill their containers based on the page layout. Slideshow images will usually be wider, blog images may be medium-sized, and thumbnails are smaller.
When it comes to images for your background, backdrop photos can be designed to fit a wide range of screen sizes, from the average PC monitor to a tablet or a cell phone. The dimension that seems to work best for all screen sizes is 1600 pixels wide by 900 pixels high.
For headers, the best image dimension will be 1024 pixels wide. Many websites have resolutions of 1024px x 768px, meaning a header image of 1024px renders well across the top of a website while not slowing down the webpage speed.
As it relates to background images, the recommended dimension will be 1920 pixels wide x 1080 pixels high. A ratio of 16:9 can fill the surface of a webpage without sacrificing the quality of an image, and an image should retain 72 pixels per inch (PPI).
When it comes to your image file types, JPG file formats are recommended for photos while PNG or SVG files are more common for logos and illustrations. Following these tips can make sure your images load properly and do not slow the page’s load speed.
People who are working with a website on WordPress need to know that WordPress does not support SVG file types. There is a plugin called SVG Support that can help individuals experiencing issues in this realm.
It is important for people to understand the difference between a PNG and JPG because PNG images will be larger than JPGs, making them slower to load. PNGs, however, will support transparency and be of higher quality than JPGs.
Most website images are usually JPGs, but some situations may call for PNGs. It is important to see that you are using the correct PNG file size, possibly with the help of a compression tool that keeps the file