Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer
by Simone Nigro · Performance
Also makes 7 other plugins · 3K+ installs across the portfolio →
Move all the possible JavaScript files from head to footer and improve page load times.
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
B 84/100
Few reviews
Active installs
1K+
≈1.5K estimated
Momentum
+3%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “performance”, “page speed” and “render blocking” for “javascript”, “defer javascript” and “footer”. “performance” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “javascript” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “page speed” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “defer javascript” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “render blocking” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “footer” sits at #19 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
84 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →2.1%
of downloads still active
At least 1K of 46.5K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,103 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Performance 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 3 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 98 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.3★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.12★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
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.
42
Momentum
Mixed: one swing, the rest drifting
0.0
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
25%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
+0.3
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| javascript to footer your tag | #3 | #11 | 0 |
| javascript | #4 | #17 | up 1 |
| add javascript | #3 | #12 | up 1 |
| speed up | #11 | #21 | up 2 |
| preload scripts your tag | #12 | #21 | down 2 |
| render blocking your tag | #15 | #21 | up 1 |
| footer javascript | #6 | #15 | 0 |
| move scripts head to footer | #6 | #18 | 0 |
| defer javascript | #11 | #22 | 0 |
| footer | #19 | #21 | 0 |
| speed | #21 | #24 | down 1 |
| page speed your tag | #24 | #22 | 0 |
| speed up wordpress | #18 | #24 | up 2 |
| render | #18 | #20 | 0 |
| wp speed up | #20 | #23 | up 2 |
| performance your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
25 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 15 listed. 10 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 1 of its tags isn't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “performance”, “page speed” and “render blocking” for “javascript”, “defer javascript” and “footer”. “performance” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “javascript” sits at #4 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “page speed” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #24. “defer javascript” sits at #11 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “render blocking” isn't earning its slot: it only gets you to #15. “footer” sits at #19 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 “preload scripts”. #12 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- One page off on “render blocking”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.5K · 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
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
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
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
3
releases in the last 12 months
3mo ago
latest release · v1.0.14 · 26 Jul 2026
15
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. 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 “1K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2.2 years ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 28 Mar 2019
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 6.1.1
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
1 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 "Move all the possible JavaScript files from head to footer and improve page load times."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 305 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 0 of 5 tags appear in the text ("javascript to footer", "Page Speed", "performance", "preload scripts", "render blocking" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-08-25 2K+ → 1K+ down
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).
-
TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Async JavaScript 60K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags C -
Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Solid Performance – Your No-Code Caching, Performance, & Page Speed Solution 4K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags B -
WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ installs · 4.2★ · 2 shared tags A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/speed-up-javascript-to-footer" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Speed Up – JavaScript To Footer: 1K+ active installs, 4.3★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/speed-up-javascript-to-footer
Spotted a number that looks wrong? Report a data issue and we'll check it against the source.