The most important thing about any WordPress website is its image optimization. Images are the lifeblood of your content, so you want them to look their best. And that starts with optimizing them. Many WordPress plugins can help you with this process, but they all work differently: some compress JPEGs or PNGs, while others add extra data to load faster. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite image optimization WordPress plugins:
Things to Consider When Choosing an Image Optimization Plugin
When choosing an image optimization plugin, there are a few things you can take note of:
- The first is file size – You want a plugin that can reduce the file size of your images without compromising quality.
- The second is compatibility – It is essential to choose a plugin that is compatible with the most popular image formats, such as JPEG and PNG.
- The third is the ease of use – You don’t want a plugin that is difficult to use or set up. Ideally, you will require a plugin that is easy to install and configure.
Best WordPress Image Optimization Plugins for 2022
1. Smush
Smush is a WordPress plugin that automatically optimizes your images. It uses lossless compression algorithms to compress your images, giving you more space on your site without losing quality.
Smush also supports GIFs and SVGs (vector graphics), so you can also optimize those.
Features:
- Offers free version
- Resize and scale images
- Backup original image version
- Optimize unlimited images with a click
- WebP format support
- Compress images
- Over 1 million active users
- Blazing fast 45-point image CDN
2. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer is a free WordPress plugin that allows you to optimize your images. It uses the same compression techniques as Smush Pro but is free.
You can use the plugin to:
- Remove EXIF metadata from your images and reduce file sizes by up to 80%.
- Compress PNG files with lossless compression so they don’t take up more space than needed on your website.
Features:
- Easy Image Optimizer
- Compress API
- SWIS Performance
- WebP conversion
3. Imagify Image Optimizer
Imagify Image Optimizer is one of the most popular WordPress plugins for image optimization. Over 2 million people use it, and it’s easy to see why: it has an impressive suite of features that make it simple and highly effective at reducing file sizes.
The most important feature of this plugin is lossless compression. This means that when you compress an image using Imagify Image Optimizer (or any other lossless compression tool), you get a copy of your original photo without any degradation in quality—the way JPEGs work doesn’t work here! Even if your images are large or high resolution (like full HD), they’ll shrink without losing detail or clarity.
Another helpful feature is bulk processing: if there’s something like 100 images sitting on your computer waiting to be optimized before you can use them anywhere else online, then this would be great because now you could just pick one at random instead having to go through each one individually after saving them all separately into different folders. No more wasted time!
Features:
- Optimize your JPGs, PNGs, PDFs & GIFs
- Resize your images
- Ease-of-us
- Convert WebP
4. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
Shortpixel Image Optimizer is a WordPress plugin that helps you optimize your images for the web. It’s easy to use and works on any WordPress site—you can even use it on your blog if you want!
The plugin automatically analyzes images and then makes them smaller or larger depending on how much space they need, saving up to 50% of file size. You can also manually edit each image before uploading it to optimize it correctly for the best quality possible (or just as good as before).
This handy tool comes with some handy features like JPG compression, PNG, GIF & PDF document option to convert, WebP and AVIF support.
5. LazyLoad
Lazyload is one of the best image optimization WordPress plugins. It allows you to set a delay between when an image load and when it appears on your page. This helps improve page speed and reduce bandwidth usage by loading only what’s needed, rather than downloading all images at once or waiting until they’re required before displaying them.
You can also use lazy load with responsive design to load images as soon as they appear on the screen even if they’re not yet visible on a mobile device (a feature sometimes called “dynamic.” If you want to learn more about dynamic routing and how it works with WordPress themes, check out our guide here).
Conclusion
Picking the right plugin for image optimization can be a daunting task because there are just so many of them available out there. But hopefully, this article has given you a good starting point in terms of what to look for in an image optimization plugin, as well as our top six picks for the best plugins currently available.
Do you have a favorite image optimization plugin we didn’t mention here? Let us know in the comments below!
And if you’re looking for an agency to speed up your WordPress site, contact us! We can help you in optimizing your WordPress site.
