Lazy Loading

Lazy loading is a critical performance optimization technique that delays the downloading and rendering of non-critical assets (like images or iframes located below the fold) until the user actually scrolls down to view them. This drastically reduces the initial page payload, resulting in massive improvements to First Contentful Paint (FCP) and overall page speed. However, lazy loading must be implemented flawlessly. If the JavaScript controlling the lazy load is not configured to degrade gracefully, or if above, the-fold assets are accidentally lazy-loaded, search engine crawlers will never see the images, resulting in a complete loss of image search traffic.

Lazy Loading Simplified

Lazy loading is a trick that stops a website from loading images at the very bottom of the page until you actually scroll down to look at them. This makes the top of the page load instantly, which keeps users happy and improves your SEO rankings.