If you run a website, you know that speed is everything. A slow website frustrates users and hurts your Google rankings. Images are often the heaviest part of a webpage, accounting for over 60% of data downloaded.
Enter WebP
WebP is a modern image format derived from the VP8 video codec. It was created by Google specifically to make the web faster.
Key Benefits:
- Smaller Sizes: WebP lossless images are 26% smaller than PNGs. WebP lossy images are 25-34% smaller than comparable JPEGs.
- Transparency: Unlike JPG, WebP supports transparent backgrounds, making it a viable replacement for PNGs at a fraction of the size.
- Better Quality: At low bitrates (high compression), WebP retains detail much better than JPG, which tends to get blocky artifacts.
How to Use It
Most modern content management systems (like WordPress or Shopify) now support WebP automatically. If you have a folder of PNG or JPG assets for your site, running them through a bulk converter like LocalImageConverter can save you megabytes of bandwidth instantly.