Why WebP for the web
Every image on a page has to download before visitors see it. Large JPGs straight off a phone are one of the most common reasons a site feels slow, and page speed affects both bounce rates and search rankings.
WebP was designed by Google for exactly this job. It usually produces noticeably smaller files than JPG at the same visual quality, it supports transparency like PNG, and every current major browser displays it. For photos on a blog, shop or portfolio, it’s a sensible default.
Picking the right format for your site
| Format | File size | Browser support | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPG | Larger | Universal | Email, printing, old systems |
| WebP | Smaller | All current major browsers | Most website photos |
| AVIF | Smallest | Modern browsers, some gaps | Sites chasing every kilobyte |
If you want to go further, the format switcher above can output AVIF as well. AVIF files are smaller again but take longer to encode. See HEIC to AVIF for the trade-offs.
A quick workflow for site builders
- Resize first. A 4032-pixel-wide iPhone photo is wasted on a 1200-pixel column. Use Resize HEIC with the 1920 or 1280 preset.
- Convert to WebP here at quality 75 to 85.
- Strip location. It’s off by default, so your home address doesn’t end up in a public blog post.
- Upload to your CMS. WordPress users can follow our HEIC for WordPress page for the details.
Colour across browsers
iPhone photos are shot in Display P3, a wider colour range than standard sRGB. We embed the colour profile in the WebP, and modern browsers honour it. If you want guaranteed identical colour on every screen, including older ones that ignore profiles, set Colour to sRGB before converting.
Built for privacy, not for servers
Online converters that upload your files are a strange fit for photos you haven’t published yet. Here the WebP encoding runs in Web Workers inside your browser tab, in parallel across your CPU cores. There’s no server-side step, no sign-up, and no watermark. Once the app is cached it works offline, so you can prepare images on a plane and upload them when you land.