using a larger image - website speed ?

I wanna use an image size : 960px X 300px.

If I use this image, I'm afraid it will slow down my website.
Is there a way to resolve this ?

Maybe using a redirect ?

Is it maybe better to use smaller images for Google SEO ?

Thanks.

 

What do you need the image for?
Is this a background image that perhaps could be cut down into a smaller piece and repeated?

 

Compress the size the best you can, should be fine.

 

It's one image, cannot cut down in smaller pieces.

What do you think is the max kb for a webpage ?

 

What size it is?

 

Anything below 500 kb should not be a problem.