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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “the title”

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 “the title”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Bulk Auto Image Title Attribute (Image Title tag) optimizer (Image SEO) shows at wp.org #11 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 900+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.6★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 7519 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 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #1 2 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 Secondary Title 7K+ · 4.9★ (72) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too low 5 Hide Page And Post Title 40K+ · 3.6★ (54) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #9 ↓3 3 too low 7 The Post Grid – Shortcode, Gutenberg Blocks and Elementor Addon for Post Grid 100K+ · 4.8★ (265) wp.org #13 ↓1 6 too low 8 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #17 ↓1 9 too low 9 Title and Nofollow For Links (Classic Editor) 10K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10 Auto Image Attributes From Filename With Bulk Updater (Add Alt Text, Image Title For Image SEO) 100K+ · 4.8★ (93) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too low 11 Unique Title Checker 900+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block 10K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 Registrations for the Events Calendar – Event Registration Plugin 7K+ · 5.0★ (103) wp.org #21 8 too low 14 MM Title Manager — Hide Page and Post Titles 10K+ · 4.4★ (17) wp.org #10 ↑1 4 too high 15 I Image Title Remove 1K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #8 ↑1 7 too high 16 Events Widgets For Elementor And The Events Calendar 10K+ · 4.5★ (108) wp.org #22 6 too low 17 Title Limit for WooCommerce 4K+ · 4.7★ (20) wp.org #19 ↓1 2 too low 18 Worth The Read 3K+ · 4.3★ (27) wp.org #23 5 too low 19 Archive Title 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Change Price Title for WooCommerce 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #12 ↑3 8 too high 21 Duplicate Title Validator 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #14 ↓1 7 too high 22 Bulk Auto Image Title Attribute (Image Title tag) optimizer (Image SEO) 900+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #11 ↓1 11 too high 23 Browser Tab Title Reminder 300+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 ↓3 1 too low 24 Stylish Scrolling Title 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 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.