Introduction

Let's get right into it - comparison pages are your secret weapon for winning competitive deals. They help you cut through the noise and tell buyers exactly why they should choose you over alternatives.

But here's the thing, they're not just another marketing asset. When done right, comparison pages serve as powerful bottom-of–the-funnel (BoFu) content that can drive qualified leads and conversions. Why? Because they catch buyers at exactly the right moment, when they're actively evaluating solutions and ready to make a decision.

Meet The Author: Federico Jorge

I've spent years obsessing over competitive marketing and comparison pages. My love for this started with classic comparative ads like Avis' "We Try Harder" campaign against Hertz. But it was in the SaaS space where I really saw the opportunity to specialize.

As markets get more crowded, companies struggle to differentiate and SaaS buyers get frustrated trying to understand real product differences. That's why I founded Stack Against - to help companies cut through that noise with compelling comparison pages.

We've since helped brands like FreshBooks, Cloudways, and Signaturely win market share from bigger players like QuickBooks, WP Engine, and DocuSign. Along the way, we've developed a proven process that consistently delivers results.

Where to find Federico:

• LinkedIn
• Stack Against Website
• Book a consultation with Stack Against and get 10% off

What is a Comparison Page?

A comparison page is a dedicated webpage that directly compares your solution to either:

• A specific competitor's product
• A category of competing solutions
• An older/traditional way of solving a problem

The key is that these pages go beyond vague claims of being "better". They make specific, credible arguments about how you're different and why that matters for your ideal customer. Their whole existence revolves around telling potential customers how you’re different from competitors and, hopefully, a better fit to solve their problem.

Why Create Comparison Pages?

Based on our experience building hundreds of comparison pages, there are three main reasons to invest in them:

1. They answer a fundamental buyer question: Your prospects are already comparing you to competitors. If you don't tell your differentiation story, someone else will, whether that's review sites, competitors, or the general market narrative. Comparison pages let you control that conversation.
2. They drive high-intent traffic and conversions: People searching for competitor comparisons are typically deep in evaluation mode. While search volume might seem low (often 10-40 searches per month per term), these visitors convert at much higher rates because they're actively looking to make a choice.
3. They enable your entire go-to-market team: The research and positioning work that goes into comparison pages helps arm your sales team with battle cards, informs your product marketing, and creates assets that can be repurposed across campaigns.

What's the Purpose and Goal of This Guide?

This playbook will walk you through our battle-tested process for creating comparison pages that actually drive results. No fluff, just practical guidance on:

• How to select which competitors to target first
• Our research process for finding winning angles
• Writing and design best practices that maintain credibility
• Distribution strategies to get pages in front of the right audiences
• Measuring and optimizing performance

We'll share real examples, templates, and tools you can use immediately. By the end, you'll have everything you need to build comparison pages that steal leads from competitors and drive more conversions.

Let's dive into the details.

Part 1: Comparison Pages 101

Types of Comparison Pages

There are three main types of comparison pages, each serving different strategic purposes:

1. Direct Competitor vs Competitor: The most common type - directly comparing your solution against a specific competitor (e.g. Asana vs Monday.com). These work well when:
1. You have clear feature/capability differences
2. You're regularly competing in deals
3. There's significant search volume for comparison terms

2. Alternative/Category Pages: Comparing your solution to a broader category or type of tool (e.g. Fathom Analytics vs Google Analytics). Effective when:
1. There's a dominant player in your space
2. You're taking a fundamentally different approach to existing solutions
3. You want to control "alternative to X" search traffic

3. Old Tech vs New Tech: Positioning your solution against traditional ways of solving the problem (e.g. Toast POS vs Cash Registers). Best for:
1. Disruptive solutions that require behavior change
2. Educating market on new approaches
3. Building category awareness

When to Build Comparison Pages

The short answer? As early as possible. Here's how comparison pages can help at every stage of growth.

