When a user visits a website, the browser must first download all the content before the user can begin browsing. Because we live in an era where most websites are relatively huge, this usually results in a longer load time, which causes users to get irritated and unhappy. As a result, web developers devote a significant percentage of their work to improving page load times.

If you want a fast-loading web page, you must adequately resize and compress your images before uploading them. But what happens after the photos have been uploaded? Is there a way to enhance page loading time by further optimizing them? Yes, can do it. In this article, we’ll look at the principle of lazy loading, which is a helpful strategy for deferring the loading of non-critical resources like images and keeping them “off-screen” until you need them.

What is lazy loading?

In a nutshell, lazy loading lets you delay slow-loading page elements until after the page has loaded. The main principle behind lazy loading is to load images only when they are required to be displayed this eliminates the need for users to wait for all of the page’s contents to load, allowing them to start using the website sooner. This implies that only the images above the fold will appear on your website; the rest will appear as the user scrolls down the page.

How is a web page usually loaded?

When you ask your browser to access a URL, it starts with a request, followed by downloading the page with all its resources and data. The web browser then constructs the page using the materials it contains. The user is now provided with the page.

As you can see, images and iframes are frequently the final resources to be downloaded on a page and sometimes the most significant component of it. Your page won’t be fully functional until all the images have been downloaded. This lets the user wait for the page to become fully operational.

How does a web page load after applying lazy loading?

Lazy loading was developed to address this issue by allowing users to access a website even if not all of its pictures and iframes have been downloaded. When you land on a page with a lazy loading script applied to your images, you will begin scrolling while you read the page’s text. However, when an image is expected to display in the viewport, a placeholder image will appear instead. The original image will shortly replace the placeholder image.

Images are stored on a page when they are lazy-loaded, but they are covered by a transparent placeholder the same size as the accurate picture. This saves the time of the user, hence improved User-experience.

Benefits of applying lazy loading:

Improved speed:

Lengthy pages with many images take longer to load because the image data must be fully downloaded before can use the page. The problem will be fixed if we lazy load our images because only those above the fold will be loaded first. This will also significantly reduce the time it takes for the first page to load. Hence, improved overall speed.

Decrease in the number of HTTP requests:

The number of HTTP requests will be reduced as a direct result of the faster loading speed.

Reduced work for the browser:

If images are lazy-loaded, your browser will not need to process or decode resources until they are requested by scrolling the page. Hence, reduction in workload for the browser.

Better SEO:

While Google’s algorithm considers page speed as one of the factors in ranking pages, lazy loading of non-essential material enhances the user experience while also improving SEO and conversion rates.

Data saving:

Users visiting your site on mobile devices will be grateful if the most important part of the data on your pages (which is usually taken up by images) is downloaded only when they scroll. Lazy-loaded images will save your readers’ data and bandwidth and are ideal for those who do not have access to high-speed Internet or unlimited data plans.

Conclusion:

We can conclude that the slow load strategy can help you enhance your website’s load time, SEO, and conversion rates now that we understand what lazy speed is and how it benefits. 

If you’re looking for more tips on optimizing your website images, take a look at our blog on image compression and other similar posts. We are sure that you will find something useful that will help you.