Table of Contents
What Exactly is a WebP File?
Why Should Your Website Use WebP Images?
Types of Compression Used in WebP
How WebP Works
Do Web Browsers Support WebP?
Benefits from Using WebP Files on Your Website
How to Convert Your JPEG and PNG Files to WebP Files
SEO and Accessibility Considerations
As anyone who has ever visited websites knows, the use of images is quite ubiquitous. That is because images attract visitors’ attention. They are part of a larger strategy to supplement a message or to tell a story within a website. Hence the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words. But, images can also make your website look more appealing.
That said, the use of large images can slow down your website. Here is where WebP comes in.
What Exactly is a WebP File?
WebP is “next-gen” raster image format pioneered by Google in 2010, that utilizes exceptional compression techniques, which result in reduced file sizes with better image quality, compared to other formats such as JPEG or PNG.
Why Should Your Website Use WebP Images?
Because WebP images are smaller in file size, this helps your website pages to load faster. Thus, if one of your goals is to make your website faster, you would be much better off utilizing WebP, rather than JPEG or PNG image files, within your website pages.
Types of Compression Used in WebP
WebP can utilize either lossy and lossless compression. Lossy compression reduces file size by sacrificing some image quality. Lossless compression retains every pixel but the tradeoff is larger file size, compared to lossy.
How WebP Works
WebP uses advanced compression algorithms to reduce image file size in a more efficient and effective way, without a significant degradation in image quality.
Do Web Browsers Support WebP?
Yes, as of 2025, most modern web browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge, support WebP, making it possible to display these images on most devices (laptop, desktop, tablet and smart phone).
Benefits from Using WebP Files on Your Website
Faster Page Loading and Improved User Experience
As mentioned earlier, larger image files can slow your website down and degrade user experience. Faster websites improve user experience and can help to keep visitors from bouncing and instead, improve conversions.
Reduced Storage and Bandwidth Costs
Smaller file sizes translate to less space on your server and less data needing to be transferred. This in turn, saves money, especially when you have many images. Large e-commerce websites with hundreds or thousands of product pictures can take advantage of WebP’s benefits to cut down costs on hosting and bandwidth.
Enhanced Image Quality with Smaller Files
WebP can preserve image quality even when high compression is used. Thus, your images and graphics can remain sharp without the penalty of large file sizes.
Enhanced SEO and Search Engine Rankings
Fast websites are favored by Google. Thus, to maximize your opportunity to rank higher in Google, pay attention to the speed of your web pages. Using WebP images can help your website load faster, and this can improve your ability to rank higher in Google SERPs, bringing more visitors your way.
How to Convert Your JPEG and PNG Files to WebP Files
Image Editing Software and Free Online Tools
If you have access to Photoshop, you can easily convert a JPEG or PNG file to WebP. Otherwise, you can use with a plugin (if your website is built on WordPress) such as Converter for Media or an online converter tool, such as cloudconvert.
SEO and Accessibility Considerations
Like all images used in any website, you should ensure that your images are accessible by adding descriptive image alt text, so that all users, especially those who rely on screen readers, can access and understand your content. Properly optimized images also help improve overall website SEO.
Switching to WebP offers big wins such as faster page load times, lower costs, better image quality and improved SEO.
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