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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “404 link”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “404 link”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Custom 404 Pro shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.2★ average from 22 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 404 to 301 – Redirect Manager, 301 Redirection, 404 Error Logs & 404 Monitoring 100K+ · 4.7★ (321) wp.org #1 2 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #2 3 Redirect 404 to Homepage 60K+ · 4.6★ (24) wp.org #3 4 All 404 Redirect to Homepage 200K+ · 4.1★ (96) wp.org #4 5 404 Solution 10K+ · 4.9★ (44) wp.org #5 6 Smart Custom 404 Error Page 100K+ · 4.9★ (1197) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #14 ↓3 7 too low 8 Colorlib 404 Customizer 5K+ · 4.7★ (51) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 Really Simple Security – Simple and Performant Security (formerly Really Simple SSL) 3M+ · 4.9★ (8869) wp.org #17 ↑3 7 too low 11 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (151) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #19 6 too low 14 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #22 ↓1 8 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #18 ↓3 3 too low 16 Link Juice Keeper 10K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #9 7 too high 17 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too low 18 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Custom 404 Pro 7K+ · 4.2★ (22) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 301 Redirects & 404 Error Log 30K+ · 4.6★ (28) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 Broken Link Notifier 1K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #16 ↑1 5 too high 22 Campos Checkout Brasileiro para WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.9★ (45) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 Redirect 404 to Home Page – Custom URL 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 11 too high 24 Extend Link 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.