The Skinny
It’s Spring, you’ve got summer on your mind and you’re likely looking to lose a few of those winter (or pandemic) pounds. You know your body will feel much better dropping even just a little of that extra weight. Your website is no different…
Website hosting servers are happier, and run smoother, when they’ve got more free space. Extra-large images and videos tend to take up that space and can significantly slow down the user experience. Today we’re going to talk about how to reduce an image’s file size, but still maintain its quality.
There are 2-primary image types that display most graphics on the web. PNG (pronounced P-N-G) and JPG (pronounced J-PEG). You’ve likely heard that JPGs can be compressed, but you’ve also probably heard that compression can reduce the quality of the image. No one wants the pictures on their website to look grainy or pixelated. This is where a fantastic, and free, online tool comes into play: TinyPNG.com / TinyJPG.com.
TinyPNG.com / TinyJPG.com compresses both types of images with incredible results. Through a lossless compression method, these websites can greatly reduce your image file sizes, but not their quality.
The next time you are planning to use an image on your website, or your email newsletter, head over to TinyPNG.com / TinyJPG.com and run your image through their tool (or AskCriana).
How Does CRIANA Optimize Images
TinyPNG is part of our everyday workflow. Actually, the plugin has likely been installed on your CRIANA managed website. This means anytime an image is uploaded to your site’s Media Library it is compressed and optimized automatically. This plugin is bundled into your client hosting costs.
When Image Optimization Isn’t Enough
What happens when you’ve had your site for a long time, like more than a decade, and you have a lot of images? This is when Amazon S3 becomes a necessary part of your website’s optimization plan.
Amazon S3, integrated with a tool to offload your Media Library, provides you with scalable server space at an incredibly affordable price. All of your image files are moved to Amazon’s low-cost server, which frees up your premium website hosting. A visitor to your site will experience the difference through improved speed and efficiency. AskCriana if you are interested in exploring these benefits.