Your website is loading too slowly? Well, you better do something about it! Because slow-loading websites run a huge risk of losing visitors.
Why? Well, internet users are not exactly known for their patience, and if they have to wait more than a couple of seconds to get access to everything your website has to offer, they are very likely to move on.
Simply, there are many other websites that can deliver what users are looking for in a shorter amount of time. Therefore, your bounce rate will go up, which is something that can be quite detrimental to your website’s success.
Your #website is loading too slowly and you have no idea what to do? Using one of these #lazyload #plugins just might do the trick!
So, how can you solve this problem? The answer is, as always – plugins. Lazy load plugins, to be exact.
But what are lazy load plugins, anyway? Well, they make sure only the part of the website that is needed is loaded, cutting downloading times significantly. As the user comes to other parts of the website, they will load too, also at a faster pace.
As always, there are plugins that do this well and those that don’t. And as you have probably guessed from the title, in this article we will be listing the best lazy load plugins for WordPress you can currently find. So let’s get going!
Lazy Load by WP Rocket
You will see Lazy Load by WP Rocket at the top of many lists like this one. It’s just that good.
The plugin focuses on images and displays them only when necessary, be that in a post, widget, or thumbnail. Even smileys are included. Plus, you can replace iframes if you have a lot of YouTube videos with thumbnails.
All of this is completely free and comes in a tiny script. Brilliant!
A3 Lazy Load
Another very strong contender in the lazy load plugin category. A3 Lazy Load is very simple to use, which is its main advantage, but it still offers quite a lot of options.
You can choose what you want the plugin to lazy load and when you want it to do so. Images, videos, iframes, and a whole lot more can be loaded this way.
Also, the plugin focuses on mobile users, so if you want to make sure your website is well optimized for mobile devices, this is certainly a great tool for the job.
Lazy Loader
This plugin too can say that it’s quite simple to use and free. Images, audio clips, video, and iFrames can all be adjusted, and the same goes for background images and themes, which can come in really handy.
All you have to do is decide which feature you want to switch on or off and that’s about all the work you have to put in when using Lazy Loader.
WP YouTube Lyte
As you can see from its name, this WP plugin is designed to speed up the videos you have on your website. The more videos you have, the more pronounced the plugin’s effect will be.
Every video will go through a so-called responsive embed, which will make it load much faster and thus help you speed up your website.
Zedna WP Image Lazy Load
What sets Zedna WP Image Lazy Load apart from the rest of the pack is the fact that it supports CSS background images. You also have a fair degree of customization options at your disposal, and there are reports of this plugin cutting a website’s loading time by up to 90%!
In addition, you can freely use this product with Visual Composer. Enjoy!
Optimole
Now, this is an interesting one. Optimole is a cloud-based plugin with loads of great features. Its main philosophy is to shrink down images to 80% and thus reduce their loading time. It also takes into consideration the condition a user’s web browser is in.
Keep in mind that, while there is a free version, Optiomole is a premium product with several packages to choose from.
BJ Lazy Load
This is also quite a popular solution these days for these kinds of problems. Apart from the standard repertoire of lazy loading images, you also have the choice of putting a placeholder in their stead.
On top of that, there are more than enough options for any kind of user, and some aspects are even automatic, like serving scaled-down images.
Ajax Load More
Infinite scrolling is what Ajax Load More wants to accomplish, and with its arsenal of features it just might pull it off! You can actually build WP queries with this thing, add shortcodes, and do many other wonderful things that will benefit your website quite significantly.
Many consider this to be one of the best lazy load plugins out there, and it’s really hard to argue with them.
Speed Up
Last but not least, we have Speed Up. Another excellent, yet a free product.
Speed Up has everything you could want from a lazy load plugin, all in just 5 kb. Therefore, your website will certainly run very smoothly with it installed.
The plugin will not load images and iFrames that are a couple of scrolls away and is generally very easy to manage (especially install), so it’s a great candidate for wrapping up our list.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are plenty of lazy load plugins to choose from. But then again, there are plenty of plugins for all sorts of things WordPress websites need. However, the candidates listed above really excel at what they do and are generally very well accepted in the WP community, so we feel confident when it comes to recommending them.
After all, your website’s speed certainly isn’t something that should be the result of a compromise.
Of course, there are many more products like these out there, and you are more than free to test each and every one of them out, but it’d be a good idea to keep these in mind as a standard for lazy loading. They are simply top of the class right now!