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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “focus”

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 “focus”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 4 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

Auto Focus Keyword for SEO shows at wp.org #2 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Max Mega Menu places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 882 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 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Media Focus Point 6K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #5 ↑13 1 too low 5 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too low 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 Max Mega Menu 300K+ · 4.8★ (882) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too low 8 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #12 ↑3 4 too low 9 Statify 100K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 My Calendar – Accessible Event Manager 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too low 11 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #9 ↑3 3 too high 13 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #24 10 too low 15 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #22 ↓5 7 too low 16 WP Accessibility 60K+ · 4.8★ (68) wp.org #20 4 too low 17 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #2 15 too high 18 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #11 ↑10 7 too high 19 Mercado Pago payments for WooCommerce 100K+ · 3.9★ (693) wp.org #17 ↑3 2 too high 20 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3156) wp.org #21 ↓5 1 too low 21 Enable Abilities for MCP 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too high 22 Metricool – Social media and site statistics 90K+ · 4.4★ (22) wp.org #19 ↑5 3 too high 23 Jetpack VideoPress 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓2 10 too high 24 WP All Import – Import SEO Settings for Rank Math SEO 6K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #23 ↓1 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.