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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “webpage”

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 “webpage”, 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 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

Aruba HiSpeed Cache shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 10 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer places #11 on merit, 4.6★ from 405 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 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #2 3 Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 Breeze Cache 300K+ · 3.6★ (133) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 PNG to JPG 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #4 ↑9 2 too high 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Greenshift – animation and page builder blocks 70K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP 100K+ · 4.5★ (252) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 10 Slim SEO – AI SEO Plugin, Lightweight, Fast & Automated 70K+ · 4.7★ (136) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #19 ↑2 8 too low 12 iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 Easy HTTPS Redirection (SSL) 100K+ · 4.2★ (71) wp.org #12 ↓1 1 too high 14 Compact WP Audio Player 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #14 15 Loading Page with Loading Screen 10K+ · 4.6★ (124) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Advanced iFrame 40K+ · 4.4★ (54) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Redirection for Contact Form 7 200K+ · 4.7★ (275) wp.org #21 ↑3 3 too low 19 GDPRess | Eliminate external requests to increase GDPR compliance 1K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓2 8 too high 20 Navigation menu as Dropdown Widget 2K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Aruba HiSpeed Cache 100K+ · 3.0★ (10) wp.org #7 ↓3 14 too high 22 WPSSO Strip Schema Microdata 200+ · 4.9★ (14) wp.org #22 ↓2 23 WPSSO Schema Product Metadata for WooCommerce 400+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #24 ↓5 1 too low 24 FormFacade – Embed Google Forms in your website 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 ↓1 8 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.