5+ Free WordPress Image Optimization Plugins to Supercharge Your Website
In need of the best WordPress image optimization plugins? then you’ve come to the right place. In this article,, we will discuss image compression and how plugins help us do these tasks easily.
Images are one of the major reasons behind every successful website. People are wanting more and more of a visual representation of what you want to share, rather than writing paragraphs and sentences. A study done by Optimonster shows that articles or blogs with visuals get 94% more views as opposed to those with none.
Furthermore, it is also a known fact that websites with higher-resolution images reflect more authority than websites with lower-resolution images. The use of high-resolution images not only enhances the range of visitors but also makes the website more attractive and professional.
Therefore, compressing images is very important but doing it in the right way is more important, as is choosing the right image optimization plugins for your WordPress websites.
How to compress WordPress images?
Image compression is the process of reducing the size of an image file so that it consumes less space than the original file without affecting or degrading its quality to a greater extent.
While you upload the image to your website, it consumes more space, which directly impacts loading the site slowly. To solve this problem, image compression is the best solution. There are two methods to compress the image: lossless and lossy.
With lossless compression, every original piece of data is restored in the file after being uncompressed, whereas with lossy compression, some data from the original image file is lost after being compressed.
WordPress developers have built easy tools to compress the images and those are the image optimization plugins. Let’s check out the best WordPress image optimization plugins.
Best WordPress Image Optimization Plugins
Here is a list of the best WordPress image optimization plugins that provide great compression tools. Let’s have a look:
EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer is a better WordPress image optimization plugin that compresses and resizes images to speed up your website. It is easy to set up and can automatically optimize the images you upload on your blog or website. It converts your images to the best file format, and you can choose pixel-perfect compression or high-compression options that are visually lossless. The plugin’s main aim is to increase the page speed, which can help to upgrade the position in the search engine and will also improve conversion rates.
Features:
- Supports Lossy and Lossless Optimization
- Adaptive Steering with intelligent conversion options
- Resize images on the fly
- WPML Compatible
- Bulk optimization
WP Smush
WP Smush is the most popular image compression plugin for WordPress. It is fully loaded with powerful functionality that can boost your site’s score in a search engine while maintaining your image quality. It is easy to use and will optimize your images using advanced lossless compression techniques. The premium version of WP Smush is also available, called “WP Smush Pro,” which backups all smushed images and can smush a lot in one click.
Features:
- Optimize any image in any directory
- Global and individual settings for Multisite
- Auto-Smush your attachments on upload
- Bulk optimization
- Advanced lossless compression techniques
ShortPixel Image Optimizer
ShortPixel is a great option for a WordPress image compression plugin. It helps to increase your website’s SEO ranking by optimizing images that consume less space. They offer lossy and lossless image compression plus glossy JPEG compression, which is a very high-quality lossy optimization algorithm. It automatically saves all the backup images you upload.
Features:
- One-click Backup and Restore
- Supports JPG, PNG, GIF & PDF
- One API Key for multiple sites
- Automatic and Bulk Optimization
- Lossless, Glossy and Lossy Optimization
Imagify Image Optimizer
Imagify is the most advanced WordPress image optimization plugin or tool that speeds up your website with lighter images without losing quality. Bulk optimization features optimize all your existing images in one click. It enables all images, including thumbnails and retina images, from WP Retina X2 to be automatically optimized on the fly. They offer three different levels of compression: normal, aggressive, and ultra.
Features:
- Supports JPG, PNG, and GIF.
- Resize images on the fly.
- Resize based on percentage.
- Support for PrestaShop, Magento and soon
- Supports Lossy and Lossless Optimization
TinyPNG Compress JPEG & PNG Images
TinyPNG is another image optimization plugin that uses smart lossy compression techniques to reduce the file size of your PNG files. This plugin automatically optimizes all your images by integrating with the popular image compression services TinyJPG and TinyPNG.
