Last week we talked about how to optimize images for Wordpress so that you speed up your site and improve SEO. As you could have seen from the article, there are a few different methods you can use. It's important to take care of images even before you upload them to your blog. But when pictures are already up on the site, it may become impossible to reoptimize each and every image separately and then upload them once again. Don't worry; no one expects you to do so in the first place. Stay with us in the following minutes as we're about to show you the most popular image optimization plugins for WordPress.

To optimize images, you will just have to select the plugin from the list. You will have to configure it and choose things the plugin will do for you. After that, you'll be able to relax and delegate the work to the plugin of your choice, while you can start organizing your media files.

The following plugins will help you compress the images on any WordPress site you have. They will make the site load faster and ultimately help you to improve SEO.

WP Smush

PRICE: Free

With more than 700,000 active installs, WP Smush has to be one of the best image optimization plugins for WordPress. It can quickly optimize images by using different compression techniques. The great thing about compressing images with WP Smush is that images won't lose on quality. Don't believe us? Test the plugin.

When we talked about preparing pictures for WordPress, we mentioned that resizing is a crucial part of the optimization process. With this plugin, you won't have to worry about that since WP Smush lets you set maximum dimensions. After doing so, all larger images will automatically scale down before you add them to the library.

This fantastic plugin can work with JPEG, GIF, and PNG files. It works with all of your directories, automatically takes care of the attachments, and even works on multisite. You can manually operate on each image or edit fifty of them in bulk. If you want even better results and more options, check out WP Smush PRO.

EWWW Image Optimizer

PRICE: Free

Behind the funny name, there's one of the most popular image optimization plugins for WordPress. Just like the previously mentioned one, EWWW Image Optimizer can compress your images without affecting their quality. When you think about that the plugin can speed up your site in seconds, you'll be already on your way to download it. Once you do that, you'll get to optimize images in bulk, and galleries like GRAND FlaGallery, NextCellent and NextGEN will even get their own Bulk Optimize pages.

All images that use WP_Image_Editor class in WordPress will be automatically optimized, while you can manually work the magic on all the others. We like that you get to select folders which you want to optimize. For more details about this, and which plugins use the class, please open the official EWWW Image Optimizer page on WordPress repository.

Compress JPEG & PNG images

PRICE: Free

If cute little panda holding WordPress logo doesn't make you want to learn more about this plugin, we don't know what will. And if the panda looks familiar, that's because it's the same one that helps you compress images on TinyPNG website. Yeah, it seems the animal is more versatile than we originally thought. But let's focus on the plugin.

If you go with this plugin, the Panda will automatically optimize your images. Each time you upload a new one, the plugin will take over and do its job. Still, you can optimize individual pictures or do that in bulk just by going to the media library.

Compress JPEG & PNG images even supports animated PNGs, works perfectly on a multisite, it's WooComerce compatible and will not have problems with WP Offload S3.

The great thing about the plugin is that it allows you to set maximum width and height attributes for all the images. If you have been worrying about what it will do the metadata, don't worry; the panda will keep all the info intact.

There are no file size limits, you get to set a dashboard widget, and it even works with the WordPress mobile app. Because all of that, Compress JPEG & PNG images has more than 100,000 active installs and deserves a spot on the list of best image optimization plugins for WordPress.

Imsanity

PRICE: Free

Although the cover image for this plugin might scare you away, take a second and look at all the features of Imsanity. Oh, even the name of the plugin sounds insane, right? Once you're ok with the name of the plugin, you'll see that it has a lot to offer.

Imsanity can automatically scale images, allows you to set maximum dimensions, and it even features a bulk resize option. This is important if you already have hundreds of pictures on your blog that need optimization.

This free plugin is a great option if you don't want to struggle with the plugin's settings a lot. All it takes is to install and activate Imsanity, set a few options, and you can forget about it; it will manage its own way towards image optimization.

We loved the option that allows you to convert BMP images to JPG. Just in case you have a lot of BMP files you mistakenly uplodaded some time ago, this will be a life saver.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer

PRICE: Free

With more than 30,000 active installs, ShortPixel Image is still one of the most popular image optimization plugins for WordPress. The plugin is packed with features, and it will be a must-have for sites that have a lot of images to optimize.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer will not only optimize JPG, PNG, GIF, and PDF documents for you, but it will also let you convert any JPEG, PNG or GIF image to WebP. The plugin works well with other gallery plugins, and it doesn't care if your site uses HTTP or HTTPS. It will let you remove EXIF data from images (something photographers will love to have).

The plugin recognizes images that it already optimized so it will skip on them when needed. You get to allow or disallow auto optimization, and do much, much more with this fantastic plugin. Check out the official page on the repository to see all the features.

Optimus – WordPress Image Optimizer

PRICE: Free

Just like the previously mentioned plugin, Optimus will optimize your image for WordPress, and it will do that without affecting the quality of your pictures. You can let the plugin work out things automatically, or you can turn off the option and only optimize images when needed.

Optimus works on multisite, it's no stranger to WooCommerce sites, and it's completely optimized for WordPress Mobile Apps and Windows Live Writer. It will speed up your site without you having to touch a line of code. The plugin offers much more, but you will have to opt in for the premium version. To see more, please go to the official page on the WordPress plugins repository.

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