If you've ever run your website through Google PageSpeed Insights to check your SEO and performance, you've likely seen this dreaded warning: "Serve images in next-gen formats."
It usually comes with a massive red penalty to your performance score, especially on mobile. But what exactly does this warning mean, and more importantly, how do you fix it to get your website ranking higher?
For decades, the web has relied on standard image formats like JPEG and PNG. While they are universally supported, they are relatively old technologies and aren't always the most efficient way to store image data.
"Next-gen" formats are modern image file types designed specifically for the web. The most common ones are WebP and AVIF. These formats have superior compression and quality characteristics compared to their older counterparts.
The first step is taking your existing JPEG and PNG files and converting them into WebP. You don't need expensive software to do this. A fast, browser-based compression tool like PixelPro can help you optimize your images and prepare them for the modern web.
Once you have your new WebP images, you can't just delete the old JPEGs. While WebP is supported by almost all modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge), there are still some older browsers that don't recognize it. If you only serve WebP, those users will see broken images.
The solution is to use the HTML <picture> element. This tells the browser: "Hey, if you understand WebP, load this one. If not, fall back to the standard JPEG."
By making this simple switch, you drastically reduce the total payload of your web pages. Faster loading times lead to lower bounce rates, better user experiences, and a direct boost to your Core Web Vitals—all of which signal to Google that your site deserves a higher spot in the search results.
Convert Your Images to WebP with PixelPro