Images are the number one cause of slow-loading websites. They directly impact Google's crucial **Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)** metric. To achieve a 100 Lighthouse score, you must move beyond outdated formats like JPEG and PNG and adopt modern compression and next-gen formats.

This guide provides the complete, three-step process for ensuring your images load as fast as possible: **Compression, Lazy Loading, and WebP format implementation**. By following this, you will significantly improve your page speed, reduce bandwidth, and boost your SEO ranking.

Image Optimization Flow Chart: Compress, WebP Convert, Lazy Load


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The Three Pillars of Image Performance

Each step targets a specific Core Web Vitals metric:

  1. **Format Conversion (WebP):** WebP images are up to 30% smaller than JPEGs at the same quality. This directly reduces file size and load time.
  2. **Lossless Compression:** Stripping unnecessary metadata from JPEGs and PNGs without noticeable quality loss.
  3. **Lazy Loading:** Using the `loading="lazy"` attribute to prevent images outside the viewport from loading until the user scrolls down, prioritizing content loading.

How to Implement Lazy Loading (Quick Fix)

This fix, covered in detail in our dedicated lazy loading guide, is mandatory for all images below the fold.


<!-- Original Image Tag -->
<img src="image.jpg" width="600" height="400" alt="description" />

<!-- Optimized Image Tag with Lazy Loading -->
<img src="image.jpg" loading="lazy" width="600" height="400" alt="description" />

Conclusion

If you implement a single change from the speed optimization roadmap, let it be image optimization. Reducing the size and delaying the loading of visual assets are the fastest, most effective ways to boost your LCP score and get closer to that perfect Lighthouse 100.

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