WEBP Converter

Believe it or not. People are getting lazy. No one wants to sit back and read for hours. Nowadays, everyone prefers information through easy-to-consume formats like images.

Images are one of the best ways to catch the attention of viewers. Content with images tends to perform 94% better than text-only content. However, if not done in the right manner, images can affect the user experience.

Even Google accepts this. Image optimization is a key factor in ranking your web pages on Google search engine rankings. Unfortunately, many websites fail in that.

That's why Google itself has proposed a solution to this problem with a new file format- WebP. Read on to learn everything you need to understand about WebP, including its usage, supported platforms, future trends, pros and cons, and how to use it.

What is WebP?

WebP is a modern image format created by Google to deliver high-quality images in the best manner. It's a more advanced replacement to jpg and png for sharing images without compromising on quality.

As we all know, images are crucial for providing a better user experience. The more eye-catching images you place, the more strain on content servers. This could slow down your website's loading speed.

WebP is Google's answer to this problem. As per Google's research, WebP images, when using lossless compression, are approximately 26% more compact than equivalent PNG images.

How do WebP Files work?

The working principle of WebP is not rocket science. It's easier than you might think. See how it works.

Simply put, the WebP format works through predictive compression. As soon as you save an image WebP, analyze the image data and find ways to represent it in a more optimized manner. Then, it compresses the image in any of these two methods:

1. Lossy Compression: As per this method, the algorithm looks into the color of the nearby pixels and roughly predicts the color of a pixel. Then, it saves the difference between actual and guessed color, just like how some video formats compress frames.
2. Lossless compression: The lossless compression method in WebP operates by utilizing portions of the image that have already been encoded to create new sections of the image. If it doesn’t find a suitable match, it can resort to a local palette of colours.

When a device or browser encounters a WebP image, it decodes the compressed data back into a viewable image. That's all.

Benefits of WebP

To know what makes WebP unique, you need to understand how it helps you. Let's check out some benefits of WebP file format:

1. Faster loading speed

   Even a second delay in your website loading can cost a 16% reduction in customer satisfaction. That means website loading speed is indeed a crucial metric to be monitored.

   That's where WebP comes in. It is mainly used to reduce the image size of websites. As a result, the website loading speed skyrockets and the bounce rates stumble down.

2. Supports Animation

   With thousands of competitor websites striving to attract the same target audience, you need something appealing to catch their eyes. And animated images could be really helpful for that. WebP supports animated media.

3. Wide Browser Support

   Nowadays, almost all browsers, including Google Chrome, Opera, Firefox, etc., support WebP. That means you can reach a large number of audiences without any additional plug-ins.

4. Cost Savings

   Switching to WebP file format even lets you save money. Wondering how? Well, as mentioned before, due to smaller file sizes WebP requires less storage and bandwidth. So, the cost of web development could be reduced to an extent. This cost-effective aspect makes WebP a practical choice for small businesses to improve user experience without spending much on website maintenance.

How to Open a WebP File?

Since the concept of WebP is relatively new, many may have confusion as to how to open it. Well, it's easier than you might think. Here are four ways for that:

1. Browser

   The simplest method to open WebP file format is through web browsers. Almost all prominent browsers like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, etc., support WebP files.

2. Rename

   You can convert WebP files to other formats without using Paint. All you need to do is rename it. Check out the steps for that:

   1. Click on the 'view' option of your WebP file.
   2. Select 'file extensions' to see the extensions of all files.
   3. Right-click on the WebP image again and select 'rename'.
   4. Replace the 'webp' part of the text with 'jpg' or 'png', as per your choice.

3. ImageClass

   In case you don't want to convert the WebP image to any other format, consider downloading a third-party app from the Play Store. ImageGlass is a perfect image viewer that supports over 70 image formats, including WebP.

4. Windows Photo Viewer

   Forget all sideways. You can simply view the WebP image from your system without relying on third-party apps or plug-ins. Windows Photo Viewer in Windows 10 supports WebP files. You just need to right-click on the WebP image and choose Windows Photo Viewer from the 'open with' drop-down option.

