Increasing Image Loading Speed with Lazy Load on Websites

Increasing Visual Loading Speed with Lazy Load Usage on Websites

Improving website performance is critical for enhancing user experience and boosting search engine rankings. Slow-loading websites can cause visitors to lose interest and increase bounce rates. Therefore, web developers use various techniques to optimize site speed. One of these techniques is "Lazy Load." In this article, we will examine in detail what lazy load is, how it works, its advantages, and how you can implement it on your website.

What is Lazy Load?

Lazy load is an optimization technique that allows images or other resources on web pages to be loaded only when the user brings them close to the viewport. Normally, when a web page is loaded, all images and other media elements on the page try to load at the same time. This can significantly increase the loading time of pages, especially those containing many images. Lazy load, on the other hand, shortens the initial loading time of the page and improves the user experience by loading only the images that will be seen by the user.

What are the Advantages of Lazy Load?

Using lazy load has many important advantages for your website:

1. Faster Loading Times

The most obvious advantage is that it significantly reduces the loading time of the web page. Instead of loading all the images on the page at the same time, only the visible images are loaded, so the initial loading time of the page is shortened. This makes a big difference, especially on mobile devices and slow internet connections.

2. Less Bandwidth Usage

Lazy load reduces your server's bandwidth usage by loading only the images that are needed. This can provide significant cost savings, especially for high-traffic websites. If the user leaves without viewing the entire page, unnecessary bandwidth consumption is prevented because the invisible images will not be loaded.

3. Improved User Experience

Faster loading times allow users to stay on your website longer and view more pages. This improves the overall user experience and increases the likelihood that users will be satisfied with your site. Reducing waiting time makes it easier for users to interact with the site and leaves a positive impression.

4. Better SEO Performance

Google and other search engines consider the speed of websites as one of the ranking factors. Faster loading websites tend to rank higher in search results. By increasing the speed of your website using lazy load, you can improve your SEO performance and attract more organic traffic.

How to Implement Lazy Load?

There are various methods to implement lazy load on your website. Some of these are:

1. HTML `loading="lazy"` Attribute

Modern web browsers natively support lazy load for images and iframes. To use this support, simply add the `loading="lazy"` attribute to the `img` and `iframe` tags. This attribute tells the browser that the image or iframe should only be loaded when the user approaches the viewport.

This method is easy and simple to use, but it may not be supported by all older browsers. Therefore, it is recommended to use it in conjunction with other methods for wider browser compatibility.

2. JavaScript Libraries

There are many different JavaScript libraries available to implement lazy load. These libraries offer more customization options and help solve compatibility issues with older browsers. Some of the most popular lazy load libraries are:

LazySizes: A lightweight, fast, and easy-to-use library.
lozad.js: An extremely simple and dependency-free library.
yall.js: Another lightweight and customizable option.

These libraries usually require you to store the `src` attribute of the images in a `data-src` or similar custom attribute, and the library uses this attribute to load the images.

In this example, the `data-src` attribute is used instead of the `src` attribute of the image, and `class="lazyload"` is added to indicate to the LazySizes library that this image will be lazy loaded. The `lazysizes.min.js` file must also be added to your page.

3. WordPress Plugins

For those using WordPress, there are many plugins available to implement lazy load. These plugins allow you to easily integrate lazy load into your website and usually do not require additional configuration. Some popular WordPress lazy load plugins are:

Smush: Offers image optimization and lazy load features together.
Lazy Load by WP Rocket: Part of the WP Rocket plugin and offers a fast and effective lazy load solution.
Optimole: Offers a cloud-based image optimization service and automatically applies lazy load.

After installing and activating these plugins, you usually just need to enable lazy load from the settings section. The plugin will automatically start lazy loading your images.

Things to Consider When Implementing Lazy Load

There are some important points to consider when implementing lazy load on your website:

Above the Fold Images: Above the fold images are the images that the user sees when they first open your page. Loading these images with lazy load can negatively affect the user experience. Therefore, it is important to exclude above the fold images from lazy load or ensure that they are loaded with priority.
Placeholders: Use placeholders to maintain the layout of the page until the images are loaded. This prevents users from seeing empty spaces while waiting for the page to load. Placeholders can be a simple colored box or a low-resolution preview.
SEO Optimization: Pay attention to SEO optimization when implementing lazy load so that search engines can crawl your images. Fill in the `alt` tags of the images correctly and descriptively, and add the images to your `sitemap` file.
Testing and Monitoring: After implementing lazy load, test and monitor the performance of your website. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to evaluate the speed and user experience of your website.

Conclusion and Summary

Lazy load is an effective optimization technique for improving the performance of websites, enhancing user experience, and boosting SEO performance. By loading only the images that are needed, it shortens the loading time of the page, reduces bandwidth usage, and allows users to stay on your website longer. You can implement lazy load on your website with various methods such as the HTML `loading="lazy"` attribute, JavaScript libraries, and WordPress plugins. It is important to pay attention to above the fold images, placeholders, and SEO optimization during implementation. By regularly testing and monitoring the performance of your website, you can maximize the impact of lazy load.