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Why Google PageSpeed Still Says Your Images Need Optimizing After Using EWWW

18 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Ewww image optimizer

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It's a common and frustrating scenario: you've run the EWWW Image Optimizer bulk process, your media library shows all images are optimized, yet Google PageSpeed Insights continues to flag them as a major performance issue. This discrepancy is one of the most frequently reported topics for users of the plugin. This guide will explain why this happens and what you can do about it.

Why This Happens: Understanding the PageSpeed Report

The confusion often stems from a misunderstanding of what the Google PageSpeed report is actually measuring. The EWWW Image Optimizer plugin successfully performs lossless compression on your images. However, the PageSpeed test often has two distinct recommendations:

  1. Compression: This is what EWWW handles. It reduces file size without visually altering the image.
  2. Resizing: This refers to serving images that are appropriately sized for the device and container they are displayed in. For example, serving a 2000px wide thumbnail when only a 300px version is needed.

PageSpeed frequently bundles these two issues together under a single "Optimize Images" warning. If your images are compressed but not properly resized, you will still see this warning.

Common Causes and Their Solutions

1. The Resizing Issue (Most Common)

Problem: Your theme or page builder is loading inappropriately large image files (e.g., a full-size image) and then scaling it down with HTML or CSS to fit a smaller space. PageSpeed sees the large file being downloaded and recommends resizing it at the source.

Solution: This is not a failure of the EWWW Image Optimizer plugin, but a content and theme configuration issue. You must ensure your theme is serving the correct image size (e.g., 'medium', 'large', or a custom thumbnail size) for its intended use. You may need to configure your theme settings or use a plugin that generates additional image sizes and serves them responsively.

2. A Change in Google's Algorithm

Problem: Analysis of user reports suggests that Google PageSpeed Insights may have shifted its benchmark from lossless compression to a more aggressive lossy compression standard. The EWWW Image Optimizer's default lossless compression may no longer meet this new, stricter benchmark.

Solution: To meet these potential new benchmarks, you would need to use lossy compression. This is available through the EWWW IO API service. It's important to note that lossy compression will alter your images, so results should be reviewed to ensure visual quality is acceptable.

3. WebP Conversion and Browser Support

Problem: You have WebP conversion enabled and see that browsers are receiving WebP images, but PageSpeed is still complaining about the original JPEG/PNG files.

Why: WebP images are only served to browsers that support them (like Chrome). Browsers that do not support WebP (like Safari and Firefox) will receive the original JPEG or PNG versions. Google PageSpeed likely tests using the original images to ensure a good experience for all users. Therefore, optimizing the original images remains critically important.

Solution: Ensure both your WebP images and your original images are fully optimized. Run the bulk optimizer to process all original images first.

4. Specific Image Optimization Limits

Problem: The WebP version of an image was not created because the resulting file was not smaller than the original, which is a requirement of the plugin.

Solution: You can try to run a "WebP Only" bulk conversion to target specific images. Alternatively, for certain images with sharp edges and lines, WebP may not be the ideal format as it can sometimes produce blurrier results compared to a well-optimized JPEG.

What To Do Next: A Step-by-Step Checklist

  1. Identify the Exact Problem: Click on the PageSpeed warning to expand it. Look at the specific images listed and the recommended savings. If the recommendation is to "resize" or "serve scaled images," the issue is with your theme, not the plugin's compression.
  2. Verify Compression: Download one of the flagged images from your site and then run it through a separate compression tool (like TinyPNG). If the file size is similar, then EWWW has already done its job and the issue is likely resizing.
  3. Check Your Theme: Investigate your theme's settings for image handling. Ensure it uses responsive images and appropriate thumbnail sizes.
  4. Clear All Caches: After making any changes, clear your site cache, browser cache, and any CDN caches before re-testing with PageSpeed Insights.

In most cases, a persistent PageSpeed warning after optimization is a signal to look at your site's responsive image delivery strategy, not a failure of the image compression itself.

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