Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery
by Simone Nigro · Performance
Also makes 7 other plugins · 3K+ installs across the portfolio →
This plugin load the stylesheets asynchronously 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
A 87/100
Few reviews
Active installs
500+
≈580 estimated
Momentum
+21%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “page speed” for “stylesheets”. “page speed” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “stylesheets” sits at #19 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
87 health vs 69 average across 1,806 Performance plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.8%
of downloads still active
At least 500 of 61.5K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Performance plugin keeps 1.4%, across 1,104 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
5.0★ over 8 reviews, smoothed to 4.22★ 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.
39
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
20%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
0.0
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| optimize css delivery your tag | #1 | #2 | 0 |
| css delivery | #2 | #7 | 0 |
| render blocking css your tag | #4 | #12 | 0 |
| async css your tag | #4 | #9 | 0 |
| defer css your tag | #9 | #16 | down 2 |
| speed up | #16 | #20 | up 2 |
| delivery | #21 | #21 | 0 |
| stylesheets | #19 | #23 | up 3 |
| css | #23 | #22 | 0 |
| speed | #24 | #22 | — |
| render blocking | #20 | #20 | 0 |
| speed up wordpress | #21 | #22 | up 2 |
| async | #21 | #16 | 0 |
| speed improve | #23 | #24 | — |
| render | #24 | #19 | — |
| delivery plugin | #24 | #19 | 0 |
| page speed your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
35 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 16 listed. 19 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 “page speed” for “stylesheets”. “page speed” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “stylesheets” sits at #19 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,489 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 1.3K · 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
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 “500+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 2 months ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 600.
Install history since 21 Jan 2019
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
2 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "This plugin load the stylesheets asynchronously and improve page load times."
- ! Has a FAQ No FAQ section.
- ! FAQ asks real questions No FAQ to judge.
- ! Names who it is for One audience phrase ("if you have"); say who the plugin is for and 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 1,310 characters of description.
- ! Tags match the text Only 0 of 5 tags appear in the text ("async css", "defer css", "optimize css delivery", "Page Speed", "render blocking css" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-08-26 600+ → 500+ down after 81 days in tier
- 2026-06-06 700+ → 600+ down after 16 days in tier
- 2026-05-21 1K+ → 700+ down after 1325 days in tier
- 2022-10-04 2K+ → 1K+ down after 576 days in tier
- 2021-03-07 3K+ → 2K+ 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).
-
Page Speed Optimizer: HTTP/2 Push, Async JavaScript, and Defer CSS 6K+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
CSS JS Manager, Async JavaScript, Defer Render Blocking CSS 1K+ installs · 4.7★ · 2 shared tags A -
TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
Asset CleanUp: Page Speed Booster 100K+ installs · 4.9★ · 1 shared tag A -
NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 80K+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag A -
Insights from Google PageSpeed 10K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/speed-up-optimize-css-delivery" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Speed Up – Optimize CSS Delivery: 500+ active installs, 5.0★ (8 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/speed-up-optimize-css-delivery
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