Uncategorized
28 February 2024
In today’s digital landscape, images hold significant importance for websites, enhancing the visual appeal of landing pages and blog content, thereby creating a positive impression on internet users. However, an increase in the number of images can slow down the page loading speed.
With the introduction of Web Vitals in recent updates, the focus is not only on technical optimization but also on image optimization. If you’re looking to improve your page loading speed through image optimization, Lazy Load is one of the first solutions you should consider.
Lazy Load is a method created using a series of JavaScript codes. This method allows images on your web page to be loaded asynchronously, meaning they are loaded and presented to users not at the moment the page opens, but progressively as the user scrolls down.
By utilizing the Lazy Load method, images on the page do not load all at once upon opening. Instead, they load as the user scrolls down to their level, thus increasing your page loading speed and eliminating the extra requests generated by images during the page opening process.
With Google’s Web Vitals update, factors such as site speed and user experience, which are already ranking factors, have become even more crucial.
Considering that an average landing page today contains more than ten images, and a blog post more than two, image optimization before uploading is not sufficient as the number of images increases.
Lazy Load is recommended for every website. If your web pages contain a large number of images, using Lazy Load is not just a recommendation but a necessity. No matter how efficient your server is or how lightly coded your theme is, your web pages will tend to load slower due to the images.
Benefits of using Lazy Load include:
Lazy Load is best applied to the following types of images and areas, as its primary function is to delay the loading of off-screen images:
Important considerations when using Lazy Load include ensuring that thumbnails and logos visible during page load do not use Lazy Load to avoid impacting FCP and LCP metrics negatively. High-priority visuals that are visible on screen during page load should not use Lazy Load but should consider using Preload instead.
Another point to consider is that delayed loading images can cause issues with CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift). To mitigate this, assign a fixed height value to the areas of the images using Lazy Load or prepare a placeholder for these images.
How to Use Lazy Load?
If you’re using WordPress, Wix, or similar CMS systems, you can benefit from Lazy Load plugins developed for these systems. For custom software, you’ll need to write some code.
First, assign a CSS Class to your images:
<img class=”lazy-loading” data-src=”imagepath/image.jpg”>
Then, style this CSS class as follows:
.lazy-loading {
display: block;
width: 100%;
}
Finally, add the following JavaScript code:
$(document).ready(function () {
$(window).scroll(function () {
$(“.lazy-loading”).each(function () {
if ($(this).offset().top < $(window).scrollTop() + $(window).height() + 100) {
$(this).attr(“src”, $(this).attr(“data-src”));
}
});
});
});
Using Lazy Load is straightforward, as shown above. By paying attention to certain aspects, you can significantly improve your web pages’ loading speed, offering a better experience to your users. Learning and implementing technical aspects like Lazy Load not only enhances user experience but also improves the performance of your websites. For more insights on such technical topics, consider exploring the rich blog content available on CRM Media.
