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Why Preparing Images Matters
Photos straight from a phone or camera are enormous, often 5MB or more. Upload a few of those and your website slows to a crawl. Slow pages frustrate visitors and rank lower on Google, so a minute of preparation before you upload pays for itself many times over.
What to Do Before You Upload
Resize the image: Most website images never need to be wider than 1920 pixels, and images that sit in a column or card can be 800 pixels or less. On Windows you can resize in Photos, on a Mac use Preview, or use a free tool such as squoosh.app in your browser.
Keep the file size under 300KB: As a rule of thumb, aim for under 300KB per image, and well under 100KB for smaller images. If a resized photo is still too heavy, run it through a compressor such as squoosh.app or tinypng.com. The quality loss is usually invisible.
Choose WebP or JPG: WebP is the modern format and gives the smallest files, so use it if your tool offers it. JPG is the safe choice for photos if WebP is not an option. PNG is only needed for graphics that require transparency, such as logos, because PNG photos are much larger.
Give the file a descriptive name: Rename the file before uploading. "kitchen-renovation-tralee.jpg" tells Google and screen readers what the image shows, while "IMG_4507.jpg" tells them nothing. Use lowercase words separated by hyphens and keep it short and honest.
Add alt text when you upload: Once the image is in WordPress, fill in the "Alternative Text" box with a short description of what is in the picture. This helps visually impaired visitors and gives Google extra context.
You need to know:
A good habit is to prepare a batch of photos in one sitting, then upload them all together. Your Media Library stays organised and every page you build afterwards loads quickly. If your site already feels slow because of heavy images, call us on 066 717 4067 and we can tidy it up for you.