Features:
- Automatically optimize new images on upload
- Easy bulk optimization
- WooCommerce compatible
- Supports JPEG & PNG files only
- Single API can be used for multiple sites
Optimus
Optimus is your go-to image optimization WordPress plugin. Depending on your image and format, Optimus guarantees that it can reduce your images by up to 70% from their initial size. It also disregards unnecessary information stored in your images to give you optimized results.
Features:
- Progressive JPEGs or JPGs
- Faster Load times for blog pages
- Supports WooCommerce
- Multisite Compatible
- Bulk Image Optimizations
- No adjustment codes are necessary.
reSmush.it
reSmush.it is one of the best image optimization plugins that offers high image optimization with zero loss in its properties. The reduction of the image sizes is based on several algorithms to give you proper and lossless results. Furthermore, you can upload images up to 5 MB for free. You can also utilize its application programming interface (API) to quickly and perfectly improve your image sizes.
Features:
- Allows to optimize picture up to 5 MB
- You can choose levels to include more images for optimization.
- Ability to revert back to original image size
- Free and open-source platform
- Simple and user-friendly interface
Wrapping Up
Hence, these are the best WordPress image optimization plugins. I hope this article may help you choose the right plugins for image optimization.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Image Optimization Plugins
What is an image optimization plugin?
An image optimization plugin for WordPress helps reduce the size and optimize the quality of images on your website. It ensures faster loading times, better SEO, and an improved user experience by compressing images while maintaining their quality.
Is it necessary to backup images before optimization?
It’s a good practice to back up your original images before optimization. This allows you to restore the original quality if needed and provides a safety net in case of any issues during the optimization process.
Can image optimization plugins handle bulk optimization?
Yes, many image optimization plugins that we’ve mentioned above offer bulk optimization features, allowing you to optimize multiple images at once, which is a huge time-saver for websites with a very large number of images.
How does lazy loading contribute to image optimization?
Lazy loading is a technique where images are loaded only when they are about to enter the user’s viewport. This means that images outside the visible area are not loaded until the user scrolls down to them, which can significantly improve page load times
Follow this link for more detailed article-> Easy Ways for Lazy loading your images in WordPress
Which is better between Smush and EWWW Image Optimizer?
- Smush: If you want a straightforward solution with automatic optimization, Smush is a great choice. It’s easy to use and works well out of the box.
- EWWW Image Optimizer: For more advanced users who need customization options and compatibility with various image formats, EWWW is a solid pick.
Ultimately, the choice depends on your specific needs and preferences. Consider factors like compression quality, ease of use, and integration with other tools when making your decision.
Remember to test both plugins on your site to see which one aligns better with your requirements.
There are other WordPress plugins that you may be interested in visiting; let’s check them out:
Hi, Interesting reading but I am a little confused. I do photography and tend to use Adobe Photoshop or Snagit to create website images and I normally save them as PNG files. Do I need a plugin or do these packages do the same? Trevor
PNG files gives better quality than JPEG but its better to use the optimize images because normally PNG image is large in size that JPEG Format.
Thanks a lot for sharing this awesome post, I was trying to speed up my WordPress website and this post helped me a lot in decreasing images Load time on my website and Now, I have installed WPCompresson plugin and here’s another guide that helped me: https://www.cloudways.com/blog/wordpress-image-optimization-plugin/, Hope it will help your readers as well.
EWWW Image Optimizer plugin works well and I believe its a very good image compression plugin for wordpress, but there’s another specially designed for compression JPEG & PNG Images its known as “Compress JPEG & PNG Images” it does the job very well without compromising image quality, I learned about it on: https://www.wpblog.com/best-wordpress-image-compression-plugins/. Do have a look at it too. thanks
Thank you for this awesome post. This is the first time I am hearing about TinyPNG. I have used the other plugins (Wp Smush & EWW Image optimizer) in my sites before. Let me try Tinypng and find out how it differs from the others.