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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “page optimizer”

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 “page optimizer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 3 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

Embed Optimizer shows at wp.org #10 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 6053 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 EWWW Image Optimizer 1M+ · 4.8★ (1842) wp.org #1 2 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #2 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #3 4 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Security Optimizer – The All-In-One Protection Plugin 1M+ · 4.5★ (157) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (166) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 Kadence Blocks — Page Builder Toolkit for Gutenberg Editor 600K+ · 4.8★ (333) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Robin Image Optimizer – Unlimited Image Optimization, WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.4★ (131) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #14 3 too low 12 PPWP – Password Protect Pages 30K+ · 4.7★ (271) wp.org #15 3 too low 13 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #20 7 too low 14 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ · 4.5★ (119) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 AAA Autoload Optimizer 9K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #13 4 too high 18 Cimo – Free Instant Image Optimizer & WebP Converter 10K+ · 4.9★ (20) wp.org #18 19 Servebolt Optimizer 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Templ Optimizer 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #10 11 too high 22 Image Optimizer – Compress Images and Convert to WebP or AVIF 1M+ · 1.7★ (81) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 1 too low 24 Autoload Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 5 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.