About converting JPG to WebP
The lossy mode in WebP compresses photographic images roughly 25-35% smaller than JPG at matching visual quality. On an image-heavy page that is a substantial reduction in total weight for no perceptible difference on screen.
It is one of the standard recommendations in PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse, which flag JPGs as images in next-gen formats precisely because this conversion is usually available and usually worth taking.
Keep the original JPGs. WebP is what you serve, not what you archive: re-encoding an already-lossy JPG into lossy WebP compounds the compression, so always generate WebP from the best original you have rather than from a file that has been converted several times already.
Frequently asked questions
- Is WebP better than JPG for photographs?
- For web delivery, generally yes: WebP reaches the same perceived quality at roughly 25-35% smaller file size. JPG remains more universally supported outside the browser, so it is still the safer choice for files you will send to other people or open in older software.
- Will converting JPG to WebP lose quality?
- Both are lossy formats, so a re-encode always costs a little. At normal quality settings the difference is not visible at typical viewing sizes. Convert from the highest-quality original you have rather than from a JPG that has already been re-saved repeatedly.
- Should I delete the original JPG after converting?
- No. Keep the JPG as your archive copy and serve the WebP. If you later need a different size or format, generating it from the original avoids stacking one round of lossy compression on top of another.