GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget
by GR Widget · Admin & Utilities
Google reviews widget for WordPress — 34 layouts, shortcode or block, no API keys. Unlimited views.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
A 88/100
no flags
Active installs
900+
≈900 estimated
Momentum
+1%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “business reviews”, “testimonials” and “google reviews” for “review widget”, “reviews widget” and “fixed widget”. “business reviews” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “review widget” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “testimonials” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “reviews widget” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “google reviews” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #14. “fixed widget” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
88 health vs 56 average across 5,896 Admin & Utilities plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →18%
of downloads still active
At least 900 of 5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Admin & Utilities plugin keeps 0.6%, across 4,188 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Admin & Utilities plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 11 releases in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 2 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
5.0★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.25★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
1 of 1 support threads resolved in the last 2 months
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
48
Momentum
Holding steady
+0.4
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
41%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.1
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| google reviews widget your tag | #6 | #15 | up 1 |
| reviews widget | #6 | #14 | up 3 |
| google reviews embed your tag | #7 | #15 | up 4 |
| review widget | #6 | #15 | up 2 |
| google review widget | #4 | #11 | 0 |
| widget | #13 | #21 | up 3 |
| tab widget | #8 | #18 | up 2 |
| widget only | #8 | #18 | up 1 |
| text widget | #8 | #17 | up 6 |
| widget titles | #8 | #18 | up 1 |
| multi widget | #8 | #18 | 0 |
| fixed widget | #8 | #17 | 0 |
| google reviews your tag | #14 | #21 | up 2 |
| tab widget widget | #5 | #14 | up 1 |
| tabs widget | #9 | #20 | up 1 |
| admin widget | #9 | #18 | up 1 |
| testimonials widget | #9 | #15 | up 1 |
| shortcode in widget | #10 | #20 | up 2 |
| google plus widget | #6 | #18 | 0 |
| widget id | #6 | #14 | — |
| business reviews your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| testimonials your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
179 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 20 listed. 128 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 2 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “business reviews”, “testimonials” and “google reviews” for “review widget”, “reviews widget” and “fixed widget”. “business reviews” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “review widget” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “testimonials” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “reviews widget” sits at #6 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “google reviews” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #14. “fixed widget” sits at #8 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
- One page off on “google reviews”. #14 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 13 Jul 2026 · 111 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 2.7K · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
11
releases in the last 12 months
2d ago
latest release · v1.2.3 · 29 Oct 2026
11
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “900+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 4 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just over 900.
At the current install trend, crossing 1K+ in roughly 12 days.
Install history since 12 Jul 2026
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ web1expertdotcom4mo ago
Needed to get our Google reviews onto a client’s WordPress site and didn’t want another plugin that makes you wrestle with API keys. Installed GR Widget, found the business, picked a badge layout, changed a couple of colours, put the shortcode on the homepage. Took maybe 10 minutes and it looked fine. Reviews stay updated on their own which is the main thing. Doing this for another site next week.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ 30abayguideservice4mo ago
Ok, I love this! I wish there was a way to upload photos because you have to see how it looks on my site (you can find my site on my user profile). I have a feed showing the review cards about halfway down, and then a rating badge which stays in the footer. I was able to customise both of them enough so that they look like a genuine part of my site – love it. I also noticed that my website now shows the star rating underneath it in the organic results in Google, which is another fantastic bonus. Oooh, I should say, I did have to upgrade to the site plan to add the stars and customise the review card feed more thoroughly, but very happy with this. The developer was responsive in addressing a “bug” which wouldn’t let show both reviews with photos and without photos, they provided a fix for me the same day – great team, great little plugin.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Nathan Rossiter4mo ago
Installed this yesterday for my client’s site. Searched the business by name in wp-admin, picked a layout, done — no Google Cloud project, no OAuth dance, no handing over anyone’s Google login. That alone saved me an afternoon. Free tier was enough to get a clean review strip on the homepage.
Read on wp.org ↗
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
7 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Google reviews widget for WordPress — 34 layouts, shortcode or block, no API keys. Unlimited views."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 14 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 14 of 14 read like questions a user would type.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Gutenberg, Google Maps.
- ✓ Headings and lists 11 headings and 14 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 10,279 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "business reviews", "testimonials" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-10-27 800+ → 900+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2026-10-18 700+ → 800+ up after 8 days in tier
- 2026-10-10 600+ → 700+ up after 10 days in tier
- 2026-09-30 500+ → 600+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2026-09-23 400+ → 500+ up after 9 days in tier
- 2026-09-14 300+ → 400+ up after 14 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 100+ → 300+ up after 18 days in tier
- 2026-08-13 10+ → 100+ up
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Jotform – Widgets for Google Reviews 200+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B -
Revix Reviews – All-in-One Business Review Manager 60+ installs · 4.0★ · 3 shared tags B -
Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A -
Site Reviews 60K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
WP Google Review Slider 30K+ installs · 4.8★ · 2 shared tags A -
Reviews Widgets for Google & 45+ platforms by Repuso 1K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/gr-widget" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> GR Widget – Google Reviews Widget: 900+ active installs, 5.0★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/gr-widget
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