Early Stage Companies

• Focus on bottom-funnel conversion opportunities
• Build authority in your space
• Enable sales team in competitive deals

Growth Stage Companies

• Protect against new competitors
• Expand market share
• Scale successful positioning

Market Leaders

• Maintain position against challengers
• Control category narrative
• Support expansion strategies

Key Metrics & Goals

We typically see teams approaching comparison pages with two different goals. Some come from an SEO perspective, wanting these pages to rank and convert. Others, usually product marketing and competitive intelligence teams, want to understand how they compare against competitors and find positioning angles to win competitive deals. Your KPIs should align with your primary objective.

For SEO-Driven Pages:

• Keyword Rankings: Track how your pages rank for target comparison keywords (e.g., "Asana vs Monday", "Asana alternatives"). Focus on reaching positions 1-5 to drive meaningful traffic.
• Organic Traffic Quality: Beyond just volume, measure how qualified your visitors are. Look at engagement metrics and track if these visitors become paid customers and stick around, or if they churn early.
• Conversion Rates: Monitor not just direct conversions, but also how comparison pages influence the broader conversion journey. Sometimes visitors land on your homepage first, check comparisons, read other content, and then convert.
• Share of Voice: A more sophisticated metric looking at your overall authority for comparison-related keywords. When you build multiple comparison pages targeting similar terms (e.g., "vs", "alternatives"), you create a content cluster that can lift rankings across all pages.

For Sales/Product Marketing:

• Win Rate vs Competitors: Track if your win rates against specific competitors improve after launching comparison pages and enabling sales teams with the positioning and messaging.
• Seller Confidence: A "softer" but crucial metric. We've seen cases where a competitor launches new features and sales teams lose their edge because they don't know how to position against it. Good comparison pages and battle cards can immediately boost seller confidence.
• Deal Influence: Look at how comparison pages affect your sales cycle. Are prospects who view comparison pages more likely to close? Are sales cycles shorter? Monitor how sales teams use these pages during deals.
• Revenue Influenced: Don't just track direct conversions from comparison pages. Look at deals where comparison pages played a role — whether shared by sales, discovered through search, or viewed during the evaluation process.

Let's move into the actual process of building these pages...

Part 2: The 8-Step Process to Build & Launch Your First Comparison Page

Step 1: Choose Your Target

Selecting the right competitors to target first is crucial. You can't (and shouldn't) go after everyone at once. Even if you have hundreds of competitors, you need to break this down into manageable chunks. Most companies start with 3-5 comparison pages and expand from there.

Here's how to prioritize:

First, look at your competitive deals. Talk to your sales team to understand:

• Who are you losing to most often?
• Who are you consistently winning against?
• Which competitors always come up in deals?

If you're regularly winning deals against a specific competitor, that's a prime candidate for a comparison page. Why? Because you can scale what's already working in sales conversations into content that educates prospects before they ever talk to your team.

Let's look at a real example. Say you're Asana competing against Monday, Trello, ClickUp and others. Using our Competitive Keyword Generator tool, we can see search volumes for different comparison terms:

• "Asana vs Monday" - 3,600 searches/month
• "Monday alternatives" - 390 searches/month
• "Asana vs Trello" - 880 searches/month

You can use Stack Against’s Competitive Keyword Generator to grab a free list of competitor-based keywords and get a first view of your SEO landscape.

This data helps prioritize which competitors to target first from an SEO perspective. But there's more to consider.

Use the Competitor Quadrant Analysis to understand where competitors fall in these four categories:

1. Challenger Brands (New entrants)
2. Growing Brands (1-5 years in market)
3. Established Brands (Market veterans)
4. Category Leaders (Dominant players)

The rule of thumb? Always create comparison pages for competitors in quadrants above you. If you're a challenger brand, you can target competitors in all other quadrants. If you're an established brand, focus on category leaders unless there's a specific reason to target growing brands.

Step 2: Research & Strategy

This is where we spend most of our time and for good reason. Strong research sets up everything else for success. We look at three key areas:

1. Internal Research Sources: Your company likely has a goldmine of competitive intelligence already:

• Win/loss data from your CRM
• Sales call recordings
• Customer interviews and feedback
• Product marketing materials
• Support tickets mentioning competitors

Sales teams are especially valuable here. They hear daily which competitors come up, what prospects like/dislike about them, and which angles work best in competitive deals.

