Ever wondered how successful WordPress sites achieve their results? What plugins are they using? What technologies power their performance? What’s their secret sauce?
I used to spend hours digging through source code trying to figure out what made competitor sites tick. View page source, inspect elements, search for clues in CSS files… it was tedious, time-consuming, and I still missed half the plugins.
Then I realised: there had to be a better way.
That’s when I built the SiteInsight website scanner – a free tool that reveals what’s powering any WordPress site. No signup, no limits, just instant insights.
Here are three things you need to know about WordPress plugin detection that will change how you approach your website strategy.
One: You Can’t Improve What You Can’t Measure
Here’s something I learned the hard way: most WordPress site owners don’t actually know what’s installed on their own sites.
You might think you know – “I have Yoast for SEO, WooCommerce for e-commerce, and some caching plugin.” But do you know if you have an XML sitemap? Are your images optimized? Is compression enabled? Is lazy loading working?
The Blind Spot Problem
When I first scanned my own business website, I was shocked. I thought I had everything covered. Turns out:
- My XML sitemap plugin wasn’t actually generating a sitemap
- I had no image optimisation whatsoever
- GZIP compression wasn’t enabled on my server
- I was missing basic security headers
I’d been running that site for two years, thinking it was well-optimised. It wasn’t.
The problem is visibility. WordPress makes it easy to install plugins, but it’s harder to get a holistic view of your entire setup and whether it’s actually working correctly.
Why This Matters
You can’t fix problems you don’t know exist. And you can’t optimise what you can’t measure.
Before making improvements, you need to understand:
- What you currently have installed
- What’s missing from your setup
- How your site compares to best practices
- Where the biggest opportunities are
Think of it like a health checkup. You wouldn’t try to improve your health without knowing your current baseline, right? The same principle applies to websites.
What You Can Do About It
The first step is getting an objective assessment of your site.
Not “I think I have caching” but “Here’s exactly what’s installed, what’s working, and what’s missing.”
That’s why I built the scanner – to give WordPress site owners a clear, objective view of their tech stack.
Scan Your Site to See Your Current Setup →
Two: Competitive Intelligence Is Hiding in Plain Sight
Here’s something that surprised me: the most valuable competitive intelligence about WordPress sites is completely public.
While your competitors won’t tell you their marketing strategies or conversion rates, their entire technology stack is sitting right there in their source code.
What You Can Learn From Competitors
When you analyse what successful sites in your niche are using, you can:
See proven solutions – If multiple successful sites use the same plugin for a specific function, that’s a strong signal it works well.
Avoid costly mistakes – No need to experiment with 10 different caching plugins when you can see what’s working for similar sites.
Discover tools you didn’t know existed – I’ve found dozens of useful plugins just by scanning sites I admire.
Make informed decisions – When a client asks “should we use X or Y?”, you can say “I analyzed five successful sites in your space, and four use X.”
This Isn’t Cheating – It’s Smart Research
Some people feel weird about “spying” on competitors. But this isn’t spying – it’s publicly available information.
When you visit any website, your browser downloads all this information anyway. The scanner just organizes it into something readable instead of making you dig through raw HTML.
It’s like going to a competitor’s store to see their layout and merchandising. Perfectly legitimate competitive research.
How to Do Competitive Analysis
Here’s my simple process:
- Identify 3-5 successful sites in your niche (good rankings, high traffic, professional appearance)
- Scan each one using the plugin scanner
- Look for patterns – What plugins appear on multiple sites?
- Note the gaps – What are they using that you’re not?
- Prioritise implementation – Start with tools that appear most frequently
This takes about 10 minutes total and gives you actionable insights.
Try Competitive Analysis – Scan a Competitor →
Three: There’s a Free Tool That Does All of This in Seconds
After spending years doing manual plugin research (and getting frustrated), I built the WordPress Plugin Scanner.
Here’s What It Does
Enter any WordPress URL and get:
✅ Complete plugin list – Every publicly detectable plugin, organized by category
✅ Theme information – What theme is being used
✅ Performance technologies – CDN, caching, compression detection
✅ Image optimization – WebP, AVIF, lazy loading status
✅ SEO setup – Sitemaps, SEO plugins, schema markup
✅ Security measures – Firewalls, SSL, security plugins detected
✅ Intelligence scores – Objective scoring across multiple categories
✅ Recommendations – Specific suggestions for improvements
All in about 3-5 seconds.
