I would not rush into compressing images without a plan. Compressing images can improve your Core Web Vitals, but doing it wrong can degrade your product's visual appeal. You need to balance performance with quality, especially for hero images.
Use WebP or AVIF formats for image compression, ensuring fallbacks for compatibility. Resize images to their displayed dimensions and lazy-load those below the fold. This approach helps improve Core Web Vitals while keeping the work clean.
The mistake is over-compressing hero images
Hero images are often the first thing users see. Over-compressing them might speed up your site, but it can also make the first impression look cheap. Focus on optimizing the largest images on high-traffic pages. That is where you get the most return on investment.
Use modern formats with fallbacks
Switch to WebP or AVIF formats for compression. These formats offer better compression without losing quality. However, not all browsers support them, so include fallback formats like JPEG or PNG. Tech Revenue Brief's Image Compressor can help with this.
Resizing and lazy-loading
Resize images to match their displayed dimensions. This simple step can significantly reduce file size. Also, lazy-load images that are below the fold. This means they only load when the user scrolls down, saving initial load time and improving LCP (Largest Contentful Paint).
Focus on high-traffic URLs
Do not spread your efforts too thin. Focus on the largest images on your highest traffic URLs first. Improving these will have the most noticeable impact on your Core Web Vitals. Rank Math vs Yoast SEO can help you find which pages need the most work.
Balancing image quality with performance is not optional. you need to for maintaining both user experience and SEO benefits.
