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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “keyword linking”

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 “keyword linking”, 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

Auto Focus Keyword for SEO shows at wp.org #5 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 16 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

PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 1322 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress 100K+ · 4.7★ (537) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #10 4 too low 7 LinkBoss – Semantic AI Internal Linking 2K+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #20 ↓1 12 too low 9 Link Whisper Free 30K+ · 4.2★ (150) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #21 11 too low 11 SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #17 ↓1 6 too low 12 Internal Links Manager 10K+ · 4.8★ (33) wp.org #12 13 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Depicter — Popup & Slider Builder 70K+ · 4.6★ (235) wp.org #15 ↑2 1 too low 15 Internal Linking of Related Contents 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 WP Dynamic Keywords Injector 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 LinkCentral – URL shortener, Affiliate Links & Custom Link Shortener with Link Tracking 400+ · 5.0★ (19) wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #24 ↓1 5 too low 20 SEO Repair Kit – Spam Monitor, Meta Manager, Schema Manager, Internal Linking, SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #11 9 too high 21 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 16 too high 22 Link Manager – Analyze, Automate, and Monitor Links 1K+ · 4.4★ (10) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 4Linking — Internal Linking on Autopilot: Rules, Pillar Pages & Link Map 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Eatransform Auto Keyword Linker 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.