Learn How to Set Up Lazy Load in WordPress –

Loading speed is, without a doubt, one of the most important factors to take into account when optimizing a website. Sometimes, certain pages see their loading time increase considerably, due to their weight, since it can include a large number of files in video and image format that slow down the download and viewing time. Here comes into play what we call LazyLoad.

Read on, if you want to know more about how to set up Lazy Load in WordPress!

What is LazyLoad?

Lazy Load or also known as deferred loading, is a technology that allows certain web resources, such as images or videos, to only load when they are being displayed and not before. That is to say, it is a way of avoiding the loading of objects that may not be displayed, therefore, all content that is outside the visible area of ​​the web when starting navigation, will not load, only when we reach it through of scroll.

In lazy loading, the browser is able to build the DOM web page, without actually downloading images or loading videos. In this way, from javascript it determines which images and videos should be downloaded and loaded, depending on the visible area of ​​the page at the time of loading. This allows the Downloading additional images and videos will be delayed until the user has scrolled down the page. This entire process is completely transparent to the user.

How to configure Lazy Load for WordPress?

Like other types of functionality, WordPress includes plugins capable of dealing with lazy loading. There are many free plugins capable of fixing this problem in question. In this post, we are going to talk about a3 LazyLoadwhich is perfect for this purpose, free and also easy to use.

Access the plugins section of your WordPress and establish the search for it. Once installed, we can go on to configure Lazy Load through the side menu Settings > a3 Lazy Load. When entering the specific settings of the plugin, we will find a section called «Global plugin framework settings«. In the first item, it will refer to whether we want all the plugin configuration menus to be shown open or closed when accessing its configuration. On the other hand, we will have the option to eliminate all traces of code that the plugin may have left in our WordPress, in case we decide to uninstall it.

In the next section “Lazy Load Activation» we will have the option to activate or deactivate the plugin in question. Later, we can choose those cases in which we want it to be activated, either in the case of images (“Lazy loading of images«) or for videos and iframe (“Lazy loading on videos and images”). The configuration will be established by default for all the options, however we can exclude the assumptions that we consider so.

Another very interesting option is the possibility of exclude specific urls or types of pages from this lazy loading. The use of “Exclude by URLs and page types” It is very simple. It is enough to include the url that we want to exclude or check the boxes for the type of page that suits us best.

Also noteworthy is the option of those WorpPress that already have a plugin installed whose main function is to manage mobile traffic. So that in “Mobile Template Plugins for WordPress»we can disable lazy loading in both WpTouch or MobilePress.

Some other interesting option, will be the configuration of the «Load Script Optimization» in case your theme has the wp_footer() function, as well as the “Effect and style» which will be configured by default within the load spinner. In addition, it will allow you to be compatible with jet pack or even modify the load threshold of the image, being able to enlarge the viewable area you want it to load based on the number of pixels set.

Advantages of using lazy loading

Once we have installed Lazy Load in WordPresswe will be able to check how the video and image upload process is carried out, which will be done once we are doing scroll by the web, and therefore, activating said requests where the content will be loaded.

Without a doubt, this will help us reduce the loading time of our website, since by having to make fewer requests to load elements, the time will be considerably reduced. We tell you some other cases where the lazy loading of videos and images is recommended:

• In the case of landing pagewhere we seek to cover all the content in a single page, supposes a considerable gain in the loading time of the same, since as these usually have a lot of scrollthe elements will be loaded once the user is browsing it.
• For mobiles, is also an added advantage, since the visible area of ​​the initial website is even smaller. All kinds of images, videos or framesthey will be left out of the initial load and will not be loaded unless the user starts the scroll.
• In the case of pages that include a large number of images and videos in high resolution formatsthe inclusion of this type of deferred loading systems can be a differential component when it comes to optimizing its loading times.

Now that you know the advantages of lazy loading videos and images and you know how to carry out the Lazy Load settings in WordPresswe recommend that whenever you can put your website in the hands of a SEO expert. Since , we work on web positioning for your project and we know that loading speed is becoming a more fundamental aspect among the requirements that Google takes into account when positioning your web page. If you want to know more about how we can help you improve the organic positioning of your website, do not hesitate to contact us.