Choosing the Best Image File Type for your WordPress Site

For any WordPressWordPressWordPress is a content management system that runs on MySQL and PHP. The best part about WordPress is it is free and an open-source platform. It comes with a wide range of templates opening up the possibilities in creating an e-commerce website, or a service provider website, or an individual’s website. Thus, it meets the requirements of all the facets of the world. Its features are plugin architecture and the above-mentioned template system. Though it is mostly associated with blogging, it also supports other content like media galleries, traditional mailing lists, and forums. site, you might have been wondering which image file type is the best? Should you use jpgJPG or JPEGJPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. or PNGPNGPortable Network Graphics is a raster-graphics file-format that supports lossless data compression. PNG was developed as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format. PNG supports palette-based images, grayscale images, and full-color non-palette-based RGB or RGBA images. or WebPWebPWebP is an image format employing both lossy and lossless compression. It is currently developed by Google, based on technology acquired with the purchase of On2 Technologies. As a derivative of the VP8 video format, it is a sister project to the WebM multimedia container format.? We will help you in deciding which image file types are suited for your WordPress site.

Besides, we will also cover the factors influencing your decision, the best available image file types, and finally, reveal some best practices to be kept in mind before taking that final call.

Factors to Consider Before Choosing Image File Type

Choosing the proper image file type matters a lot since it directly affects your website performance. It can help you rank well on organic search.

• Speed & Performance – Some image file types occupy more space than others. By using large image file formats, you might make your website slow and add to server loads. To ensure better page speeds and optimal user experience (UXUXUser Experience Design (UXD, UED, or XD) is the process of manipulating user behavior through usability, accessibility, and desirability provided in the interaction with a product. User experience design encompasses traditional human–computer interaction (HCI) design and extends it by addressing all aspects of a product or service as perceived by users. Experience design (XD) is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, omnichannel journeys, and environments with a focus placed on the quality of the user experience and culturally relevant solutions.), it is best to go with lighter images.
• Responsive Design – Nowadays, your website has to render well across devices. Your images need to look great across screens of varying resolutions. With this in mind, it is better to design a website that uses responsive image file types that are supported across devices. 
• SEO Score – Page speed has a direct impact on the SEO ratings of your site. Choosing high-quality and SEO ready images helps in setting up your site for higher SEO scores.
• Consistency – It is a good practice to stick to one main image file type. You can have one or two preferred image file formats and try other formats only on an on-demand basis.

Image Formats That Make Website User-friendly

The two most widely used image graphic components making up any picture are raster graphics and vector graphics.

Raster graphics store information as bitmaps and composed of pixels. It includes nearly all digital images including those selfies on your smartphones. The advantages of these images are that they are cost-effective and can be used across devices without much loss during compression. However, there is some loss in quality during the enlarging of images. Some of the common extensions include .BMP, .GIF, jpgJPG or JPEGJPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality., PNGPNGPortable Network Graphics is a raster-graphics file-format that supports lossless data compression. PNG was developed as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format. PNG supports palette-based images, grayscale images, and full-color non-palette-based RGB or RGBA images., .WebPWebPWebP is an image format employing both lossy and lossless compression. It is currently developed by Google, based on technology acquired with the purchase of On2 Technologies. As a derivative of the VP8 video format, it is a sister project to the WebM multimedia container format., and .TIF.TIFTagged Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is a computer file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers..

Vector graphics are widely used in printing services and composed of paths. They are created and saved as a result of a sequence of mathematical statements. Vector graphics occupy much less space than raster images since they are used to draw continuous and smooth lines. They retain image quality while being compressed as well as enlarged. Some of the widely known extensions include .SVG.SVGScalable Vector Graphics is an Extensible Markup Language-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation., .EPS.EPSEncapsulated PostScript is a Document Structuring Conventions-conforming PostScript document format usable as a graphics file format. EPS files are more-or-less self-contained, reasonably predictable PostScript documents that describe an image or drawing and can be placed within another PostScript document., .AI.AI.AI is a proprietary file format developed by Adobe Systems for representing single-page vector-based drawings in either the EPS or PDF formats., and .PDF.PDFPDF stands for "portable document format". It was introduced to ease the sharing of documents between computers and across operating system platforms when you need to save files that cannot be modified but still need to be easily shared and printed..

Best Use Cases of Each Image File Type

Let us consider the 4 most popular image formats for websites – jpgJPG or JPEGJPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality., PNG, GIF, and WebPWebPWebP is an image format employing both lossy and lossless compression. It is currently developed by Google, based on technology acquired with the purchase of On2 Technologies. As a derivative of the VP8 video format, it is a sister project to the WebM multimedia container format. – highlighting the best format based on user requirements. Among these, have you ever wondered which image file type uses lossy compression, which format delivers an image with no background file type? Let’s have a look at them below.

JPG

JPG or JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. JPEG images are ideal for photos and images with vibrant and rich colors. They render really well even when subjected to high compression levels and can display millions of colors.