5. Conversion through Paint

   Older versions of Windows do not have a straight way to view WebP files. So, if you are still using older Windows versions, you need to convert them to some other format. And Paint is a useful tool for that. Here are the steps for the conversion:

   1. Right-click on the WebP file.
   2. Choose 'Paint' from the 'Open With' dropdown option.
   3. You can convert the file by saving it to the preferred location.
   4. After converting, edit the image through 'photos'.

Use cases of WebP

WebP is a versatile image format that is beneficial for many users. Here are specific sects of people that may find the WebP file format most useful:

1. Web Developers

   As said before, the primary purpose of WebP format is to optimize website loading speed. WebP file reduces the size of the image, resulting in a quicker loading speed. This way, the website ensures a better user experience and will have an edge to dominate search engine rankings.

2. Online Store owners

   Imagine this scenario. You have spent tons of money and effort on running ads only to find that all the visitors have backed off from the website due to poor user experience. Sounds painful, right?

   Well, most ecommerce websites are crawling due to a massive number of large-sized product images. WebP's efficient image compression feature resolves this problem. So far, it's the best option for online store owners to display product images in high quality without affecting loading speed.

3. Social Media Marketers

   Loading speed is not just a pain for website owners. It affects Social Media Marketing (SMM), too. That's why almost all prominent social media platforms including Facebook and Telegram support WebP file formats.

   You can use it to cut down the loading speed of images and make people hit the like button more quickly. This could be useful while running digital ads.

4. Email Marketers

   As we all know, email inboxes are one of the most competitive spaces for marketing. Catching attention through emails can be tricky and retaining that attention is even harder. A terrible loading speed could surely trigger a user to hit the back button and check the next mail. Only a WebP file can save you from that. It helps in faster delivery and improved inbox placement.

5. Animators

   Well-placed animations within content could be really catchy. However, it could take a toll on the loading speed, affecting user experience. Fortunately, WebP supports animation, similar to GIFs but with better compression. That means you can engage the audience without risking their user experience.

How to create and edit WebP files?

The process of creating and editing WebP files is simple. You can use any photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop, GIMP, Affinity Photo, etc. Here's how to create and edit a WebP file using Adobe Photoshop:

1. Create an image from Adobe Photoshop as you normally would. Then, edit it as per your requirements.
2. Once you are satisfied with the final output, click the 'save as' option.
3. Save it as a WebP file.
4. A settings panel will appear on the screen. Adjust the settings as needed, such as selecting between lossless and lossy compression and adjusting the quality slider.

How to convert images to WebP?

Even though WebP is rising as a prominent image format, most images are available in PNG or JPG. So, you need to convert them to WebP to get the benefits. That's exactly where our WebP converter comes in. It makes the whole conversion process a cakewalk. Check out how to use the tool:

1. Visit our WebP converter website.
2. Click on the 'Choose files' option. Then, upload the image that you wish to convert to WebP.
3. Click the 'convert' button.
4. You will see a compressed WebP version of your image along with the size. Tap on the 'download' option next to it and save the file to your system.

Why Choose our WebP converter?

Many image converter tools could get the same job done. But, our WebP converter stands apart from them due to many reasons. Here are some of them:

• All-in-one converter: No matter what kind of image format you have, convert it to WebP just with a click. We support almost all prominent file formats like PNG and JPG.
• Security: A lot of users have privacy concerns and feel worried about whether third parties storing their images. Well, you need not worry about that here. We have a serverless file upload. That means your images are just uploaded to the browser and no third party can access them.
• Unlimited Conversions: convert as many images as you want without any restrictions or quotas. And the best part? You can use the service for free. No weird ads or subscriptions.
• Easy to use: Anyone without much knowledge about technical stuff can convert images to WebP file format without any hassles. Our interface is designed not just to be user-friendly but beginner-friendly.

How does WebP help in SEO?

WebP and SEO are closely intertwined. In fact, Google introduced WebP to help the SEO efforts of websites. Let's see how it helps your website to rank better on search engines:

1. Faster Loading Speed

   WebP files have smaller file sizes as compared to PNG and JPG. As a result, the website will load faster, maintaining the same image quality. Search engines always favor ranking websites that load faster.

