Surfer – WordPress Plugin
by Surfer · SEO
Connect Surfer's Content Editor to WordPress. Write and optimize your articles for SEO, find new keyword ideas and publish straight to WordPress.
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 85/100
no flags
Active installs
6K+
≈6.5K estimated
Momentum
-8%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Swap “content”, “keywords” and “seo” for “serp”, “ideas” and “wordpress plugin”. “content” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “serp” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “keywords” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “ideas” sits at #17 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “wordpress plugin” sits at #24 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. All five slots are taken, so one has to go.
85 health vs 65 average across 2,216 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →3.5%
of downloads still active
At least 6K of 170.2K lifetime downloads are still running, above its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,193 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO 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 6 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 12 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.1.4, the current branch or newer
4.7★ over 10 reviews, smoothed to 4.20★ 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.
40
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 27d
22%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 27d
+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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| keyword research your tag | #6 | #11 | up 1 |
| content writing your tag | #15 | #18 | up 2 |
| serp | #10 | #14 | 0 |
| ideas | #17 | #21 | down 2 |
| wordpress plugin | #24 | #24 | down 1 |
| content research | #18 | #22 | down 3 |
| research | #18 | #23 | down 4 |
| plugin keywords | #24 | #21 | 0 |
| content your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| keywords your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| seo your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
44 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 8 listed. 36 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- Swap “content”, “keywords” and “seo” for “serp”, “ideas” and “wordpress plugin”. “content” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “serp” sits at #10 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “keywords” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “ideas” sits at #17 untagged, close enough for a declared tag to move it up. “seo” isn't earning its slot: you're not in the first 24 results for its own search. “wordpress plugin” sits at #24 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 “content writing”. #15 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
Daily downloads
Since 18 Nov 2022 · 1,444 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 11.4K · 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
Actively maintainedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
6
releases in the last 12 months
12d ago
latest release · v1.8.1.759 · 19 Oct 2026
34
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 “6K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 15 months 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 17 Nov 2022
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 1.7.0 FEATURE: Support for Advanced Custom Fields export and import 1.7.0
- — Version 1.6.8 FIX: Improved security & speed FIX: Issue with attributes for images during import FIX: Elementor duplicated table issue 1.6.8
- — Version 1.6.7 FEATURE: Support for new workspaces in Surfer FIX: Improved security & speed FIX: Config form save error that randomly occurred FIX: CRON reduce logs FIX: URLs redirecting to old Surfer paths 1.6.7
- — Version 1.6.6 FIX: Issue with importing content FIX: Connection issue for servers that not support transients 1.6.6
- — Version 1.6.5 FEATURE: New filters to allow customized content parsing FIX: Security improvements FIX: Other small fixes & typos 1.6.5
- — Version 1.6.4 FEATURE: Introduce async image loading FEATURE: Better log tool for import/export FEATURE: Dev tool to manually set API key from wp-admin FIX: Issues caused by emojis in content FIX: Better handling for unreachable image 1.6.4
Security history
via Wordfence IntelligenceAll 4 disclosed vulnerabilities are patched in the current version (1.8.1.759). Sites still on an older version should update.
- 2024-10-15 CVE-2024-49299 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command Affects <= 1.5.0.502 Patched in 1.6.0.523
Vulnerability records provided by Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. License and terms.
CVE records: Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE terms of use.
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0.1
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
7 of 8 pass · checked 25 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Connect Surfer's Content Editor to WordPress. Write and optimize your articles for SEO, find new keyword id..."
- ✓ Has a FAQ 4 questions in the FAQ.
- ✓ FAQ asks real questions 4 of 4 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, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn.
- ✓ Headings and lists 6 headings and 2 lists.
- ✓ Enough to quote 2,515 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "content writing", "keyword research" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-07-25 7K+ → 6K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-07-24 6K+ → 7K+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-07-21 7K+ → 6K+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2025-07-18 6K+ → 7K+ up after 13 days in tier
- 2025-07-05 7K+ → 6K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-07-04 6K+ → 7K+ up after 7 days in tier
- 2025-06-27 7K+ → 6K+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2025-06-26 6K+ → 7K+ up after 2 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).
-
Soro – SEO Autopilot & AI Content Writer 10K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B -
TextBuilder 4K+ installs · 4.0★ · 2 shared tags A - P Product Categories/Tags Bottom Description for WooCommerce 3K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
-
AIKTP 2K+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
GetAutoSEO AI Tool 2K+ installs · 3.8★ · 2 shared tags B -
Automatic Post Tagger 1K+ installs · 4.6★ · 2 shared tags D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Surfer – WordPress Plugin into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/surferseo" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Surfer – WordPress Plugin — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Surfer – WordPress Plugin: 6K+ active installs, 4.7★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/surferseo
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