← DictionaryImage Optimisation
also called image optimization, image compression
Reducing image file size and serving correct formats and dimensions.
Making pictures small enough to load fast.
What It Is
Image Optimisation belongs to Website, specifically the Performance part of it. Stated plainly: reducing image file size and serving correct formats and dimensions.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Used with that meaning, it stays a working tool rather than a talking point.
How It's Used
In practice, Image Optimisation shows up in site builds, page structure and the technical decisions underneath them. In real work it sits close to Site Speed, Lazy Loading and File Format. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Image Optimisation is one of those items that only becomes visible when it is missing. When it is unclear, the site still launches — it just quietly underperforms. Deciding it deliberately costs one conversation. Leaving it undecided costs several.
It is an idea that changes what you decide, not an item you tick off. Making pictures small enough to load fast.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Inside the industry, Image Optimisation is used tightly and assumed to be understood: reducing image file size and serving correct formats and dimensions.
Away from the jargon, it is making pictures small enough to load fast.
The Bottom Line
The practical takeaway on Image Optimisation: making pictures small enough to load fast. Judge it by that, not by how it sounds.