How to reduce number of HTTP requests for images

[ajm_76]

(01-16-2015 06:25 PM)harshpoddar Wrote:  Hi everyone,

I have an e-commerce website where a majority of my pages have a lot of images. This is increasing my number of HTTP requests and hence taking a huge load time. Is there a way to reduce the requests ? I was thinking on the lines of using a CDN for all the image requests ? will it help

Thanks

Hi harshpoddar,

As the others have noted, absent test results to be reviewed, most of what you'll get regarding answers/responses will be conjecture and/or reading-into your post (as none of us are have been provided with actionable particulars).

That said, and to address the specific information provided in your post, reducing the HTTP requests for your site's images may or may not do anything for your website (it's relative). The primary reason being that all modern browsers can handle numerous HTTP requests at once and in parallel. So: so long as you have other things in proper order, a lot of images, and therefore HTTP requests derived therefrom, ought not be a problem (and *can* add to UX [i.e. user experience] -- also relative...).

You are certainly on the general right track with the idea of using a CDN for your site's images (i.e. image HTTP requests); but, it is quite literally never a bad idea to make use of an effective CDN for any of a website's static resources, which images are.

Lazy loading images is, in our opinion, virtually never a bad idea regardless of where you get your traffic from. But, if the majority of your site's visitors come by way of high-latency devices (i.e. mobiles, tablets), then lazy-loading is arguably required for a high-quality UX (insofar as website speed equals User Experience.

Best,
AJ
Managing Partner
WpFASTER