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

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 “heatmaps”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 16 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

Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD shows at wp.org #3 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #1 ↓2 2 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #9 ↑1 7 too low 3 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 4 too low 4 Poptin – Email Marketing Automation, Newsletter & Exit Pop Ups, Email Popups 20K+ · 4.9★ (701) wp.org #11 ↑5 7 too low 5 Aurora Heatmap 10K+ · 4.7★ (7) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 too high 6 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #10 ↑8 4 too low 7 Header Footer Code Manager 600K+ · 4.9★ (309) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too low 8 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #13 ↓4 5 too low 9 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #17 ↑5 8 too low 10 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Microsoft Clarity 200K+ · 4.5★ (14) wp.org #5 6 too high 12 Ultimate Maps by Supsystic – OpenStreetMap, Leaflet & Mapbox, No API Key 10K+ · 4.6★ (86) wp.org #16 4 too low 13 Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too low 14 Head & Footer Code 100K+ · 5.0★ (51) wp.org #23 ↑1 9 too low 15 MapGeo – Interactive Geo Maps 30K+ · 4.4★ (65) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 Matomo Analytics – Powerful, Privacy-First Insights for WordPress 100K+ · 4.6★ (178) wp.org #20 ↓7 3 too low 18 Sigmize: A/B Testing, Session Recordings, Heatmaps & Revenue Tracking for WooCommerce, SureCart & EDD 5K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #3 ↓1 15 too high 19 Lucky Orange 2K+ · 4.3★ (24) wp.org #19 ↓2 20 QA Assistants – Driven by data 2K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 I Inspectlet – AI-Powered Session Replay, Heatmaps & Analytics 600+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↓3 15 too high 22 UXsniff AI-powered Heatmaps and Session Recordings 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 10 too high 23 ShinyStat Analytics 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↓3 5 too high 24 Kantan Analytics – Cookieless Self-Hosted Analytics & Heatmaps 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.