Do you need to size down images for Wix Websites?

No, you don't need to shrink down your images for Wix websites - this will NOT help speed up your Wix website load time.

As an expert Wix Designer and Wix SEO expert, I get this question a lot. One of the great things about Wix is that you DO NOT need to size down and optimize your images before uploading them to the website. In fact, Wix actually recommends uploading high-res images, as the Wix platform automatically compresses and resizes your images depending on the resolution needs of the viewer. So I don't need to optimizing images before uploading to my Wix website? That's right, you don't need to shrink down your images!

In a recent "How to Optimize Your Site for Core Web Vitals" webinar, one myth that Wix's Dan Shappir wanted to dispel is regarding the need to optimize the images before you upload them onto Wix. You do not need to resize the images' width and height to be as small as possible! This will NOT speed up your site and can actually do more harm than good.

In fact it's essentially the opposite – Wix automatically optimizes images and we do a really good job of it. Wix delivers the minimal amount of information to provide the best possible experience to your visitors. Wix automatically transforms images' format into Webp files ( .webp file extension is a file format developed by Google to reduce the size of images without having to sacrifice quality.) This format is supported by almost all browsers now, and Wix verifies that the browser actually supports it and if it does then Wix delivers the image using the .webp format instead which reduces images' overall download size by approximately twenty percent.

You do not need to resize your images, as Wix servers automatically resize them and clip it exactly to the needed size of that particular session, resulting in the optimal usage of data, making your website as fast as it can be dynamically for each viewer.

When uploading images to Wix, it is ok to use large images, but keep in mind that it is good to keep overall image file sizes under 8MB, which is way larger than any website image would need to be anyway! JPGs over 8MB are usually good for printing large banners but that type of resolution is not needed for websites.

Speeding up your Wix Website Tips: If you want to speed up your website load time, rather than compressing the images you are using on your site, instead you could reduce the number of images, fonts, and text or element animations, avoid animated gifs, use SVG files for logos or other vector shapes, and only use PNG files when needed for transparency reasons. Also, be sure to make your website mobile friendly! In the Wix mobile editor, make sure to simplify the website, make sure there is some text to identify who you are above the fold, and hide unimportant images or elements to keep the mobile website as clean as possible for fastest loading times.

Want to learn more about speeding up your Wix website? Read my recent post titled: Speed Up Wix Websites: Top Tips for Images + More

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