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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “seo check”

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 “seo check”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

WP Spell Check shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.9★ average from 39 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

The Events Calendar places #10 on merit, 4.2★ from 2461 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #1 2 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #2 3 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #3 4 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #5 6 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #6 7 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #8 ↓4 1 too low 8 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too high 9 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #14 ↑1 5 too low 10 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #17 ↓1 7 too low 11 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #12 1 too low 12 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #13 1 too low 13 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #10 4 too high 15 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 SEO Redirection Plugin – 301 Redirect Manager 10K+ · 4.3★ (73) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 SEO SIMPLE PACK 100K+ · 4.6★ (14) wp.org #11 6 too high 18 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #24 ↓2 6 too low 19 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #16 ↑4 3 too high 20 WP Spell Check 2K+ · 2.9★ (39) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) wp.org #20 ↓2 1 too high 22 noindex SEO 3K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓1 7 too high 23 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too high 24 BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 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.