[WBS Series] Fix Your Slow Website: A Guide to Optimizing Images

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This Post is Part of the Series: DIY Website Blind Spots, a series that helps uncover the small (but important) things that may be holding your website back. Whether you built it yourself or you’re the one keeping it running, these tips can help you catch problems early and fix them fast.

Images make your website beautiful. But if you’re uploading photos or images straight from your phone or from the marketplace where you bought them (and you should absolutely invest in your images), they might be impacting your website speed.

Here’s the deal. Big images slow your website down. Slow websites frustrate visitors who could leave before your page fully loads.

The Common Mistake: Uploading Full-Size, Unoptimized Images

Some common issues I see:

  • Uploading images that are 3000 pixels wide when a 1200 pixel wide image is all you need.
  • Skipping compression to reduce the file size.
  • Not converting images to more modern formats like WebP which is smaller and faster.

Why Does This Matter?

  • Page speed affects SEO rankings.
  • Slow sites increase bounce rates.
  • Visitors expect pages to load in 2-3 seconds. (Or less!)

How Can You Optimize Images?

  • Resize the images before you upload them: There are a lot of free tools to resize images. You can use Photoshop or Affinity Photo, if you have them. I personally use and LOVE Photopea.
  • Compress the files: You can use tools like TinyPNG or ShortPixel to reduce the file size without compromising quality. I use the ShortPixel plugin (and pay for the credits) on all of my management plan clients websites.
  • Use WebP or more modern formats: WebP images are 25-35% smaller than JPG or PNG files. This is another reason I use the ShortPixel plugin. It will automatically convert images to WebP and serve them to site visitors.

In some cases, image optimization has been shown to reduce load time by 20–30%, especially on image-heavy pages (Elegant Themes). Images often account for roughly 60–70% of a page’s total size, especially on those same image-heavy pages (Web Almanac / HTTP Archive). Multiple studies find that a 1-second slowdown can lead to an approximate 7% drop in conversions (Cloudflare).

A typical DIY website loading in 5-7 seconds may be able to drop below 3 seconds just by optimizing its images, especially if many of the current images are large and uncompressed. In some case studies, aggressive image compression and resizing have reduced load times by 25-50% (case study).

Quick Tip: Don’t Forget About Background Images & Logos

Large hero background images and site logos are often overlooked, but are prime candidates for optimization.

Want to Know if Your Images Are Hurting Your Site?

Run your website through a tool like PageSpeed Insights or GTMetrix and find out firsthand how your website is performing. If you’d rather get support for that area of your website, reach out for a website audit, and I’ll show you exactly what’s slowing you down.

Want to read the rest of the series? Browse all DIY Blind Spot articles here →

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I am Sandra Lee, but most people know me as Sandy. I own Sandra Lee Creative, a small website design and management studio where I work with non-fiction authors, personal brands, and small business owners who are using their experience, voice, and vision to build authority brands and professional businesses. My goal is to help my clients build a professional and strategic website so they can confidently share their message.

I am a super-chill, east coast girl who believes that simplicity and margin equals greater success and freedom in most areas of my life.

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