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

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 ultimate”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 6 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

SiteSEO – SEO Simplified shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 400K+ 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

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ · 4.7★ (1872) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too low 4 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #5 ↓3 1 too low 5 Ultimate FAQ Accordion Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (439) wp.org #3 ↑1 2 too high 6 Ultimate Responsive Image Slider 30K+ · 4.5★ (248) wp.org #6 ↑2 7 Ultimate Dashboard – Custom WordPress Dashboard 50K+ · 4.6★ (114) wp.org #7 ↓1 8 WP Ultimate CSV Importer – WordPress CSV, XML & Excel Import Export 20K+ · 4.4★ (593) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too low 9 Ultimate Post Kit – Elementor Post Grid, Post Carousel, Post Slider & Blog Layout Widgets 30K+ · 4.8★ (58) wp.org #8 1 too high 10 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #22 ↓8 12 too low 11 Image Hover Effects Ultimate ( Image Gallery, Effects, Lightbox, Comparison & Magnifier ) 10K+ · 4.7★ (250) wp.org #14 ↓1 3 too low 12 Ultimate Category Excluder 50K+ · 4.3★ (78) wp.org #9 ↓2 3 too high 13 Ultimate Product Catalog 4K+ · 4.5★ (233) wp.org #11 2 too high 14 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #23 ↓1 9 too low 15 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 SEO Data Transporter 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #12 4 too high 17 Ultimate Before After Image Slider & Gallery – BEAF 30K+ · 4.9★ (107) wp.org #24 ↓6 7 too low 18 FV Simpler SEO 2K+ · 4.6★ (12) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 Ultimate FAQ Solution 600+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too low 20 Ultimate Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode & Under Construction – Gutenberg Block Builder & Landing Page 9K+ · 4.5★ (6) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #13 ↓3 8 too high 22 Export All Posts, Products, Orders & Users | WP Ultimate Exporter | WordPress CSV Export 6K+ · 3.2★ (16) wp.org #16 6 too high 23 FAQly – Ultimate FAQ 1K+ · 3.8★ (5) wp.org #18 ↑1 5 too high 24 MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↑1 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.