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← Rankings

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

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 “schema.org”, we agree with wp.org 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

Absolute Reviews shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 6K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 8 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 283 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 3 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #3 4 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (356) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ · 4.6★ (132) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 W WP Customer Reviews 20K+ · 4.3★ (528) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #14 5 too low 10 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #13 3 too low 11 WP ULike – Like Buttons, Voting & Engagement Analytics 60K+ · 4.8★ (283) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 Recipe Card Blocks Lite 10K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #9 3 too high 13 Protect schema.org markup in HTML editor 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #4 9 too high 14 Real Testimonials – Testimonial Slider, Collect Customer Reviews and Video Testimonials 40K+ · 4.7★ (226) wp.org #21 7 too low 15 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #15 16 Cooked – Recipe Management 3K+ · 3.9★ (90) wp.org #16 17 Recipe Cards For Your Food Blog from Zip Recipes 1K+ · 4.8★ (95) wp.org #17 18 Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #20 1 too low 20 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 Absolute Reviews 6K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #11 11 too high 23 DesignSetGo 8K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 JSON-LD Breadcrumbs 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 6 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.