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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “link tracker”

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 “link tracker”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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

WhatsLink Click Tracker shows at wp.org #9 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 5231 reviews, but shows at wp.org #10. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (759) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Broken Link Checker by AIOSEO – Find & Fix Broken Internal, External & Video Links 200K+ · 3.8★ (87) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 HandL UTM Grabber / Tracker 10K+ · 4.8★ (146) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Email Tracker 800+ · 4.4★ (21) wp.org #4 1 too high 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 #10 ↑1 4 too low 7 UTM Event Tracker and Analytics, UTM Grabber 800+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 Media Tracker – Track Unused, Duplicate & Used Media 1K+ · 4.2★ (9) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 Events Tracker for Elementor 9K+ · 4.5★ (48) wp.org #18 ↑1 9 too low 10 Analytics Tracker 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 4 too high 11 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #22 ↑1 11 too low 12 Alpaca Issue Tracker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too high 13 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #13 ↑2 14 Lite LMS Progress Tracker by LifterLMS – Simple Course, Membership Site and Content Progress Tracking for WordPress 300+ · 4.7★ (3) wp.org #15 ↑1 1 too low 15 BaseCloud UTM Tracker 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too high 16 atec 404 Tracker 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too low 17 WhatsLink Click Tracker 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 Matomo Tracker 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #21 ↑1 3 too low 19 Smart Click Tracker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 UTM Tracker for Gravity Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑1 4 too high 21 Linkyy – A Link Click Tracker 80+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 ConsentOwl — Cookie Consent & Tracker Blocker 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 Cross Domain Tracker for AffiliateWP 200+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.