A few weeks ago, everyone was talking about the next generation imagingthis being a new parameter for SEO positioning. Therefore, in this article we tell you what is webp and how to convert images to WebP format, among other things.
First of all you have to know that the charging speed has always been one of the most important settings when optimizing a website. However, the image optimization It is not usually the first option for many despite what they influence the loading speed of a website. After reading this post about what is webpwe hope you change your mind and give it the importance it deserves.
What is WebP?
Search engines use different criteria to evaluate websites. In this sense, not only the traffic that reaches your website matters, but also the quality data of the users. This means that it is not only important that many users arrive, but also the time that users stay viewing your content or the number of pages they visit.
The use of caching mechanisms or smaller and more compressed code is one of the most used solutions for improve loading speed, however the use of optimized images is usually left out.
This is where the images have emerged in webP format, since this format, which has been developed by Google, manages to reduce the loading time of images on the internet and reduce their size.
Definitely, WebP is a new image compression format that is causing a sensation, especially among web developers, which makes it the recommended format for website development.
WebP It is so it can be used by everyone, and get reduce the weight of the image above 30% compared to the same image in other formats such as PNG or JPEG without losing quality.
In addition, one of its strengths is that it supports both lossy compression as withoutand is a format derived from the VP8 video standard.
Characteristics of WebP images
WebP’s main objective is to reduce the size of images on the web as much as possible. In addition, WebP allows for both lossy and lossless compression methods, making it the most suitable format for photographs as well as small images and graphics. The compression characteristics, as well as others core properties of the WebP format, can be summarized as follows:
- Compression (lossy): WebP lossy compression is based on VP8 keyframe encoding.
- Compression (lossless): WebP lossless compression is based on different techniques that transform the parameters and data of the image. In this case, the LZ77 algorithm is used, among others.
- Transparency: The 8-bit alpha channel offered by the WebP format can also be used for lossy RGB compression.
- metadata: WebP can include the EXIF and XMP metadata that is normally created by still cameras.
- color profile: Google’s format may include embedded ICC profiles (records that describe the color space).
- animations: The WebP format allows you to store sequences of images.
Advantages and disadvantages of WebP
The JPG or JPEG format has been the most used on the Internet for decades, however, WebP has proven to be much more efficient thanks to one of the main advantages over JPG, as it offers a lossy and lossless compression methoda. However, this form offers other advantages such as:
- Retrench of space: As we have already mentioned, the WebP compression format makes the images take up much less space on our disk or server with the same quality as an image in JPG or PNG format.
- Reduced compression time: Not only is it important that they take up little space, but it is also crucial that they load quickly in the browser. In this sense, the format created by Google also far exceeds the decoding and loading times of other image formats.
- Transparency support: In addition, it is a format that supports image transparency.
- Animation support: And as if that weren’t enough, it also supports animation, which also makes it a great rival to the GIF format.
After knowing the advantages of the WebP format, you may be wondering if this format is so good, why is it currently used by only 1.3% of websites? Well, the main reason is that WebP is relatively new and has only been adopted by major web browsers and image viewing/editing software so far.
This causes the WebP format to have limitations with respect to some browsers, since it is not possible to open this file format with most image viewing applications. For example, this format is not supported by all browsers and softwareas Apple Safari and Internet Explorer cannot open them.
What differences does WebP have with JPG and PNG?
To learn the differences between the multiple image formats that exist, we will first have to know what each of them consists of.
The format JPG is the standard format for photographs, since reproduces colors very well and the images with shade. Furthermore, he admits different compression levels, in which the less space we have a faster load. This format is the most used on the internet because we can save money much space thanks to its function lossy compression. We are losing details of the photograph, but in return we save loading time.
Instead, the format PNG has two versions: 8 and 24 Bit. The first is very similar to GIF formatand the second reproduces in the same way the colors than the JPG. The PNG lossless compressand it is mainly used when we have no problem having a very large filein logo or in pictures with transparency.
Finally, the format WebP competes directly with JPG, since as we have seen before, the latter is the most used for Internet images, and Google has developed the WebP format to optimize this process. Thanks to the WebP lossless compression capabilitywe can upload images to the Internet, but no quality loss, In addition to doing it with Retrench of space which involved lossy compression of the JPG format.
How to convert JPG images to WebP
Convert JPG/PNG to Webp with plugins
They do not convert the images that you have uploaded to Webp, but they are kept as they are and the URL’s do not change.
- → WebP Express is one of the free plugins found in the WordPress repository to go from JPG/PNG to WebP. In this case, it only serves to convert to WebP. Its interface is advanced and has many options, so that we can have enough doubts to configure the operation of both the conversion and the way of serving.
- → Webp Converter for Media it is a simple and easy to use plugin, since you only have to install it and upload the images. Once that is done, your current images will be converted to a new format, which you will automatically receive with much higher quality.
- → Imagify is one of the best plugins to optimize jpg, png, pdf and gif files (animated or not), as well as convert WebP images. This plugin will help you earn those precious minutes you need to improve the loading speed and performance of your website. Also, you can use it directly in WordPress to add the reduced weight and better quality images directly to your website.
Other ways to pass JPG/PNG to WebP
- → This free online WebP converter allows you to convert your images to the WebP format used by Google. All you have to do is upload your photo or indicate a link to the image and click on “convert file”. The file will be converted instantly and you will be able to download the WebP image as soon as you have converted it. It also offers you the advantage of installing its plugin in your Google Chrome browser.
- → With this online converter you only have to upload the files and choose the WebP format. Once the conversion is done, the file will be saved automatically.
- → It is an advanced and completely free online image editor. No type of registration is required, its use is easy and intuitive thanks to its very simple interface, similar to that of any other image editing tool. Despite being a web utility, it offers advanced features and all kinds of resources for professional photo editing.
now that you know what is webp and why it is important that you have the images of your website optimized, it is time to get down to work to achieve compliance with Google standards in SEO positioning. And you know, if you have doubts, in online zebra like we know how to help you. !
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