A picture really can say a thousand words—especially on your website.
But images that are too big or in the wrong format can slow your site down and frustrate visitors. Worse still, Google might penalise your site for loading too slowly, pushing you further down the search results.
In this post, I’ll show you how to add crisp, professional-looking images to your WordPress website—without dragging down performance.
Which image format should I use?
Choosing the right file type helps keep your site fast and your images sharp.
Here’s a quick rundown:
✅ WEBP(recommended!)
Modern, lightweight, and built for the web.
- Best for: Almost everything—photos, graphics, icons.
- Why use it: Smaller file sizes, faster load times, and supported by all modern browsers.
- How to create: Most design tools now let you export as .webp, or you can use online converters like CloudConvert.
JPG or JPEG
Flexible and widely used for photos.
- Best for: Photographs or detailed images
- Pros: Good quality at a smaller file size
- Watch out for: Blurry images if saved too small
PNG
Higher quality, with support for transparent backgrounds.
- Best for: Logos, icons, or images with text
- Cons: Larger file size than JPG or WEBP
File names matter (for both SEO and sanity)
It’s tempting to upload whatever name your phone or camera gave the file—but this can hurt both your search engine rankings and your ability to find files later.
Do this instead:
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Use plain English and include relevant keywords:
tipton-village-hall-exterior.webp -
Avoid spaces or full stops in the middle: use hyphens or underscores
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Keep it short, clear and searchable
Google looks at image file names to understand what your site is about—so a little effort here goes a long way.
Resize before you upload (not after!)
Large images take ages to load. Even if they look small on your page, that doesn’t mean the file size is small behind the scenes.
Here’s how to keep things speedy:
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Resize your image to roughly the size it will appear on screen (no need to upload a 3000px-wide photo for a tiny thumbnail!)
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Aim for individual images to be under 200 KB
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For image-heavy pages, keep the total image size under 1MB if possible
🧰 Top tools:
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Mac Preview → Tools > Adjust Size
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Photoshop → Export > Save for Web
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Affinity Photo → Export > Choose size and format
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Online tools → TinyPNG, Squoosh, ImageOptim
Add your image to WordPress
Once your image is prepped and optimised:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard
- Go to the post or page where you want to add the image
- Click the + icon and select Image
- Upload your file (or choose one from your Media Library)
- Don’t forget to add Alt text – this helps with SEO and makes your site more accessible
Bonus image tips
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Use the View Image Info or browser extensions to check what size your existing images are
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Calculate total image load for each page—especially if using galleries or product grids
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Install an image optimisation plugin (e.g. ShortPixel, Smush, or EWWW Image Optimizer) for extra compression on upload
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When in doubt, save as WEBP—you’ll get the best of both worlds: quality and speed