Images account for nearly 60% of the average WebP)age's total weight. Choosing the right image format is the single most impactful optimization you can make for your website's performance.
The Legacy Formats: JPG and PNG
For decades, the web relied on two formats:
- JPG (JPEG): Uses "lossy" compression. Excellent for complex photographs with many colors, but it cannot support transparent backgrounds.
- PNG: Uses "lossless" compression and supports transparency. Excellent for logos and vector-style graphics, but photographs saved as PNG result in massive, slow-loading file sizes.
If you have a massive photograph saved as a PNG, you should immediately use a PNG to JPG Converter or our generic Image Compressor to reduce its size by up to 80%.
The Modern Standard: WebP
Developed by Google, WebP provides superior lossy and lossless compression for images on the web.
- •The Benefit: WebP images are typically 25% to 35% smaller than comparable JPGs and PNGs.
- •Transparency: Unlike JPG, WebP supports transparent backgrounds, making it a true universal replacement.
- •Compatibility: WebP is now supported by 97% of global web browsers.
We highly recommend routing your heavy images through a WebP Converter before uploading them to your CMS.
The Next Generation: AVIF
AVIF (AV1 Image File Format) is the newest kid on the block. Derived from the AV1 video codec, it offers staggering compression capabilities.
- •The Benefit: AVIF can shrink images an additional 30% smaller than WebP (and 50% smaller than JPG) with virtually no loss in visual quality.
- •The Drawback: Being relatively new, AVIF is currently supported by roughly 85% of browsers. Older versions of Edge and Safari may struggle to render it.
If you want the absolute fastest load times, run your hero banners through an AVIF Converter, but be sure to provide a WebP or JPG fallback in your HTML element for older browsers.
Conclusion
The days of relying exclusively on JPGs are over. By migrating your site's assets to WebP or AVIF, you will dramatically decrease load times, improve your Core Web Vitals, and ultimately boost your SEO rankings.