How to Upload Photos + Videos Without Slowing Down Your Website

Why your gorgeous photos might be slowing you down

You finally invested in a beautiful brand shoot. Then you uploaded them straight from your phone or your photographer's gallery, and now your website takes forever to load 😩 Sound familiar?

If you upload your files without thinking about it, you might be uploading huge files. Huge files make slow sites, and slow sites lose visitors. Not only that, a sluggish site can hurt where you show up in search. It's true!

The TLDR? Keep videos under 4 MB and images under 2 MB and your site will thank you.

Planning a shoot? Check out our free guide for a shot list and everything you need to walk away with photos that actually work on your site.

How to keep videos under 4 MB

Video is usually the number one culprit behind your website being slow. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't use video, in fact we think it's one of the best ways to elevate your site! However, a 30 second clip straight off an iPhone can easily be 50 MB or more. We want to aim for under 4 MB for every video on your site. How can you do this? Trim your video or use a video compressor.

Our favorite free tool for adjusting the file size of your videos is FreeConvert's Video Compressor. Upload your video, open the advanced settings, and use these targets:

Format: MP4

Video codec: H.264

Quality (CRF): Constant Quality between 22 and 25 (22 is the sweet spot for HD)

Target bitrate (if your tool asks instead): 2000–4000 kbps for 1080p, or 1500–3000 kbps for 720p

Download the new file and make sure to watch it! Sometimes the quality can suffer which means you might need to use other settings. Try a CRF closer to 25, drop to 720p, or trim the clip shorter. Background videos rarely need to be longer than 10–15 seconds anyways!

How to keep your images under 2 MB

If you're uploading images, do your best to keep images under 2 MB (max, if you can go under 1 MB, even better). If you don't want to spend hours adjusting images one by one, the quickest way to make sure you get website ready photos is asking your photographer for web sizes. Most photographers can deliver two versions of your gallery: full resolution files for prints and smaller web ready files. Just ask before your shoot!

But if you don't have that option, you can adjust the photo size directly in the file or with a site like Squoosh. Squoosh is a free tool that runs right in your browser. Drag in your photo, and it shows you a before/after slider so you can see the quality while the file size shrinks. A few tips:

Use the Resize option if your photo is huge. Most website images don't need to be wider than about 2000 pixels.
Choose WebP or MozJPEG as the output format for great quality at a small size.
Check the file size at the bottom right before you download, and make sure it's under 2 MB.

Pro tip: rename your files before uploading them into your website! "cozy-facial-treatment-room.webp" helps search engines way more than "IMG_4827.jpg". Learn some more of our favorite SEO tricks.

P.S. Add alt text whenever you can

Alt text is a short description of an image that helps your site be more accessible and it's great for SEO. Screen readers read it aloud for visitors who are blind or have low vision, and search engines like Google use it to understand what's in your photos.

When writing alt text, keep it simple and descriptive like you're telling a friend what's in the picture. Instead of: "photo1" or "image, try: "Esthetician applying a mask to a client in a softly lit treatment room"

Most website builders, including Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, and WordPress, have an alt text field right where you upload or edit the image. It takes ten seconds and makes your site more accessible and easier to find. You're welcome 😉

How to check your site speed for free

Curious how fast your site actually is? Google's free PageSpeed Insights will tell you in about a minute, FOR FREE.

Go to pagespeed.web.dev.
Paste in your website URL and click Analyze.
Check both the Mobile and Desktop tabs. Most of your visitors are on their phones, so mobile matters most.
Scroll down to the suggestions. If you see notes like "Properly size images" or "Avoid enormous network payloads," your photos and videos are likely slowing down your site.