Why I Built This
As a WordPress developer and consultant, I needed a tool that could:
- Quickly audit potential client sites – Show them specific, objective improvements
- Research before projects – See what successful implementations look like
- Answer “what should I use?” questions – Back up recommendations with data
- Track improvements over time – Scan monthly to see progress
I tried other tools, but they were either:
- Too generic (detected generic tech, not WordPress-specific)
- Too limited (only found 10-20 common plugins)
- Too expensive (hundreds of dollars per month)
- Too restricted (limited scans)
So I built exactly what I needed and made it free for everyone.
How to Use It
Step 1: Go to the SiteInsight Scanner
Visit supportfromrichard.co.uk/wordpress-website-plugin-scanner
Step 2: Enter a URL
Type any WordPress website address
Step 3: Review Your Results
Get a comprehensive report with scores, findings, and recommendations
No signup required. No email needed. No credit card. Just instant results.
Real Use Cases
Use Case 1: The Self-Audit
Scan your own site monthly to track improvements. See your intelligence score increase as you implement optimisations.
Use Case 2: The Research Project
Before building a feature, scan 5 sites with similar functionality to see what plugins they use. Save hours of research.
Use Case 3: The Client Conversation
“I scanned your site and found several opportunities for improvement. Here’s a prioritised list based on industry best practices.”
Use Case 4: The Learning Tool
Scan sites you admire to learn how they’re built. It’s like taking apart a watch to see how it works.
What Makes This Different
vs. Viewing Source Code:
- 5 seconds vs. 30+ minutes
- Organized results vs. raw HTML
- Catches plugins that don’t leave obvious traces
- Provides context and recommendations
vs. Other Detection Tools:
- WordPress-specific (not generic tech detection)
- Actually free with no limits
- Includes performance auditing
- Provides actionable recommendations
vs. Guessing:
- Objective data vs. assumptions
- See what’s actually working vs. blog post opinions
- Make informed decisions vs. trial and error
Try It Right Now
Here’s what I recommend:
- Scan your own site first – Get your baseline
- Scan a competitor – See what they’re doing differently
- Compare the results – Identify the biggest gaps
- Pick one improvement – Start with the easiest or highest-impact change
- Scan again later – Track your progress
This entire process takes about 15 minutes and gives you a clear action plan.
The Bottom Line
Here’s what we covered:
One: You can’t improve what you can’t measure. Get an objective assessment of your current setup before trying to optimize.
Two: Competitive intelligence about WordPress sites is publicly available. Use it to make smarter decisions and learn from proven implementations.
Three: There’s a free tool that reveals all of this in seconds, with no signup required.
The WordPress plugin ecosystem is massive – over 60,000 plugins available. Nobody can evaluate them all. But you don’t need to.
You just need to:
- Understand your current setup
- See what’s working for successful sites in your space
- Implement proven solutions instead of guessing
That’s what the Plugin Scanner helps you do.
Your Next Step
Don’t just read this and move on. Take action:
- Scan your WordPress site (takes up to 45 seconds)
- Review your intelligence scores (takes 2 minutes)
- Read the recommendations (takes 3 minutes)
- Implement one improvement (varies by complexity)
- Scan again in a week or a month (track progress)
The insights are free. The only cost is 10 minutes of your time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is this really free?
A: Yes. Completely free. No trials, no credit cards, no “freemium” limitations. Scan as many sites as you want, whenever you want.
Q: Do I need to create an account?
A: No. No signup required. Just enter a URL and scan.
Q: Will the site owner know I scanned them?
A: No. The scanner makes a normal HTTP request like any browser. There’s no tracking or notification to the site owner.
Q: How accurate is the detection?
A: Very accurate for publicly visible plugins. The scanner uses multiple detection methods (source code analysis, asset file detection, HTTP header inspection). However, some backend-only plugins or heavily customised plugins may not be detected.
Q: Can you detect ALL plugins?
A: No tool can detect 100% of plugins. We detect plugins that leave public traces (in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or HTTP headers). Plugins that work entirely in the backend with no public footprint won’t be detected.
Q: Can I scan non-WordPress sites?
A: The tool is designed specifically for WordPress sites. Non-WordPress sites will return minimal or no results since they won’t have WordPress-specific plugins or themes.
Q: How does the intelligence scoring work?
A: Scores are calculated across five categories: Plugin Quality, Image Optimisation, SEO Setup, Performance, and Security. Each category is evaluated based on WordPress best practices.
Q: How often should I scan my site?
A: Monthly is a good cadence if you’re actively making improvements. Quarterly works if you just want to monitor your baseline.
Q: What do I do with the results?
A: Start with the highest-priority recommendations. Usually, there are 2-3 quick wins you can implement immediately (like adding a missing sitemap or enabling compression).
Ready to see what’s powering your site?