2. External Research Sources: Cast a wide net to understand the competitive landscape:

Review Sites (G2, Capterra, etc.)

• Look for patterns in positive and negative reviews
• Pay special attention to 3 and 4-star reviews that still mention issues
• Search for specific feature or use case mentions

Communities & Social

• Reddit threads discussing alternatives
• Industry Slack groups
• X (or Twitter 🤷🏽‍♂️) conversations
• LinkedIn discussions

Competitor Materials

• Product documentation
• Help center content
• Public roadmaps
• Community forums

3. Customer Analysis: The most valuable insights often come directly from customers who are close to the competitive decision point. If you have a win-loss program in place, that's obviously a great place to start digging for competitive information. If not, focus on these three groups:

• Recent switchers: Find customers who recently migrated from a competitor and schedule interviews to understand their journey. Why did they start looking for alternatives? What convinced them to make the switch? What has their experience been like? These stories can provide powerful positioning angles and social proof for your comparison pages.
• Won deals where competitors were evaluated: Look for customers who considered your main competitors but ultimately chose you. These conversations are gold mines because customers can articulate exactly what differentiated you. They can point out specific gaps or weaknesses in competitor offerings that you might not have considered.
• Lost deals: These ones are harder but incredibly valuable. If you've lost deals recently and know which competitor was chosen, try to get those prospects on a call. You might need to incentivize them (usually a $50-$100 Amazon gift card), but understanding why they chose a competitor can reveal blind spots in your positioning or product. There are also third-party services that can conduct these interviews if direct outreach isn't feasible.

When analyzing customer feedback, look for patterns rather than one-off comments. A single negative review about a competitor's feature might not mean much. But if you see the same complaint across multiple sources — review sites, sales calls, and customer interviews — you've found a real pain point to potentially address in your comparison page.

Step 3: Develop Your Narrative

Once you've gathered your research, it's time to craft your positioning narrative. This is where too many companies go wrong. They try to say everything about their product rather than focusing on one compelling story.

Your desired positioning should be a combination of three critical elements:

1. Something you're great at: It must be a genuine product strength or capability. You can't build credibility with claims you can't back up.
2. Something users care about: It needs to resonate with real customer pain points and priorities. Even unique features don't matter if they don't solve important problems.
3. Something competitors can't match: This is the trickiest part, especially in mature markets with feature parity. Look for gaps where competitors either don't have the capability or aren't focusing on it in their messaging.

Let's look at a real example. When we worked with ProcessKit on their comparison page versus Asana, we found:

• ProcessKit excelled at handling recurring processes and SOPs
• Many customers struggled with manually recreating workflows in Asana
• Asana wasn't built specifically for process-driven teams

This led to a clear narrative: "ProcessKit is the process-driven Asana alternative for managing recurring tasks." Every element of the page then supported this core story.

Tips for finding your narrative:

1. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Pick one strong angle and commit to it.
2. Focus on the transformation. What changes when customers switch from the competitor to you? Use specific examples and customer stories.
3. Match the type of messaging buyers find elsewhere. If your positioning aligns with what prospects see on review sites and hear from peers, it becomes more credible.

Resource: Research Brief Template showing how to organize and present findings

Comparison Page Brief | Stack Against Comparison Page Brief | Stack Against

Step 4: Write Your Page

Your comparison page should cut through the noise and immediately tell buyers how you're different. Let's break down the key components and best practices for each section:

The Hero Section: This is prime real estate — don't waste it. Many companies make the mistake of just stating "Product A vs Product B" without conveying their key differentiator. Instead:

• Lead with your main differentiator in the headline
• Support it with specific proof points in the subheadline
• Include a clear call-to-action that matches your homepage CTAs

The Pain & Solution Story: Follow this proven structure:

1. Present the pain users face with a competitor/alternative
2. Agitate that pain with specific examples
3. Present your solution
4. Support with social proof

Using Social Proof Effectively: Don't just throw in generic testimonials. Use customer quotes that specifically talk about the switch from a competitor to your solution or address the specific pain points you're highlighting on your page. G2 and other review sites are gold mines for finding these transformation stories.

