Next-generation image formats are the new standard for displaying images on the web. They offer significant benefits to both users and publishers when compared to previous formats, including better compression and faster load times.
In this article, we’ll explore how you can use next-generation image formats to optimize your website speed.
What are Next-Gen Images?
A next-generation image format is a proprietary file format (usually a container) that allows the compression of an image in such a way that it can be decompressed by the browser at full resolution. Technically, this means that the image is decoded on your device rather than on servers.
Modern browsers widely support next-gen formats, but legacy formats will still be used if detected. You can quickly identify these formats by right-clicking a PC mouse and saving the visible image. There will be a file extension of .webp, showing the image is next-gen.
Next-gen images are a type of image format that is optimized for the web. They’re commonly used on news sites and blogs, but they can be applied to any site that has visual content. These new formats have several benefits over legacy formats like JPG or GIF.
What are the Benefits of Next-Gen Images?
The website optimization benefits of using next-gen image formats are:
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- Speeds up page loading by reducing the size of your images, which in turn helps improve page load time.
- Reduces page size and data usage, therefore reducing bandwidth costs and making your website load faster.
- Increases conversion rates by improving the user experience due to a faster overall site speed for both desktop and mobile users.
- Lower copying of your media to other providers who do not understand the formatting.
- And many more!
Why Does Speed Matter to Website Optimization?
In today’s world, speed matters. More than ever, consumers are not just looking for a website that is easy to navigate and has relevant content—they are also looking for the fastest experience possible.
The ramifications of slow speeds can be far-reaching. Slow speeds affect your SEO rankings because Google penalizes slower sites in its search results. Slow speeds also hurt customer satisfaction because people simply won’t stick around long enough to find out how great your products or services really are.
How Do Next-Gen Images Improve Speed?
Next-gen images decrease the number of bytes by reducing the amount of data transferred. By using this method, you can also save on bandwidth costs and improve your SEO rankings by avoiding duplicate content issues.
Next-generation image formats use lossy compression techniques to reduce file size while retaining visual quality. The result is smaller files that take less time to download by reducing their size compared to regular JPEGs or PNGs.
How to Switch to Next-Gen Image Formats
Several online and offline options save your images in next-gen formatting. Most of the time, using an online converter will be the easiest method to improve your website optimization.
The benefits of next-gen image formats are simple: They reduce the size of your images without sacrificing quality and make them faster to download. This means you can load more pictures on your website at once without slowing down the page loading time—which is excellent news for both users and search engines.
Our team at Griffon Webstudios is well-versed in the application of next-gen image formatting and other techniques to improve your website optimization. Schedule a consultation with us today to transform your online presence into a streamlined format that will resonate more with your target market.