Image below the fold without loading="lazy"

On every live page the images are walked in the order they appear in the HTML. Only <img> tags with a src or a srcset count, that is, tags that actually display something: an empty <img src=""> counts neither towards the finding nor towards the ordering. The first 2 displaying images are treated as “above the fold” (so probably visible immediately) and skipped. For every one after that we check whether it carries loading="lazy", and if not, the finding is raised. The threshold lives in config/seo.json under seo.SEO-38 as above_fold_image_count: 2, marked PROPOSAL.

This is the crudest heuristic of the paid-module codes and it is fair to say so up front: order in the HTML is not the same as position on screen. Measuring the real layout would mean rendering the page, which this check does not do. A page with three images in its header gets a finding on the third, undeservedly.

What the check does not do: it does not measure an element's real position, does not account for image size, cannot see lazy loading implemented in JavaScript, and does not check fetchpriority. The finding is page-level and informational: it costs no score at all, which for a heuristic this coarse is the only honest option.

For visibility in AI answers we have no documented effect. Lazy loading is a performance technique; it has nothing to do with what a model reads off the page.

What is documented: the loading="lazy" attribute is standard and supported by browsers. It defers fetching an image until the visitor approaches its position. On a page with fifty images that means five are fetched up front instead of fifty.

And now the important part, which makes this finding two-directional: loading="lazy" on an image ABOVE the fold is harmful. It defers something that is visible immediately and thereby worsens LCP, the metric SEO-20 measures. That is why the check skips the first two images and why we do not recommend adding the attribute blanket-wise.

The practical conclusion, and here it applies especially: check each case with your own eyes. Our heuristic knows nothing about position. When “the third image in order” is actually in the header, ignore the finding, and when it is in the footer, add the attribute.

The attribute on images that are below the fold:

<img src="photo.jpg" alt="…" width="1200" height="800" loading="lazy">

And on the first, hero image the opposite, so it is fetched as early as possible:

<img src="hero.jpg" alt="…" width="1600" height="900" fetchpriority="high">

• Never loading="lazy" on the hero image. It is one of the few “optimisations” that measurably hurt.
• Add dimensions alongside the attribute. A lazily loaded image with no reserved space jumps exactly when the visitor scrolls to it, manufacturing a SEO-21.
• Do not combine it with script-based lazy loading. A custom JavaScript solution and the native attribute get in each other's way; the native one is enough.
• The gain is largest on long listings: galleries, product lists, article archives. On a page with three images it is work without effect.

If you are unsure where the fold is: open the page on a phone, do not scroll, and what you see is above the fold. Everything else is a candidate for lazy loading.