2. Improved User Experience

   Most companies spend tons of money and effort to improve user experience. What if you can do that just with WebP? Faster loading speeds reduce bounce rates and increase customer retention rates. User Experience is one of the primary factors considered for search engine ranking.

3. Optimized Largest Contentful Paint

   Large Contentful Paint (LCP) is a metric that shows how much time is required for a website to load its largest content above the field. It is a crucial ranking factor in search engine results. So, if you can keep the LCP metric low, the distance to reach the first space in SERP gets halved.

4. Bandwidth Savings

   The smaller the image size, the lesser bandwidth is required. This could be really helpful for users with slow internet connection and your website will be accessible to them, too.

5. Google's Preference

   As we all know, Google launched WebP file format in 2010 for website performance optimization. Google has a vested interest in promoting technologies that improve web performance. Even though WebP files are not a direct factor to increase search engine rankings, it is surely a positive factor to boost search engine positioning.

6. Mobile Optimization

   With the rising usage of mobile phones, the importance of mobile optimization of websites is more important than ever before. WebP's smaller file size reduces data usage and thereby speeds up website loading on mobile devices.

How does WebP help in App Development?

WebP file format is helpful in app development, especially for mobile apps. Here's how it helps app development:

1. Supports Transparency

   WebP image format supports transparency, or the alpha channel in two ways. When using lossless WebP, transparency can be included with only about a 22% increase in file size. On the other hand, if you’re okay with lossy RGB compression, WebP still supports transparency and typically results in file sizes that are three times smaller than comparable PNG images.

2. Reduces APK size

   Reducing the size of mobile apps is crucial to attract more users. WebP makes this possible by significantly cutting down the image size of the images. As a result, the overall size of APK is naturally reduced.

3. Supports Animation

   Static images have a limitation in capturing user attention. Only animated images can make your app lively. WebP supports animated images to make your app more appealing with loading spinners, progress indicators, and other interactive elements.

4. Compatibility

   WebP image format is compatible with Android devices. It supports images with lossy compression on Android version 4.0 and lossless and transparent images on Android versions 4.3 and above. You can easily integrate WebP images into your Android app without the need for additional libraries or dependencies.

5. Improve User Experience

   Just like the case of websites, WebP file formats play a prominent role in improving the user experience of apps. It compresses image size by approximately 30% without any compromise on quality. Therefore, the loading speed of the app is significantly reduced which leads to a better user experience.

Alternatives to WebP

Now, let's come to the most awaited section- how does WebP perform as compared to its alternatives? Why should you switch from traditional image formats to a newer one? Let's check it out.

WebP VS JPEG

• Google claims that WebP can reduce file size by 25-34% as compared to JPEG, without any loss in image quality. That means a website with WebP images loads faster than JPEG.
• WebP is indeed powerful enough to give better image quality than JPEG at smaller sizes. However, there are instances when JPEG can achieve higher quality. This is true, especially in cases of images with complex details. Blurring may be more noticeable in WebP image formats.
• As mentioned earlier, WebP indeed has a competitive edge over any other file format in SEO. However, it is important to keep in mind that certain old browsers still do not support WebP, making JPEG a better file format to ensure that everyone can view the image.
• Yet another important point is that WebP supports animated images while JPEG does not. Therefore, WebP is a more attractive option to make your website more appealing.

WebP vs JPEG - Bottom line: WebP offers superior compression and faster loading times compared to JPEG, but may exhibit noticeable blurring with complex images, and lacks universal browser/device support. However, it supports animated images, making it more visually appealing.

WebP VS PNG

• WebP has a clear-cut edge over PNG format in image compression without compromising image quality. PNG also uses lossless compression but the image size would be larger. So, WebP is a better choice for web-based media while PNG is better for images where preserving every detail is important.
• While support for WebP has been growing, it's not as widely supported as PNG. Some older browsers may not support WebP without additional plugins or fallback mechanisms.
• Even though PNG supports animated images technically, it is not as widespread as WebP. WebP supports animated images with better compression.
• PNG images can be easily edited through any software without loss in quality. On the flip side, editing WebP images is a task as most software does not support that format.

