If you run a blog or an online store, your images are probably the biggest weight dragging down your page speed. Every JPG or PNG you add increases the page size, and a bigger page means slower loading — and site speed is a direct ranking factor on Google, plus a big part of the visitor's experience.
WebP is an image format developed by Google specifically for the web. The core idea is simple: roughly the same visual quality you'd get from JPG or PNG, but at a noticeably smaller file size — often 25 to 35% smaller than JPG at equivalent visual quality.
Imagine an article with 10 images, each 200KB as JPG. That's 2MB extra a visitor's browser has to load just for images. Convert those same images to WebP at similar quality, and you could drop under 1.5MB — a real saving that shows up directly in page load speed, especially on mobile and slower connections.
Rule of thumb: quality between 70% and 85% gives an excellent balance between size and visual quality for most images — you rarely need 100% quality for ordinary web images.
WebP is suitable for nearly every use case on the web: article images, product photos, thumbnails, even cover images. The one exception is if you need compatibility with very old browsers that are barely used today, or if you need to keep the original file format for printing or later editing — in that case, keep an original copy and publish a WebP version only.
You don't need a complex image editor or technical expertise. The easiest way is to upload your images to an online converter that processes them directly in your browser, with the ability to adjust quality and resize at the same time — ideal if you publish on a platform like Blogger and need a specific cover size.
Converting your images to WebP is a simple step that takes minutes, but its effect on your site speed and visitor experience is real and measurable. If you're still publishing JPG or PNG without converting, this is the easiest optimization you can make today.