Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “structured data”

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 “structured data”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 5 of the top 20. 4 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

Event SEO: Event Schema / Structured Data: Google Rich Snippet Schema for Event shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Customer Reviews for WooCommerce places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1539 reviews, but shows at wp.org #14. 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 #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #3 ↑11 4 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #4 5 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #5 6 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too low 8 Advanced Custom Fields (ACF®) 2M+ · 4.5★ (1440) wp.org #7 ↑5 1 too high 9 Customer Reviews for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.8★ (1539) wp.org #14 ↑2 5 too low 10 wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449) wp.org #11 ↑1 1 too low 11 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #10 ↓5 1 too high 12 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too low 14 We’re Open! 5K+ · 5.0★ (45) wp.org #13 ↑10 1 too high 15 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 kk Star Ratings – Rate Post & Collect User Feedbacks 70K+ · 3.9★ (171) wp.org #21 ↑1 5 too low 17 Rate My Post – Star Rating Plugin by FeedbackWP 20K+ · 4.7★ (159) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Structured Content (JSON-LD) #wpsc 30K+ · 4.6★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓3 2 too high 19 Schema Package – Structured Data & Rich Snippets Tool for SEO 200+ · 4.8★ (20) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Five Star Business Profile and Schema 7K+ · 4.8★ (52) wp.org #17 3 too high 21 Event SEO: Event Schema / Structured Data: Google Rich Snippet Schema for Event 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓1 13 too high 22 Block Data Attribute 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 BBH Custom Schema – Add Custom JSON-LD to Your Website 900+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 24 SchemaSense – Smart Structured Data 300+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.