YEP: Optimize YouTube Embeds

by Webamator · Performance

Also makes 1 other plugin · 110+ installs across the portfolio →

Short Description: Load YouTube videos faster by replacing iframes with a preview image; the video plays only when clicked play.

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.

⚠ Few reviews

Health

B 82/100

Few reviews

Active installs

70+

≈80 estimated

Momentum

+46%

downloads vs prior 30d

Biggest opportunity: One page off on “youtube embed”. #14 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.

See the detail → Get the free audit

How scoring works →

82 Health · B

Maintenance 90/100

Rating quality 82/100

Support 70/100

82 health vs 69 average across 1,808 Performance plugins

70+

Active installs

≈80 estimated

2.9K

Total downloads

since 2019 · 2.4% still active

4.3/5

Rating

5.0 on wp.org · 6 reviews

+46%

108

Downloads · 30d

category median +14%

Install conversion

How it's measured →

2.4%

of downloads still active

At least 70 of 2.9K 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 1 release 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.

Ratings · 6 reviews

Details

Version: 1.1.3
Last updated: 5mo ago
Added: 2019-06-03 · 7 yrs old
Requires WP: 6.0
Tested up to: 7.0.8
Requires PHP: 7.4

Changelog ↗Support forum ↗Reviews ↗Advanced stats ↗

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.

90 / 100

Excellent listing optimization

Most to gain: Rating quality

Update recency 100/100

Updated 163 days ago

WP compatibility 100/100

Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer

Rating quality 58/100

5.0★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ and held back under 25 reviews

Listing tuning 100/100

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.

Momentum

Losing ground

-1.0

Velocity

places per keyword, 26d

14%

Breadth

of keywords climbing, 26d

-0.4

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
youtube embed your tag	#14	#20	down 1
responsive youtube embed	#22	#22	down 1
youtube wordpress embed	#24	#22	down 1
embed youtube	#24	#22	0
lazy load your tag	Not in the top 24
optimize your tag	Not in the top 24
performance your tag	Not in the top 24
video your tag	Not in the top 24

7 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 4 listed. 3 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

What to do about it

One page off on “youtube embed”. #14 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
“lazy load”, “optimize” and “performance” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.

Daily downloads

Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive

+46% vs prior 30d

431 Oct 2026

4017-6

431 Oct 2026

30-day downloads

Rolling 30-day volume · peak 160 · peaks are release surges

10731 Oct 2026

2001000

10731 Oct 2026

Directory rank

Ranked about #18,200 to #19,000, alongside the other plugins at 70+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 21 Oct 2026.

Health trend

Composite health score, snapshotted daily

8231 Oct 2026

907560

8231 Oct 2026

Update activity

Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.

Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.

Release cadence

Occasionally updated

from wp.org release tags

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

releases in the last 12 months

5mo ago

latest release · v1.1.3 · 22 May 2026

tagged releases on record

Recent releases

1.1.3 · 22 May 20261.1.2 · 20 Sep 20251.1.1 · 6 Sep 20251.1.0 · 29 Aug 2025

What its installed base runs

via wordpress.org

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 60% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

v1.1 60%

v1.0 40%

Estimated active installs

The public count shows “70+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.

tracked estimate

70–80 ≈80

Crossed into this band 8 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 80.

Install history since 24 Sep 2022

7031 Oct 2026

3001500

7031 Oct 2026

Recent reviews

All reviews on wp.org ↗

★★★★★ ncschulze
5.7y ago

Useful plugin to help the website get good Google Pagespeed despite embedded Youtube videos.
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ windantara
6.4y ago

i hope you always update if needed
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ alaaalshamey
6.6y ago

Awesome, it did the trick in the best way
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ artembychkov
7.2y ago

This cute little plugin solved my issue with Google PageSpeed for all pages that have YouTube videos! Get 98-100 performance scores now!
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ baksteendegeweldige
7.2y ago

This plugin does it job better than WP YouTube Lyte. If you use WP YouTube Lyte, Google pagespeed says you need to remove or defer the youtube css www-player-sprite-mode… If you use this plugin everything runs smooth. If you use autoptimize together with this plugin you need to exclude yep.js from being optimized by autoptimize
Read on wp.org ↗
★★★★★ svetlanadoroshina
7.3y ago

Real helpfull. Thank you!
Read on wp.org ↗

Behavioral tests

via WP Hive

Automated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1

✓ Low memory footprint

✓ Low page-speed impact

✓ Runs on latest PHP + WP

✓ No PHP errors

✓ No JS errors

✓ Activates cleanly

✓ No resource errors

✓ No external HTTP errors

✓ Optimized database use

✕ Frequently updated

Languages

via translate.wordpress.org

Translated into 2 languages, 0 at 90% or more

Russian 80%

Ukrainian 65%

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

4 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026

Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.

! Says what it does Short description names no action; say what the plugin does for the site.
✓ Has a FAQ 3 questions in the FAQ.
✓ FAQ asks real questions 3 of 3 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 YouTube.
! Headings and lists 1 heading and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
! Enough to quote 802 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "lazy load", "performance" do not.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

2026-10-24 80+ → 70+ down after 124 days in tier
2026-06-22 100+ → 80+ down after 6 days in tier
2026-06-16 200+ → 100+ down after 17 days in tier
2026-05-30 300+ → 200+ down after 249 days in tier
2025-09-23 200+ → 300+ up after 1 days in tier
2025-09-22 300+ → 200+ down after 13 days in tier
2025-09-09 200+ → 300+ up after 1 days in tier
2025-09-08 300+ → 200+ down after 673 days in tier

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).

Compare head to head →

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for YEP: Optimize YouTube Embeds into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/yep-youtube-embed" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="YEP: Optimize YouTube Embeds — Plugin Pulse"></iframe>

Preview card ↗

YEP: Optimize YouTube Embeds: 70+ active installs, 5.0★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/yep-youtube-embed

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