Question 1

How much should I compress images for a website?

Accepted Answer

Work to targets: hero images at 50–150 KB, in-content images at 20–80 KB, thumbnails under 30 KB. For photos that usually means WebP or JPG at quality 75–85 after resizing to display size. If a content image is over 200 KB, keep going.

Question 2

Does compressing images reduce quality?

Accepted Answer

Lossy compression discards data, but at sensible settings (quality 75–85 for photos) the difference is invisible at normal viewing sizes. Visible damage comes from over-compression or from compressing repeatedly; compress once, from the original, to a target.

Question 3

What's the best image format for a fast website?

Accepted Answer

WebP for most photos and graphics: typically 25–35% smaller than equivalent JPG with universal browser support. AVIF compresses further where your tools support it, and SVG beats everything for logos and icons.

Question 4

What is a good LCP score and how do images affect it?

Accepted Answer

Google considers LCP good at 2.5 seconds or under. The LCP element is an image on roughly 85% of desktop pages, so image weight usually decides the score: a 500 KB hero costs about 1.2 seconds of download on 4G before anything else happens.

Question 5

Should I compress images before or after uploading to WordPress?

Accepted Answer

Before. WordPress generates resized copies but doesn't meaningfully optimize your original, and plugins that compress after upload still store the heavy master. Arriving at the right size and format keeps your media library lean and every generated copy smaller.

Editing

How to Compress Images for Web Pages That Load Fast

Best Free Photo Editors With No Watermark in 2026 (Tested)

PNG vs JPG vs WebP: Which Image Format Should You Use?

How to Resize an Image Without Losing Quality