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

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 research”, we agree with wp.org 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 #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 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

Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator places #6 on merit, 4.9★ from 802 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 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too low 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too low 4 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Keyword Research Tool 700+ · 4.9★ (7) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 Favicon by RealFaviconGenerator 200K+ · 4.9★ (802) wp.org #20 ↓4 14 too low 7 WP RSS Aggregator – RSS Import, Feed to Post, Autoblogging, AI Content 40K+ · 4.5★ (565) wp.org #19 ↓1 12 too low 8 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #15 7 too low 9 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #8 ↑1 1 too high 10 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #9 ↓1 1 too high 11 Surfer – WordPress Plugin 6K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #6 ↑1 5 too high 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #24 ↓7 12 too low 13 Bulk Auto Image Alt Text (Alt tag, Alt attribute) optimizer (image SEO) 10K+ · 4.2★ (111) wp.org #23 ↓3 10 too low 14 Auto Focus Keyword for SEO 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 9 too high 15 Textmetrics 400+ · 4.3★ (7) wp.org #16 ↓1 1 too low 16 Search Engine Insights for Google Search Console 2K+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #11 5 too high 17 RightBlogger – AI SEO Agent & Autoblogging 600+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Emplibot – AI Content Writer with Keyword Research, Infographics, and Linking | SEO Optimized | Fully Automated 100+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Outrank 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑2 7 too high 20 Darkstar Keyword Manager 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 7 too high 21 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 7 too high 22 TNT AI Writer – AI Content Generator, Trending Topic Finder & SEO Draft Writer 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↑5 5 too high 23 ContentPen 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 ↑2 2 too high 24 Koala AI 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↓3 2 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.