P1Issue #63

Page speed : properly size image

❓ What does it mean?

❓ What does it mean? When a website serves images that are larger than their display size on the page, the browser still downloads the full large file and then resizes it visually. This wastes bandwidth, increases page load time, and negatively affects Core Web Vitals.

🚨 Why is it important for SEO?

🚨 Why is this a problem for SEO? Slow page speed → Larger image files = slower load. Poor user experience → Increases bounce rate, especially on mobile with slow connections. Wasted bandwidth → Users download heavy images without any visual benefit. Negative impact on Core Web Vitals → Slower Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), a Google ranking factor.

✅ How to Fix It

✅ Best Practices to Fix Serve images in the exact size (or close) to how they appear on the page. Use responsive images (srcset) for different screen sizes. Use CSS/media queries to load appropriately sized images for devices. Compress and resize images before uploading (e.g., using TinyPNG, ImageMagick, or Next.js Image Optimization).

❌ Bad Example

📌 Example ❌ Bad (Oversized Image): <img src="large-image-3000px.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="Product Image"> 👉 The image is 3000px wide but only displayed at 600px, forcing the browser to download an unnecessarily large file.

✅ Good Example

✅ Good (Properly Sized Image): <img src="product-600px.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="Product Image"> 👉 The image is 600px wide (same as display size), so no bandwidth is wasted. ✅ Better (Responsive Images with srcset): <img src="product-600px.jpg" srcset="product-400px.jpg 400w, product-800px.jpg 800w, product-1200px.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" alt="Product Image"> 👉 The browser automatically picks the best image size depending on the device screen width.

⚡ Result

⚡ SEO & UX Impact of Fixing Faster page load speed → better Google rankings. Improved LCP score (Google Core Web Vitals). Reduced bounce rate → users stay longer. Saves bandwidth → especially important for mobile users. 👉 Rule of thumb: Always match image file size to display size. Use responsive image techniques (srcset, sizes). Combine with next-gen formats (WebP/AVIF) for maximum speed gains.