Comparison Tables: Instead of endless feature comparisons, break tables into focused sections that support your narrative.

Toast POS does this brilliantly:

• Each table focuses on one key differentiator
• Tables are spread throughout the page in relevant sections
• Features are described in terms of customer value, not technical specs

Migration & Implementation: It’s crucial to address the friction of switching. It doesn't matter how great your tool is versus the other. It doesn't matter if you persuade buyers that you are the best option. You still have to beat that friction of inaction.

However you help customers migrate from their existing solution to yours, spell it out. The more work you take off their plate, the better.

• Dedicated "Done For You Migration" section
• Clear process explanation
• Specific promises about implementation support
• Call-to-action focused on making the switch easy

FAQ Section: This serves multiple purposes:

1. SEO optimization: lets you target additional keywords naturally
2. Objection handling: address common concerns
3. Reinforcement of main narrative

Make sure you list questions that real customers are asking about your product, don’t just make stuff up. Google’s “People also ask” section is also a good source to build out your FAQs.

Step 5: Design Your Page

Your comparison page design should make differences clear at a glance while maintaining your brand credibility. Let's look at key design principles and elements.

Highlight Your Brand, Not Competitors: One of the most important design principles for comparison pages. Avoid anything that could create confusion or promote competitors.

Don’t:

• Use competitor logos
• Use their brand colors
• Use fonts that resemble their brand
• Include trademarked visuals

Instead, use your own branding consistently and refer to competitors in plain text. This maintains clarity and keeps focus on your solution.

Use Visuals That Show Real Differences: This is especially challenging for SaaS products where differences aren't immediately visible. Some effective approaches:

• Process diagrams showing different workflows
• Before/after scenarios
• Side-by-side interface comparisons (when differences are clear)
• Impact visualizations showing results

Avoid visuals that make products look identical, like the Airtame vs Chromecast hero image below, which showed two nearly identical devices, missing an opportunity to highlight differences.

Break Up Comparison Tables: Instead of one massive feature comparison table, follow Toast's example:

• Create focused mini-tables for each key differentiator
• Place them in relevant content sections
• Use clear visual hierarchy to show advantages
• Grey out competitor columns/features to emphasize your strengths

Mobile Optimization Is Critical: Remember that many prospects will review your comparison on mobile devices. Ensure:

• Tables are horizontally scrollable on mobile
• Key differences are visible without pinching/zooming
• CTAs are easily tappable
• Content hierarchy works on smaller screens

Design for Scanning: Most visitors will scan the page first before deciding to read in detail.

• Use clear visual hierarchy
• Include descriptive subheads
• Highlight key differences in callouts
• Use white space effectively
• Make CTAs stand out

Resource: Comparison Page Design Templates Comparison Page Wireframes Template Comparison Page Wireframes Template

Interactive Elements (When Appropriate): For some comparisons, interactive elements can powerfully demonstrate differences.

• Feature toggles
• Cost calculators
• Demo widgets
• Before/after sliders

But only use these when they genuinely help tell your story. Don't add interaction just for the sake of it.

Every design element should support your core narrative and make differences clearer. If it doesn't serve that purpose, remove it.

In the example below, Chili Piper uses a simple toggle to let users quickly switch to a table view that only highlights their unique features.

Step 6: Review & Validate

Before launching your comparison page, you need a thorough review process to ensure accuracy, manage risk, and optimize for performance. Here's how to validate your page effectively:

Stakeholder Review Process

Start with a structured review sequence:

1. Product Marketing/Competitive Intelligence Team

• Verify competitive claims and positioning accuracy
• Ensure messaging aligns with broader marketing strategy
• Check that product capabilities are represented correctly

2. Product Team

• Validate technical feature comparisons
• Confirm product functionality descriptions
• Flag any upcoming changes that might affect comparisons

3. Sales Team

• Test messaging against real customer conversations
• Verify claims match their field experience
• Identify potential objections they commonly hear

4. Legal Team

• Review competitive claims for defensibility
• Check trademark usage
• Ensure disclaimers are in place where needed

Set clear deadlines and use a shared document for feedback to keep the review process moving efficiently. Designate one person to coordinate and reconcile conflicting feedback.

