If you’ve ever built a site that loads like it’s stuck in 2006, you already know — visuals can be the biggest culprit. Big images, auto-playing videos, uncompressed templates… they all look great until your bounce rate shoots through the roof.

The truth is, most of us don’t think about optimization until the damage is done. But if you fix a few small things early, you can make your site faster, cleaner, and more SEO-friendly without losing quality. Here’s what’s been working for me lately.

1. Choose the right format from the start

This part sounds boring, but it matters. JPEG, PNG, WebP — they all have their place.

• JPEG is perfect for regular photos. Small size, solid quality.
• PNG is better when you need sharp detail or transparency (like logos or icons).
• WebP is newer, lighter, and works on most browsers now.

When I grab assets from free images libraries like Pikwizard, I usually download in the highest resolution, then convert them to WebP before uploading. Keeps everything crisp but lighter.

2. Shrink your files before they hit the web

Never upload full-size photos straight from your camera or stock library. It’s like trying to fit a billboard into a blog post.

There are tons of quick tools that handle this — TinyPNG, Squoosh, or ImageOptim all do a great job without wrecking quality.

If you’re working with free templates or transparent PNGs from Pikwizard, they’re already clean and easy to compress. You can usually get a 50% smaller file with no visible difference.

3. Add real alt text, not keyword stuffing

Image by Pikwizard.com

Alt text isn’t just a box to fill out — it actually helps people using screen readers and tells Google what’s going on in your image.

Keep it short and clear. Something like:

“Team brainstorming ideas in modern office – Pikwizard stock photo”

You don’t need to jam in five SEO terms. One good sentence is enough.

4. Use lazy loading (seriously)

Lazy loading basically delays your images or videos from loading until someone scrolls to them. It’s such an easy win for performance that it should be on by default.

If you’re on WordPress, it’s already built in. If not, you can usually toggle it with one line of code or a plugin.

5. Watch your videos

Videos are heavy. If you’re hosting them yourself, compress them and keep the resolution realistic — not everything needs to be 4K.

If you’re embedding from YouTube or Vimeo, use a “lite” embed option so the video player doesn’t load until someone clicks play.

Pikwizard actually has a bunch of short stock video clips you can drop in if you want motion without the bulk of a massive file.

Image by Pikwizard.com

6. Keep templates simple

I love design templates, but they can get messy fast. Too many layers, effects, fonts — it all adds up.

Before uploading, flatten what you can, resize it properly, and export at web resolution. A smaller, cleaner file looks the same online and loads in half the time.

7. Always test before going live

Once everything’s uploaded, run your page through something like PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix. You’ll spot what’s slowing things down right away.

A few tweaks — smaller images, compressed videos, lighter templates — can move your load time from “ugh” to instant.

Good SEO isn’t just about keywords anymore. Google cares about how your site performs, and users definitely do too. Fast, accessible visuals are a big part of that.

When you’re working with stock images or templates, start with lighter, flexible files. I use Pikwizard a lot because their stuff looks professional but doesn’t come with huge file sizes. Makes life easier.

Tweak a little, test often, and don’t overthink it. A few smart changes go a long way.