We know the time it takes for a page to load has an impact on our SEO scores. Resizing and compressing images to get a smaller file size is a super important first step, but there’s more that can be done to improve the speed of you website when it comes to images- lazy loading.
Let’s go over the benefits of Lazy Loading
What is Lazy Loading
The basic idea of lazy loading is that images are loaded as they’re needed. Your website user can begin utilizing your page right away rather than waiting for everything to load.
Everything above the fold (that’s everything visible on the screen upon page load) will load right away and the rest will load as the user scrolls down.
Why is this important
Page speed is one of the main factors that Google takes into account when ranking your website. We’re all striving for better positioning in search engine rankings and page load speed is one of the main things we need to keep in mind. But, lazy load also makes for a better user experience. Your users can begin reading and seeing your page right away rather than sitting and waiting for each element to be loaded.
How does Lazy Load work
Lazy load is typically done by javascript. The script looks for images, holds them off screen and loads them as needed. That’s it in a nutshell. For most users this process is best accomplished using a plugin. You can read more details about the implementation over at web.dev.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it. (Side note: all of my Care Plan clients now have WP Rocket and Perfmatters installed that provide this functionality and more!)
Do you have lazy load implemented on your website? Have you tested your Google page speed score with and without it enabled to see the difference it makes?
