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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “traffic widget”

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 “traffic widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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 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

Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers shows at wp.org #9 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 800+ 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

Post Views Counter places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 1236 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Visitor Traffic Real Time Statistics 30K+ · 4.1★ (233) wp.org #3 ↓1 1 too high 5 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed 5M+ · 4.2★ (1012) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Security Plugin, Firewall & Malware Scanner with Auto Removal 40K+ · 4.8★ (397) wp.org #11 ↑4 3 too low 9 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #13 ↑1 4 too low 10 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #10 ↓3 11 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #17 ↑3 6 too low 12 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #7 ↑1 6 too high 14 WP Visitor Statistics (Real Time Traffic) 20K+ · 4.5★ (156) wp.org #14 ↑2 15 PrettyLinks – Affiliate Link Management, URL Shortener, Link Cloaking, Tracking & Branded Short Links 200K+ · 4.8★ (1322) wp.org #24 ↓3 9 too low 16 Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin 100K+ · 4.8★ (167) wp.org #18 2 too low 17 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #21 ↓8 4 too low 18 Widgets for Reviews & Recommendations 8K+ · 4.6★ (98) wp.org #23 ↑1 5 too low 19 Giveaways and Contests by RafflePress – Get More Website Traffic, Email Subscribers, and Social Followers 20K+ · 3.9★ (43) wp.org #15 ↑3 4 too high 20 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 too low 21 Bot Traffic Shield – Block Bad Bots and Stop AI Bots Crawlers 800+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 12 too high 22 Simple Google Calendar Outlook Events Widget 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #16 ↑3 6 too high 23 Profile Box Shortcode And Widget 1K+ · 3.7★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑2 3 too high 24 Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites 3K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 12 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.