Top 5 best free image compression plugins wordpress

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Images play a significant role in website design and content creation. They help to make the content more engaging and visually appealing to the audience. However, images can also slow down the website’s loading time, resulting in a poor user experience. This is where image compression comes in handy. Image compression reduces the image file size without affecting its quality. In this article, we will explore the top 5 best free image compression plugins for WordPress.

Smush

Smush is a popular image compression plugin for WordPress, with over one million active installs. It optimizes images without sacrificing quality, and it can compress images in bulk. Smush also offers a feature called lazy loading, which only loads images when the user scrolls down the page. This helps to reduce the website’s loading time and improve its performance.

Features:

  • Compresses images in bulk
  • Supports lazy loading
  • Optimizes images without sacrificing quality
  • Automatically resizes images based on the device used to view the website
  • Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins

Official Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/

How to use Smush plugin in WordPress:

Step 1: Install the Smush Plugin:

The first step is to install the Smush plugin on your WordPress website. You can do this by going to the WordPress dashboard, selecting “Plugins,” and then clicking on “Add New.” Search for “Smush” in the search bar and install the plugin.

Step 2: Activate the Plugin:

Once the plugin is installed, activate it by clicking on “Activate Plugin.” You can access the plugin’s settings by clicking on the “Smush” option in the left-hand menu.

Step 3: Choose Compression Settings:

Once you’re in the Smush settings, you can choose your preferred compression settings. You can either optimize images on upload or optimize images in your media library. You can also choose to include or exclude certain file types or image sizes.

Step 4: Enable Lazy Loading:

Smush also offers a lazy loading feature, which loads images as users scroll down the page, rather than loading all images at once. This can help to improve website performance and reduce the website’s loading time. You can enable lazy loading by selecting the “Lazy Load” option in the Smush settings.

Step 5: Bulk Smush:

Smush also allows you to compress images in bulk. To do this, go to the “Media” section of your WordPress dashboard and select “Bulk Smush.” This will compress all images in your media library. You can also select individual images to optimize.

Step 6: Check Image Compression:

After compressing the images, you can check the compression level by going to the media library and selecting an image. The compression level will be displayed under the image.

That’s it! By following these steps, you can use the Smush plugin to optimize your images and improve your website’s loading time.

EWWW Image Optimizer

EWWW Image Optimizer is another popular image compression plugin for WordPress, with over 800,000 active installs. It optimizes images by removing unnecessary data and compressing the image file size. EWWW Image Optimizer also offers a feature called cloud optimization, which allows users to optimize images using third-party cloud services.

Features:

  • Removes unnecessary data from images
  • Compresses images to reduce file size
  • Offers cloud optimization feature
  • Supports all popular image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF
  • Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins

How to use EWWW Image Optimizer plugin in WordPress:

Step 1: Install and Activate the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin

The first step is to install and activate the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin. You can do this by going to your WordPress dashboard, clicking on “Plugins,” and then “Add New.” Search for “EWWW Image Optimizer,” install the plugin, and activate it.

Step 2: Configure Settings

After activating the plugin, you’ll need to configure the settings to optimize your images. Go to the “Settings” page for EWWW Image Optimizer by clicking on “Media” in your WordPress dashboard and then “EWWW Image Optimizer.”

Step 3: Choose Optimization Settings

On the settings page, you can choose the optimization settings that work best for you. The default settings should work fine for most websites, but you can adjust them if needed. The plugin offers three levels of optimization – lossy, lossless, and glossy – to choose from.

Step 4: Optimize Existing Images

After configuring the settings, you can optimize all your existing images by going to the “Media” section of your WordPress dashboard and clicking on “Bulk Optimize.” This will optimize all the images on your website automatically.

Step 5: Optimize New Images

The EWWW Image Optimizer plugin can also optimize new images as you upload them to your website. You don’t need to do anything special to enable this feature, as it is enabled by default. The plugin will optimize all new images automatically.

That’s it! EWWW Image Optimizer will now optimize all your images on your WordPress website, reducing their file size and improving the website’s loading time.

Official Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/ewww-image-optimizer/

Optimole

Optimole is a powerful image optimization plugin for WordPress. It optimizes images automatically and compresses them to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Optimole also offers a feature called lazy loading, which loads images only when they are visible on the screen.

Features:

  • Compresses images without sacrificing quality
  • Optimizes images automatically
  • Offers lazy loading feature
  • Supports all popular image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF
  • Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins

How to use Optimole plugin in WordPress:

  1. Install and activate the Optimole plugin in your WordPress site.
  2. Once activated, go to the Optimole settings page in the WordPress dashboard.
  3. Sign up for an account with Optimole by clicking on the “Create Account” button. You will need to provide your email address and choose a password.
  4. Once you have created an account, enter your Optimole API key in the appropriate field on the settings page. You can find your API key in the Optimole dashboard under “API Settings.”
  5. Choose the settings you want to use for your images. Optimole provides several options, including image quality, lazy loading, and CDN usage.
  6. Click on the “Save Changes” button to save your settings.
  7. Optimole will automatically optimize the images on your site, so you don’t need to do anything else. You can check the optimized images by using the “View Optimized Images” option on the Optimole settings page.

