Optimizing Logo Size for Faster Website Speed: Ultimate Guide

Written By Irfan Hayat

Website logo should neither be too large nor too small. It should be at appropriate size. In this section you will also know the difference between needed size and appropriate or ideal size of logo.

I have tested various sizes of Dozro logo by uploading to my Squarespace website and inspecting in browser. I have noted the following major observations.

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Avoid Logo of Extra Small Size

When you create and upload a smaller sized logo to your website, you cannot enlarge logo size more than its original dimensions in Squarespace website. Please note that other website builders such as GoDaddy allow enlarging a smaller logo but that is of no use because the logo image becomes pixelated.

Optimizing Logo Size for Faster Website Speed

However, when you create larger size logo, you can shrink it to a minimum level possible. For example, if I create a needed size logo of 145 × 40 px and upload to website and after uploading I will be unable to increase its size to the ideal size of 210 × 58 pixels. On the other hand, if I create logo in ideal size of 210 × 58 px, I can easily shrink it to the ideal size of 145 × 40 px.

Extra Large Logo Hurts Website Performance

Browser always downloads full size image from the website server – not the needed size. For example, when I uploaded a logo image of 1500 × 414 px, the browser downloaded the full file of image and then shrank the image to needed size of 145 × 40 px – thus wasting extra pixels .

Though Squarespace creates seven copies of an image after you upload it and serve an appropriate copy of the image to the browser according to user screen. This is true for most website images. But this is not the case with Logo image. According to Squarespace, a browser downloads full logo image (not the needed size) on user device and then adjusts (shrinks or stretches) it according to the screen resolution of user device.

As browser downloads full file size of logo image, it may hurt website performance. It means browser will unnecessarily use resources to download a 48 KB (for 1500 × 414 px) Dozro logo image (above tests) where it was needed a 13 KB logo image. Therefore, I suggest creating logo image in right size as needed and appropriate.

I Preferred Smaller Logo because it affects website speed

As browsers load full image from the website server, a large sized logo image can slow down your website. A logo in higher pixels automatically increases the file size and you cannot apply high level of compression to logos for obvious reasons. Appropriate logo size is important because logo is the image which appears above-the-fold on all pages of website. According to Google Developers website, logo image is among the foremost assets which browser downloads to render a webpage on user device. So, a logo image affects the website speed.

Please remember to resize logo after uploading because larger logo (with inherently more height) will also increase the height of site header pushing the important content on a webpage further below.

According to Lighthouse specs, the actual size of image should be equal or close to the rendered size of image on the user screen.

Therefore, I discarded logo images of 1500 × 414 px and 420 x 116 px. I selected 210 x 58 px, the ideal logo size for my website. I also avoided uploading extra small logo (needed) of 145 x 40 pixels – though after uploading I applied this size.

Dozro Services: Check Price for Creation of Favicon, Brand Minimalist Logo, and Small Business Website.

Why I Selected Ideal Logo in Slightly Larger Than Needed Size?

Reflow and browser zoom are the most important features of a responsive website.

As per standard web protocols, the height property for images must be defined, so they enlarge or shrink in the available space and respond to zoom levels.

Zoom feature helps people with low vision and it is an accessibility requirement for the web authors.

Default zoom levels are set at 100% but a senior or a person with vision difficulty can zoom the page of your website to see content. Logo image may become blurred when a website page is stretched for zoom in browser.

Therefore, I created and uploaded an ideal logo image of 210 x 58 pixels which is slightly larger than the needed size of 145 x 40 pixels. So, the extra pixels in the logo image will allow for safe zooming at certain percentage without blurring the logo. In my test, the Dozro logo displays without blurring at around 150% zoom. However, at 250% zoom level, it becomes slightly blurry but no issue at all – even Microsoft logo also becomes blurry at higher zoom levels.

It is because, most people do not zoom-in more than 125%. Even some people like to read webpages at 90% zoom (which is below the default of 100%) to allow more content in the viewport.

So, a slightly larger logo image than needed, helps in case an end user wants to zoom the page. To some extent, a bit larger than needed size of logo can also cater to the retina displays and a bit larger screen resolutions than the most popular screen of 1920x1080 pixels.

For most larger than 1920x1080px screens our logo will be acceptable. For example, on 2560x1440px screen our Dozro logo will also look fine. However, on higher resolutions – such as 7680 x 4320 resolution of Dell Ultrasharp – our Dozro logo may blur but no issue at all as we have to cater for most used screen resolutions and the number of ultra large screens are negligible. Additionally, website performance and speed for most screens should be priority for us.

You may also watch related video about ideal logo size on our Facebook page.

Please remember that after uploading an ideal logo size to your website, do not forget to resize it to the needed size.

More Resources

I recommend you check other articles about logo.

Irfan Hayat

As the Founder and CEO of DOZRO and various other ventures, I bring a wealth of diverse life experiences to the forefront. At heart, I am a passionate tech enthusiast. Feel free to explore our range of Pro Services, such as website and graphics design, SEO, and video editing, with confidence.

https://www.dozro.com/irfan-hayat
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