Category Archives: 2. Image Optimization

How to Optimise Your Site for Google’s Mobile First Changes

2. Image Optimization, 3. Website Speed Optimization

From 2016 onwards, mobile traffic surpassed desktop traffic for the first time in internet history. And it has only continued to do so from then onwards. For this reason, Google announced its intention to implement a new mobile-first indexing process when it comes to its search results. Doing so, they stated, would make searches much more relevant for the growing majority audience of mobile users, rather than minority desktop users.

A shocking number of sites are barely optimized for desktop, let alone mobile. Which is why, when Google’s mobile index rollout hits fully, many small businesses may be surprised to find a sharp decline in traffic and SERP positioning. However, pre-emptive optimization now could prevent this from happening and may even improve your websites standing. Especially if this is a change you are making and your competitors are failing to do so, leaving you one step ahead.

With that in mind, what is mobile first exactly and why is it so important that you optimize your WordPress website to meet these changes from Google?

Continue reading How to Optimise Your Site for Google’s Mobile First Changes →

What’s the Difference Between Lossy and Lossless Image Compression?

2. Image Optimization

Lossless vs lossy

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you know enough about image compression to know it’s worth researching, but not enough to answer the big question every beginner has: what’s the difference between lossy and lossless image compression? Well, to put your mind at ease, here’s the short answer:

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The Complete Guide to Image Compression: How to Reduce Image Sizes for Faster Sites

2. Image Optimization

Smooth. Sleek. Efficient. It’s a great feeling to trim the fat, whether you’re outlining your work schedule or simply cleaning your home. But when it comes to your site, removing excess isn’t just for your benefit, it’s best for your visitors and customers as well. Digital image compression, and data compression in general, makes your site run faster with less data to load. That means trimming the fat is better for business.

shortpixel image optimization

We now know website speed directly affects both the site’s quality and the user experience (UX), but did you know the Google algorithm also factors in speed when ranking search page results? The significance of site speed only increases as modern users come to expect faster and faster sites, but luckily tech breakthroughs are keeping pace to meet those expectations, namely image compression.

Continue reading The Complete Guide to Image Compression: How to Reduce Image Sizes for Faster Sites →

Why you cannot choose the compression ratio with ShortPixel

2. Image Optimization, 4. ShortPixel updates & news

Short answer: Because you really don’t need to.

Our artificial intelligence compression algorithms compare each and every optimized image with the original and make sure that they are looking good for a human visitor. Moreover, we have three sets of algorithms for three different user cases: Lossy for most of the sites, Glossy for photographers, and Lossless for those rare situations when you cannot lose a pixel.

If you are used with offline tools like Adobe Photoshop, you could expect to find similar settings in our plugin menu.  Or in our online image optimization tool for that matter. That’s why we are asked from time to time if there is a way to set the compression ratio.

Long answer:

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How to resize large images with ShortPixel

2. Image Optimization, 4. ShortPixel updates & news

ShortPixel’s Resize Images feature can reduce your hosting storage by changing the sizes of your uploaded pictures. Each time you add an image WordPress automatically generates a number of thumbnails which are deployed on your webpages. Your original pictures are rarely shown to your visitors, but they take a lot of your hosting space.

Here is how our Resize Image function works. Continue reading How to resize large images with ShortPixel →