Optimizing for the Web
The process of optimizing files compresses or rewrites them to be as efficient as possible for their desired platform. For the web, this means optimizing media for screens and screen resolution to keep file sizes as small and accessible as possible.
Optimizing images on your own is the easiest. It is cheap and quick, and it will drastically improve your site’s efficiency. However, for video and audio, it is generally recommended that you use a service to do the heavy lifting for you.
Images
If you recall from the last topic, images should be less than 1,000 KB in size (under 1 megabyte), screens only need 72 ppi for proper resolution, and the larger your files, the longer it will take your page to load.
Don’t forget to optimize images for the web by using image editors’ “Save for Web and Devices” or “Export As” in their save options.
Again, here is the original dog image, which clocks in at an enormous 23.9 mB, and 5597px by 3148px. Watch how long that loads in another tab.
In contrast, the one you see below was optimized for the web, sized and cropped to 1000px by 500px. It’s much more manageable at 110 kB and is hardly distinguishable from the original (at least on the web).
Video
It is recommended you use a service to host videos. We will not discuss optimization in-depth here.
A 10-minute YouTube video is often near 100 MB in size. Full-length movies can reach up-to 25GB - this is beyond the capacity of most web hosting companies.
If these files are from other sources, you likely will not have access to the original file and, therefore, cannot correctly re-format or compress it. If you do, however, certain plugins can be downloaded for video editors like Adobe Premiere so that you can export .webm and other filetypes without a band-aid online conversion through sites like CloudConvert
Audio
It is recommended you use a service to host audio. We will not discuss optimization in-depth here.
A single MP3 song is approximately 3-4 MB.
While this is not particularly large, you will need multiple versions of the song for the site and a higher-quality format. This can add up quickly and be a process to accomplish.
For example, with audio, to export an .ogg file (whether it’s a song you own or have recently sourced), you may need to use an online converter like Convertio or Zamzar. Again, this is only a band-aide; ideally, you’re providing your own created audio (music, recordings, sound effects, etc.), which you can export as an .ogg legally.
- Previous
- Next