Lazy loading images is the process of loading images only when they are close to being visible on the user’s screen. This can drastically improve website performance, especially for users who have slow connections or older devices.
Shopify is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms out there, and its performance depends heavily on properly optimized images. In this blog post, we will look at how to lazy load images on your Shopify store. We will also discuss why lazy loading is important and how it can improve your website’s overall performance. So let’s get started!
What is lazy loading?
Lazy loading is a technique for loading images only when they are visible to the user. This can improve page load time, especially if there are many images on a page. When using lazy loading, the browser only loads an image when it is needed, rather than loading all images at once.
How does it work?
When you lazy load images on Shopify, your images are only loaded when they are visible on the screen. This means that if you have a lot of images on a page, your page will load faster because the browser doesn’t have to load all of the images at once.
To lazy load images on Shopify, you can use a free app like Lazy Load by ImageOptim. Once you install the app, it will automatically lazy load all of your images on your shop’s pages.
If you want more control over which images are lazy loaded, you can add the following code to your theme’s JavaScript file:
window.lazyLoadOptions = {
elements_selector: “.lazy”
};
With this code in place, only images with the “lazy” class will be lazy loaded. You can add this class to any image element on your page, including product images, collection images, and blog post images.
Why should I use lazy loading on Shopify?
If you have a lot of products with many images, or if your product images are large in file size, using lazy loading can help improve the speed of your Shopify store. Lazy loading can also help improve the speed of your website on mobile devices, where internet speeds can be slower than on desktop computers.
How to lazy load images on Shopify
When you lazy load images on Shopify, your images will not be loaded until you scroll down to them. This can help improve your site’s performance, especially if you have a lot of images.
To lazy load images on Shopify, you’ll need to install the Lazy Load for Images app. Once installed, go to the app’s settings and enable the “Lazy Load for Images” option.
You can also specify which image sizes should be lazy loaded, and whether you want to exclude certain images from being lazy loaded. For example, you might want to exclude your product photos from being lazy loaded, so that they’re always visible on your product pages.
Once you’ve saved your changes, all of your future images will be lazy loaded on Shopify. If you want to lazy load your existing images, you can use the regenerate thumbnails tool in the app’s settings. This will replace all of your existing images with lazily-loaded versions.
Conclusion
Lazy loading images is a great way to improve the performance of your Shopify store. By only loading the images when they’re in view, you can ensure that pages load quickly and visitors have a better experience. It’s important to keep in mind that lazy loading isn’t just for image heavy websites; no matter what type of site you have, it’s worth implementing this useful feature. With these tips, you’ll be able to easily add lazy loading to your Shopify store and start seeing improvements right away!
