wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “website tracking”

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

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 7K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 15 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 27821 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #1 2

Advanced Shipment Tracking for WooCommerce 70K+ · 4.5★ (355) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #2 3

Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #5 ↑2 2 too low 4

MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #4 ↓1 5

CWILL (Formerly ParcelPanel) – Shipment Tracking, Tracking & Order Tracking for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.9★ (538) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6

AfterShip Tracking – All-In-One WooCommerce Order Tracking (Free plan available) 7K+ · 4.8★ (633) wp.org #10 ↑3 4 too low 7

Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #3 ↑1 4 too high 8

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #14 ↑1 6 too low 9

Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #16 7 too low 10

Tracking Code Manager 90K+ · 4.1★ (58) wp.org #6 ↓1 4 too high 11

Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #13 2 too low 12

All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) not PHP-currentheavy footprint wp.org #12 ↓1 13

Order Tracking – WordPress Status Tracking Plugin 3K+ · 4.6★ (73) wp.org #9 ↑1 4 too high 14

Trakoo – Orders Tracking for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.5★ (58) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #8 ↑1 6 too high 15

User Activity Tracking and Log 2K+ · 3.5★ (34) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too low 16

ExactMetrics – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Plugin) 200K+ · 2.5★ (1546) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #23 ↓1 7 too low 17

CP Referrer and Conversion Tracking 300+ · 4.7★ (12) thin reviews wp.org #24 7 too low 18

YITH WooCommerce Order & Shipment Tracking 7K+ · 3.7★ (15) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #11 ↑1 7 too high 19

Stape Conversion Tracking 10K+ · 5.0★ (4) thin reviews wp.org #17 ↑1 2 too high 20

CallRail Phone Call Tracking 10K+ · 3.7★ (6) thin reviews wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too high 21

Portugal CTT Tracking for WooCommerce 500+ · 5.0★ (5) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #21 ↑2 22

Simple Matomo Tracking Code 800+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #15 ↑1 7 too high 23

Private Website – Login Required 300+ · 5.0★ (1) thin reviews wp.org #22 1 too high 24

Global Site Tag Tracking 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) thin reviews wp.org #20 ↑1 4 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.