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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “seo 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 “seo optimizer”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Image Optimizer – Compress Images and Convert to WebP or AVIF shows at wp.org #12 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 1M+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.7★ average from 81 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Translate WordPress with GTranslate places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 4962 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. 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 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #2 3 Speed Optimizer – The All-In-One Performance-Boosting Plugin 1M+ · 4.2★ (641) wp.org #3 4 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 reSmush.it : The original free image compressor and optimizer plugin 100K+ · 4.3★ (166) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 ShortPixel Image Optimizer – Optimize Images, Convert WebP & AVIF 300K+ · 4.5★ (830) wp.org #9 ↑1 1 too low 9 WP Fastest Cache – WordPress Cache Plugin 1M+ · 4.9★ (4228) wp.org #15 ↑2 6 too low 10 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #18 ↑1 8 too low 11 Kraken.io Image Optimizer – Compress, Convert to WebP & AVIF, Resize & Bulk Optimize 10K+ · 4.5★ (119) wp.org #13 ↑1 2 too low 12 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too high 13 Image SEO – AI-Driven Image SEO Optimizer 900+ · 3.4★ (57) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Broken Link Checker 500K+ · 3.8★ (605) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #21 ↑1 6 too low 16 QuickWebP – WebP & AVIF Image Optimizer, Compression & SEO for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #16 17 Image Optimization For SEO 3K+ · 3.7★ (12) wp.org #10 ↑1 7 too high 18 BotWriter – AI Writer & SEO Content Generator 1K+ · 4.4★ (16) wp.org #20 ↑1 2 too low 19 Pixellize Image Optimizer 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑1 20 Toolszu Image Optimizer 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Image Optimizer – Compress Images and Convert to WebP or AVIF 1M+ · 1.7★ (81) wp.org #12 ↑1 9 too high 22 Infy SEO – Image SEO Optimizer 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 CodingBunny Image Optimizer 600+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 9 too high 24 Admin Optimizer – Performance, Security & Site Cleanup 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 ↑2 2 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.