What Is WebP and How to Enable It on Your Hosting

If you have ever run a website speed test and been told to “serve images in next-gen formats,” you have already encountered the world of WebP. For website owners, developers, and anyone serious about performance, understanding WebP hosting is an essential part of delivering a faster, leaner, and more efficient website. In this guide, we will explain exactly what WebP is, why it matters, and how you can enable it on your hosting environment.

What Is WebP?

WebP is a modern image format developed by Google, first introduced in 2010. It was designed to replace older formats such as JPEG, PNG, and GIF by offering superior compression without sacrificing visual quality. The format supports both lossy and lossless compression, as well as transparency (alpha channel) and animation — making it an incredibly versatile option for web use.

In practical terms, WebP images are significantly smaller in file size compared to their JPEG or PNG equivalents. Google’s own research suggests that WebP lossy images are around 25–34% smaller than comparable JPEG files, whilst lossless WebP images are approximately 26% smaller than PNGs. For a website with dozens or hundreds of images, this reduction in file size can have a dramatic effect on page load times.

WebP vs JPEG and PNG

JPEG has long been the standard for photographs and complex images on the web, whilst PNG has been preferred for graphics requiring transparency. WebP effectively combines the best of both worlds. It handles photographic content with excellent quality at lower file sizes, and it supports transparent backgrounds just as PNG does — but with smaller files.

GIFs, often used for short animations, are also being superseded by animated WebP files, which offer far better compression and colour depth. In short, WebP is a one-stop solution for the majority of web image needs.

Why Does WebP Matter for Your Website?

Page speed is no longer just a user experience consideration — it is a confirmed Google ranking factor. Faster websites rank higher in search results, retain visitors for longer, and convert better. Images are typically the largest assets on any web page, so optimising them is one of the most impactful changes you can make.

Core Web Vitals and Image Formats

Google’s Core Web Vitals — particularly Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — are directly affected by how quickly your images load. Switching to WebP can dramatically improve your LCP score, which in turn benefits your overall SEO performance. Tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and GTmetrix will all flag large JPEG or PNG images as opportunities for improvement, and switching to WebP is one of the most straightforward fixes available.

Bandwidth Savings

For websites with high traffic volumes, the bandwidth savings from WebP hosting can be substantial. Smaller image files mean less data is transferred with every page view, which reduces server load and can lower your hosting costs — particularly on plans where bandwidth is metered.

Browser Support for WebP

One concern that held WebP back in its early years was inconsistent browser support. However, this is largely a thing of the past. As of today, WebP is supported by all major browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari (from version 14 onwards), and Opera. Global browser support for WebP now exceeds 95%, meaning the vast majority of your visitors will be able to view WebP images without any issues whatsoever.

For the small percentage of users on older browsers, it is still good practice to provide fallback images in JPEG or PNG format using the HTML <picture> element, which we will cover shortly.

How to Enable WebP on Your Hosting

Enabling WebP on your hosting environment depends on the type of website you are running and the server configuration available to you. Below are the most common methods.

Using a WordPress Plugin

For WordPress users, enabling WebP is straightforward thanks to a range of dedicated plugins. Tools such as Imagify, ShortPixel, Smush, and WebP Express can automatically convert your existing images to WebP format and serve them to compatible browsers. Most of these plugins work by generating WebP versions of your images and then using either server-side rules or JavaScript to deliver the correct format based on the visitor’s browser.

To get started, simply install your chosen plugin, connect it to its API if required, and run a bulk conversion on your existing media library. New uploads will typically be converted automatically going forward.

Configuring Apache to Serve WebP Images

If you have access to your server’s .htaccess file, you can configure Apache to automatically serve WebP images to browsers that support them. This involves adding rewrite rules that check whether the browser accepts WebP (via the Accept HTTP header) and whether a WebP version of the requested image exists. If both conditions are met, the WebP file is served instead of the original JPEG or PNG.

This method requires that you have already generated WebP versions of your images and stored them in the same directory as the originals. Many image optimisation tools and plugins handle this step automatically.

Configuring Nginx for WebP Hosting

For servers running Nginx, a similar approach can be taken using the map and try_files directives in your Nginx configuration. You would set up a map to detect whether the browser sends an Accept header containing image/webp, and then use try_files to serve the WebP version of an image if it exists, falling back to the original if not.

This is a highly efficient method for WebP hosting on Nginx servers, as it is handled entirely at the server level without any additional processing overhead from PHP or JavaScript.

Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Many modern CDN providers, including Cloudflare, BunnyCDN, and KeyCDN, offer automatic WebP conversion and delivery as part of their service. When a visitor requests an image, the CDN checks their browser capabilities and serves a WebP version on the fly, without you needing to make any changes to your origin server. This is arguably the simplest approach to WebP hosting for non-technical users.

Using the HTML Picture Element as a Fallback

Regardless of your server setup, it is good practice to use the HTML <picture> element for critical images. This allows you to specify a WebP source for modern browsers whilst providing a JPEG or PNG fallback for older ones. The browser will automatically choose the most appropriate format it supports.

Converting Existing Images to WebP

Before you can serve WebP images, you need to create them. There are several ways to convert your existing image library. Desktop tools such as Squoosh (by Google), GIMP, and Adobe Photoshop (with a plugin) can export images in WebP format. Command-line tools such as cwebp allow for batch conversion, which is particularly useful for large image libraries. Online converters are also available for one-off conversions.

For ongoing management of your website’s performance, images, and hosting configuration, resources like the DA Manager blog offer practical guides and insights to help you stay on top of best practices.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Not Providing Fallback Images

Even with widespread browser support, neglecting to provide fallback images for older browsers is a risk. Always use the <picture> element or ensure your server-side solution includes a fallback mechanism.

Forgetting to Update Your Sitemap and Open Graph Tags

If you switch to WebP images for your featured images or Open Graph previews, ensure your sitemap and social sharing tags reference the correct files. Some social platforms may not yet fully support WebP, so keeping JPEG versions available for sharing purposes is advisable.

Final Thoughts on WebP Hosting

WebP is no longer an emerging technology — it is the current standard for web image delivery. Enabling WebP hosting on your website is one of the most effective steps you can take to improve page load times, boost your Core Web Vitals scores, and enhance your overall SEO performance. Whether you choose to use a WordPress plugin, configure your server manually, or rely on a CDN, the process is well within reach for most website owners. Start converting your images today and enjoy the benefits of a faster, more efficient website.