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

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 “interlinking”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

Bulk Interlinking Tool shows at wp.org #1 but places #6 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 20+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Image Hover Effects – Elementor Addon 40K+ · 4.9★ (83) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Smart Grid-Layout Design for Contact Form 7 10K+ · 4.5★ (72) wp.org #2 3 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Bulk Page Generator and Mass Page Builder – Page Generator 3K+ · 4.6★ (70) wp.org #6 ↑1 2 too low 5 Bulk Page Generator – LPagery 3K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Bulk Interlinking Tool 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 WP Simple HTML Sitemap 3K+ · 4.9★ (10) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 4Linking — Internal Linking on Autopilot: Rules, Pillar Pages & Link Map 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too high 9 Advanced Image Hover Effect for Elementor 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 KBucket: Your Curated Content in WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 DefiniteSEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings 30+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Interlinko – Smart Internal Linking for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 S SEO Links Interlinking 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 LinkMesh: Semantic AI Internal Links for SEO 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 WordPress Store Locator AI powered – Elementor – Fast loading – Local SEO — · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 9 too low 16 Multilang Perelink — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 Rankology SEO and Analytics Tool 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 5 too high 18 Pirajki Auto Linker 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 19 Bulk Remove ALL Internal Links in WordPress 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 LinkStorm – Internal Linking 90+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 Hirca Keywords Linker — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 E-CORP ALL IN ONE — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 H HrefHawk — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 1 too high 24 InternaLink Pilot – Smart Linking Automation — · 0.0★ (0) 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.