Legal Considerations

While comparison marketing is legal and common in most markets, take these precautions:

• Stick to objective, verifiable claims about competitors
• Avoid using competitor logos or trademarked assets
• Focus criticism on problems/limitations, not direct attacks
• Document sources for all competitive claims
• Keep a change log of page updates
• Consider having legal draft standard disclaimers for comparison pages

Step 7: Launch Your Page

A successful comparison page launch requires careful coordination across teams and proper setup for measurement. Here's how to execute effectively.

Pre-Launch Checklist

Before pushing your page live, run through a thorough technical and content validation.

• On the technical side, verify that the page is mobile responsive across devices, all links are functional with proper tracking, and load times are optimized, especially for comparison tables and interactive elements.
• If you're replacing an existing page, ensure proper redirects are in place to preserve any existing search equity.

Internal Communication

Create a clear, concise launch brief that helps all teams understand the page's purpose and how to use it effectively.

• Keep the brief focused on actionable information and what each team needs to know to make the page successful in their specific role. Marketing teams need to understand the SEO strategy and paid campaign plans, while sales teams need specific guidance on how and when to use the page with prospects.

Sales Enablement

Create a simple one-pager that summarizes the key points and provides example talk tracks. Include guidance on when to introduce the comparison in the sales process and how to handle common pushback.

The most successful comparison pages are actively used by sales teams to win competitive deals. Make it easy for them by providing:

• Clear scenarios for when to share the page
• Email templates they can customize
• Common objection responses
• Supporting materials like case studies

Regular check-ins with sales in the weeks following launch can help identify what's working and what needs adjustment.

Analytics Setup

Launch is just the beginning. The most effective comparison pages evolve with your market and competitive landscape.

Set up regular check-ins with stakeholders to gather feedback and identify opportunities for improvement. Stay agile and be ready to update content as competitors evolve and new differentiators emerge.

With proper setup and regular optimization, it can become one of your most powerful tools for winning competitive deals.

Step 8: Distribution

Creating a great comparison page is only half the battle. You need to get it in front of the right audiences. Below are proven distribution strategies that work.

1. Website Navigation & Internal Linking: Don't just hide your comparison pages away. Make them findable.

• Add to main navigation if comparisons are key to your strategy (like Fathom vs Google Analytics)
• Include in footer navigation at minimum
• Link from relevant blog posts and landing pages
• Create a comparison hub page linking to all individual comparisons

Example: Cloudways had a welcome bar saying "Switching from WP Engine? See how we compare" - immediately connecting visitors to relevant comparisons.

2. Search Engine Optimization: Your comparison pages can be powerful organic traffic drivers:

• Target specific comparison keywords ("Product A vs Product B")
• Create content clusters around comparison terms
• Internal link between related comparison pages
• Keep content updated as competitors change

Don't just target direct comparison terms. Look for adjacent keywords like "[Competitor] pricing" or "[Competitor] reviews" that indicate buying intent.

3. Paid Search & Retargeting: Many companies bid on competitor keywords but send traffic to their homepage. Instead, drive competitor keyword traffic to relevant comparison pages that answer the specific intent of competitor-based keywords.

You can also retarget website visitors with comparison ads. Especially visitors that are already in a sales cycle or have been consuming middle— and bottom—of—the—funnel content.

4. Sales Enablement: Your comparison pages are valuable sales tools:

• Train sales teams on how/when to use them
• Create battle cards from the research
• Share as follow-up after competitive mentions
• Use in proposal templates

5. Partner & Affiliate Distribution: Affiliates are always looking for high-converting content since they get paid when visitors convert.

Comparison content performs particularly well in affiliate marketing. It's a common tactic to review products side by side. You can even create co-branded versions for key partners or allow them to embed comparison widgets on their sites.

The key is making it easy for affiliates to drive qualified traffic to comparison-focused content rather than just your homepage.