It supports lossy compression, which results in a slight drop in image quality after optimizing. However, you do have the ability to control the level of compression to ensure high quality and best performance. This image format doesn’t support transparent backgrounds.

PNG

PNGPNGPortable Network Graphics is a raster-graphics file-format that supports lossless data compression. PNG was developed as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format. PNG supports palette-based images, grayscale images, and full-color non-palette-based RGB or RGBA images., short for Portable Network Graphics, primarily designed to transfer images over the internet. It also displays millions of colors and is heavier than jpgJPG or JPEGJPEG is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality.. It works really well with screenshots, logos, infographics, and main header graphics that help in identifying a brand.

PNG supports lossless compression, which means no data is lost during optimization, making these images crisper and sharper than JPG images. Additionally, the PNG image file type supports transparent backgrounds.

GIF

GIF is an abbreviation for Graphics Interchange Format and supports both animated and static images. The GIF image file type supports only 256 colors making it unsuitable for color photographs and such colorful illustrations.GIF is used to showcase an animation that is smaller in size than a traditional video format. Most animations on social media are GIF images. 

GIF uses lossless compression, supports text labels and transparent backgrounds, making it perfect for simple animations and low-resolution videos.

WEBP

WebP is an image file type created by Google’s Web Performance Team to create a suitable replacement for GIF, JPG, and PNG. It was primarily developed for supporting good compression, transparency, and animations.

It supports both lossy and lossless compression, making it a good alternative for PNG. Further, it has better compression than JPEG images while retaining image quality.

Adding WebP Images to WordPress Site

WordPressWordPressWordPress is a content management system that runs on MySQL and PHP. The best part about WordPress is it is free and an open-source platform. It comes with a wide range of templates opening up the possibilities in creating an e-commerce website, or a service provider website, or an individual’s website. Thus, it meets the requirements of all the facets of the world. Its features are plugin architecture and the above-mentioned template system. Though it is mostly associated with blogging, it also supports other content like media galleries, traditional mailing lists, and forums. does not support WebP format. However, you can still use this format on your site using a custom plugin. The WebP Express Plugin allows you to add auto-generated images to your site. It works on all kinds of images, including those on galleries, media libraries, and themes.

As a rule of thumb, PNGPNGPortable Network Graphics is a raster-graphics file-format that supports lossless data compression. PNG was developed as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format. PNG supports palette-based images, grayscale images, and full-color non-palette-based RGB or RGBA images. is perfect for logos, screenshots, charts, infographics, and high-quality brand images. JPEG is great for small images on your website, as well as photos that have vibrant colors. GIF is amazing for animations and simple videos. WebP is great for web optimization of images to achieve smaller sizes with no significant changes in quality.

Things to Remember While Using Images in Your WordPress Site

We briefly discuss some of the best practices that could help your WordPressWordPressWordPress is a content management system that runs on MySQL and PHP. The best part about WordPress is it is free and an open-source platform. It comes with a wide range of templates opening up the possibilities in creating an e-commerce website, or a service provider website, or an individual’s website. Thus, it meets the requirements of all the facets of the world. Its features are plugin architecture and the above-mentioned template system. Though it is mostly associated with blogging, it also supports other content like media galleries, traditional mailing lists, and forums. site become more effective and functional.

Image Sprites – Combine Multiple Images into a Single Image

It comes from the need to load different aspects of a single image at different times to boost site performance. It dates back to 1975 when it was faster to display a part of a single image than to load new images continually. The idea was to load an image once, rotate it, and display different parts of it, based on the requirement. Some popular software such as SpriteMe, SpriteCow, and Spritepad are used for generating Sprites.

Image Size – Go for Light-weight Images

As said earlier, the size of the images affects the speed of your website. As such, aim at using light images while preserving visual quality. It is recommended to never resize images using HTML or CSS. Use an image of the required width and height as much as possible. For example, if you need a 200px by 200px image, don’t use an image that’s 500px by 500px. It is also recommended to use images of high-quality and local caching features wherever possible.

SEO for Images – Naming Your Images Right

It is possible to drive more traffic to your website using image SEO. You can do this by naming your images appropriately. For instance, instead of “image001.png,” use “choosing-best-image-file-type.png,” and so on. On top of that, add alt texts to all of your images after uploading. With the help of these alt texts, search engines can now “see” and index your web page in the image search section accordingly. 

Keep Improving with the Help of Google Analytics

It all comes down to giving the best experience to your visitors as much as possible. For this, you need to know your visitors and the devices they use to access your site. That way, you can choose the ideal image formats and sizes. For instance, if most of your visitors use the Chrome Browser, you must provide additional features to support the use of WebP image files in WordPress.

In summary, choosing the ideal image file type for your WordPress site is vital as it helps you get the right balance between factors such as speed, UX, performance, SEO, Search Ranking and consistency. If you have further queries, please feel free to reach our experts by emailing us at media@techaffinity.com or get in touch by scheduling a meeting.

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