That’s it! Optimole will optimize your images in real-time, and you don’t need to worry about anything else. With Optimole, you can ensure that your images are optimized for speed and performance, which can improve your website’s user experience and SEO.

Official Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/optimole-wp/

ShortPixel

ShortPixel is a popular image optimization plugin for WordPress, with over 200,000 active installs. It optimizes images by compressing them and reducing their file size without affecting their quality. ShortPixel also offers a feature called WebP conversion, which converts images to the WebP format, which is smaller than JPEG and PNG formats.

Features:

  • Compresses images without affecting quality
  • Reduces image file size
  • Offers WebP conversion feature
  • Supports all popular image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF
  • Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins

How to use ShortPixel plugin in WordPress:

Step 1: Install ShortPixel Plugin

The first step is to install and activate the ShortPixel plugin. You can find it in the WordPress plugin repository or by searching for “ShortPixel” from the Plugins > Add New section in your WordPress dashboard.

Step 2: Create an Account

Once the plugin is activated, you will be prompted to create a ShortPixel account. Click the “Create a ShortPixel account” button to proceed.

Step 3: Choose Image Compression Settings

After creating your account, go to Settings > ShortPixel in your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can choose the compression settings for your images. There are three options available: Lossy, Glossy, and Lossless. Each option has a different level of compression and quality. You can choose the option that best suits your needs.

Step 4: Compress Images

Now that you have set up the compression settings, you can start optimizing your images. Go to Media > ShortPixel in your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can see all the images on your website. You can optimize individual images or bulk optimize them by selecting the images and clicking on the “Bulk ShortPixel” button.

Step 5: Monitor Progress and Results

After compressing the images, you can monitor the progress and results of the optimization process by going to Media > ShortPixel in your WordPress dashboard. Here you can see the number of images that have been optimized and the amount of space saved.

That’s it! With these simple steps, you can optimize your website’s images using ShortPixel. The plugin is easy to use and offers various features to optimize images and improve website performance.

Official Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortpixel-image-optimiser/

Compress JPEG & PNG Images

Compress JPEG & PNG Images is a lightweight and easy-to-use image optimization plugin for WordPress. It optimizes images by compressing them and reducing their file size without affecting their quality. Compress JPEG & PNG Images also offers a feature called bulk optimization, which allows users to optimize multiple images at once.

Features:

  • Compresses images without affecting quality
  • Reduces image file size
  • Offers bulk optimization feature
  • Supports all popular image formats, including JPEG, PNG, and GIF
  • Compatible with most WordPress themes and plugins
  • Offers a backup feature, which allows users to restore the original image if needed

How to use Compress JPEG & PNG Images plugin in WordPress:

  1. Install the Plugin First, you’ll need to install the Compress JPEG & PNG Images plugin on your WordPress website. To do this, go to the WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New. Then, search for “Compress JPEG & PNG Images” in the search bar, and click on “Install Now” once you’ve found the plugin.
  2. Activate the Plugin After installing the plugin, click on “Activate” to enable it on your website.
  3. Configure the Plugin Settings Once the plugin is activated, you’ll need to configure its settings. To do this, go to Settings > Compress JPEG & PNG images on your WordPress dashboard. Here, you’ll see a few options:
  • Compression level: You can choose between three compression levels: Lossless, Lossy, and Glossy. Lossless compression reduces the file size without affecting the image quality, while Lossy and Glossy compression can reduce the file size further, but with some loss of image quality. Choose the compression level that best suits your needs.
  • Resize larger images: You can choose to resize larger images to a maximum width and height to reduce their file size further.
  • Backup original images: You can choose to create a backup of your original images before compressing them. This can be useful if you ever need to restore the original image for any reason.
  • Enable automatic compression: You can choose to enable automatic compression for newly uploaded images. If this option is enabled, the plugin will automatically compress any new images you upload to your website.
  1. Compress Your Images Once you’ve configured the plugin settings, you can compress your images. There are two ways to do this:
  • Compress individual images: To compress individual images, go to Media > Library on your WordPress dashboard. Then, select the image you want to compress, and click on “Compress” under the image. The plugin will compress the image and show you the new file size.
  • Compress multiple images: To compress multiple images at once, go to Media > Bulk Optimization on your WordPress dashboard. Here, you can select the images you want to compress, and click on “Start Optimizing” to begin the compression process. The plugin will compress all the selected images and show you the new file sizes.

And that’s it! By following these steps, you can use the Compress JPEG & PNG Images plugin to optimize your images and reduce their file size, which can help improve your website’s loading speed and overall performance.

Official Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/tiny-compress-images/

Conclusion

In conclusion, image compression is an essential aspect of website optimization. Using any of the above-mentioned image compression plugins can help to reduce the image file size without affecting their quality, resulting in improved website performance and a better user experience. Whether you choose Smush, EWWW Image Optimizer, Optimole, ShortPixel, or Compress JPEG & PNG Images, you can be assured of a faster loading website and improved user engagement.

While there are ways to optimize images without using a plugin, such as resizing them before uploading, using compression software, or using a CDN with image optimization features, using a plugin is generally the easiest and most convenient option. By choosing the right image compression plugin for your WordPress website, you can optimize your images and ensure that your website loads quickly and efficiently for your visitors.

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