6. Social Media & Community: Don't be shy about promoting comparisons.

• Share snippets on social channels
• Engage in relevant community discussions
• Create video versions for YouTube
• Respond to comparison questions with page links

7. Content Repurposing: Get more value from your comparison research.

• Create blog posts from key points
• Make video walkthroughs
• Design infographics
• Write email sequences

8. Regular Updates: Comparison pages aren't "set and forget" assets.

• Monitor competitor changes
• Update with new features/differentiators
• Refresh customer stories
• A/B test messaging and design

Best Practices for Comparison Pages

Mind Your Reader's Awareness Level

When someone lands on your comparison page, they're already deep in evaluation mode. They know your space and are actively comparing solutions. This means you can skip the basic education and jump straight to differentiation. Don't waste time explaining what your product category is. Focus on telling them exactly how you're different from the competitor they're researching.

Lead with Differentiation in Your Hero Section

Too many companies waste their hero section with generic headlines like "Product A vs Product B." That tells visitors nothing about why they should choose you. Instead, make your key differentiator crystal clear immediately.

Structure Your Page Around One Clear Narrative

Every element of your page should support your main differentiation story. For ProcessKit, it was "the process-driven Asana alternative." Once you have your narrative, stick to it. Don't try to include every possible difference between you and your competitor. Only include comparisons, features, and proof points that reinforce your core story.

Let Customers Tell the Transformation Story

Rather than making claims yourself, use customer quotes that specifically talk about switching from your competitor to you.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Making Empty Claims

One of the fastest ways to lose credibility is making vague, unsupported claims like "The #1 Alternative to MailChimp." Not only do these claims mean nothing without context, but they can actually make readers more skeptical of everything else on your page. Always support claims with specific evidence.

Creating Overwhelming Comparison Tables

Long, feature-by-feature comparison tables often do more harm than good. They're hard to parse, easy to question, and rarely help readers understand real differences. Instead, focus on comparing the things that matter most to your target customers and support your core narrative.

Attacking Competitors Directly

Instead of saying "Competitor X is slow," focus on the problem: "Don't lose business due to poor performance." Then show why your product’s performance is unbeatable. This approach maintains credibility while still making your point. Attack the problem, not the competitor.

Trying to Cover Everything

A common instinct is to list every single difference between you and your competitor. Resist this urge. Too many comparisons dilute your message and overwhelm readers. Focus on the 3-5 most important differences that support your main narrative.

Resource: Comparison Page Audit Checklist - Use this to check your page against best practices and common mistakes

Comparison Page Audit Checklist | Stack Against Comparison Page Audit Checklist | Stack Against

Conclusion

So if you couldn’t tell, comparison pages are a powerful (and often underutilized) tool in your PMM tool belt. Done right, a good comparison page don’t just attract web traffic, it can become a key piece of your GTM strategy and give you a sure way to bring value to the org as a PMM with something that impacts everything from traffic to pipeline to win rates.

Take what you’ve learned here and try it out. Let us know how it goes.

Good luck!

Resources

• Comparison Page Audit Checklist
• Resource: Comparison Page Research Brief Template
• Competitive Keyword Generator
• Comparison Page Wireframes Template
• Compared to What Video Series on the Compete Network

Where to find Federico

• LinkedIn
• Stack Against Website
• Book a consultation with Stack Against and get 10% off

• Introduction
• What is a Comparison Page?
• Why Create Comparison Pages?
• What's the Purpose and Goal of This Guide?
• Part 1: Comparison Pages 101
• Types of Comparison Pages
• When to Build Comparison Pages
• Key Metrics & Goals
• Part 2: The 8-Step Process to Build & Launch Your First Comparison Page
• Step 1: Choose Your Target
• Step 2: Research & Strategy
• Step 3: Develop Your Narrative
• Step 4: Write Your Page
• Step 5: Design Your Page
• Step 6: Review & Validate
• Step 7: Launch Your Page
• Step 8: Distribution
• Best Practices for Comparison Pages
• Common Mistakes to Avoid
• Conclusion
• Resources