WebP vs PNG - Bottom line: WebP excels in image compression while maintaining quality, making it preferable for web-based media, though PNG is better suited for preserving intricate details; however, WebP's support and compression for animated images surpass PNG's.

WebP VS AVIF

• When it comes to image quality, AVIF seems to be a better choice. While WebP provides reasonable image quality, it may degrade slightly as compared to higher images, in higher compression levels. AVIF can maintain fine details and colour more effectively.
• Even though WebP is a renowned file format for image compression, AVIF does it better due to the AV1 codec technique. It employs advanced compression techniques like inter-frame coding and intra-frame coding, to achieve significant file size reduction without much loss of quality.
• Since AVIF is a comparatively newer image format than WebP, it is not yet supported by all prominent browsers. For example, Safari and Edge don't support AVIF. So, WebP is a safer option to make the images accessible to everyone.
• WebP encoding and decoding are generally faster compared to AVIF, especially on older platforms. This can be useful for real-time applications where processing speed is critical.

WebP vs AVIF - Bottom line: AVIF outperforms WebP in image quality preservation, particularly at higher compression levels, yet its newer status means it lacks widespread browser support, making WebP a safer choice for accessibility. Also, WebP boasts faster encoding and decoding speeds.

4 Tips for Image Optimization with WebP

You know everything about car specifications, except one thing- driving. Is there any use for that knowledge?

Similarly, your knowledge of WebP is complete only if you know how to use it properly. That brings us to our next section. Here are some tips on how to use WebP images for image optimization:

1. Conduct an Image audit

   First of all, conduct an image audit of your website. Review key metrics like image quality, relevance, etc. Then, identify the images that are to be optimized to improve the website performance.

2. Choose a reliable image converter

   Once you have identified the images that are to be optimized, you need to find a reliable image converter tool to convert those images to WebP format. There is a stress on the word 'reliable' because many online converters have server issues or may potentially leak your image.

   Our WebP image converter is a safer option as all your images are uploaded just on your browser. That means you need not worry about safety issues even for a second.

3. Maintain a balance

   The key to image optimization lies in finding a balance between image quality and file size. Make sure that your image is clearly viewable as well as it loads quickly.

4. Responsive image serving

   Try to set responsive image techniques like the 'srcset' attribute with various formats and sizes. This way, you can serve the most suitable image based on the device feature of the user. As a result, the user experience gets improved.

5. Experiment and Evolve

   Feel free to experiment with various compression settings and quality levels. Continue to adjust these settings based on your target audience until you get an optimum reach.

Challenges of using WebP

WebP is not a perfect image format and it does have its own set of disadvantages. Here are some challenges that you may face while implementing the WebP image system on your website:

1. Even though WebP is a favorable SEO factor, the fact that not all browsers support it is a matter of concern. For example, the older version of Safari browser and Internet Explorer doesn't support WebP.
2. Editing a WebP file is not as easy as you might think. Most editing software does not support WebP files. You must first convert the WebP file to another format, which could be challenging if you need to edit a large number of images.
3. Just like any other lossy compression, image quality reduction occurs even in WebP. But most probably it is not detected. However, it might be noticeable in the case of detailed images.
4. Since the WebP format is not supported in all browsers, web developers may need to spend time laying out fallback strategies for them.

Future of WebP

The future of WebP image format looks promising. Recently, the Safari browser also started supporting WebP files. As more platforms support WebP, its usage is expected to rise in the coming years. We can expect the introduction of more cutting-edge features to make the file size even smaller without any compromise on image quality.

Frequently Answered Questions

Final Word

Almost all websites are constantly hunting for new techniques to improve their search engine positioning. As we all know, image optimization plays a key role in that. So, switching over to WebP image format could be the first thing you can do to improve search engine rankings.

And that's exactly where our WebP image converter can help you. No ads. No subscription fee. Convert as many images as you want within a split second. Try out our free tool now!