Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “nofollow”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Image Credits nofollow shows at wp.org #7 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 15 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.5★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 1267 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window 90K+ · 4.3★ (247) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 MaxButtons – Create buttons 70K+ · 4.9★ (1093) wp.org #10 6 too low 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) 200K+ · 5.0★ (423) wp.org #15 ↓1 9 too low 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #19 12 too low 8 Make Column Clickable for Elementor 100K+ · 4.9★ (53) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 R Rel Nofollow 700+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 Bulk NoIndex & NoFollow Toolkit 2K+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #4 6 too high 11 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12 Pricing Table by Supsystic – Responsive Pricing Plans & Comparison Tables 10K+ · 4.1★ (288) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Simple Author Box 90K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #13 14 Simple Sitemap – Responsive HTML Sitemap for WordPress 60K+ · 3.9★ (72) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 Genesis Simple Hooks 20K+ · 4.6★ (22) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Leaving Notice Popup For External Links – nofollow, noopener & New Tab 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↑1 10 too high 17 No External Links 4K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #18 ↓1 1 too low 18 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 WP Post Redirect 3K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 noindex SEO 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #12 ↓1 8 too high 21 DoFollow Case by Case 1K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #20 ↓1 1 too high 22 Image Credits nofollow 100+ · 3.5★ (2) wp.org #7 ↑1 15 too high 23 External Links Manager – Open new window in a new tab + nofollow, noreferrer 50+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 9 too high 24 Nofollow External/Outbound Link (SEO) 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓3 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.