The buyer's journey usually has some sort of “let’s compare among the top solutions” step, which typically happens toward the end of the journey, right before the final decision is made.
For example, after realizing you need a live chat software and after doing some initial landscape research, you might realize that there are 2-3 players worth considering. You’ll then search for content like “Live Chat vs Intercom” or “Intercom alternatives”.
This is a great time for you to come in and show searchers why HubSpot is the best solution, or at least a viable alternative to what they were initially searching for.
When a prospect is shopping among different solutions, they will generally want to compare several competitors side by side.
Searches in this stage look like this:
Comparison content can come in a few different formats, including:
On hubspot.com, we build a lot of these pages that feature comparisons among our top five competitors. Here are some examples for our meeting scheduling tool:
First, look up the monthly search volume for comparison terms (e.g., “[competitor] alternatives”, “[competitor] vs HubSpot”, etc.) to make sure you’re writing about products people are actually researching and considering. This is how you will bring the most value to your audience and gain new visitors to your site.
If you’re feeling stuck on which products or competitors to write about, here is a list of the main features HubSpot has to offer and some of the top corresponding competitors:
Product / Feature | Competitors |
CRM |
Salesforce |
Marketing Hub |
ActiveCampaign |
Sales Hub |
Salesforce |
Service Hub |
Salesforce |
WordPress Plugin |
MailChimp for WordPress |
Form Builder |
Typeform |
Live Chat |
LiveChat |
Email Marketing |
MailChimp |
Landing Pages |
ClickFunnels |
Meeting Scheduler |
Calendly |
If you’re unsure of the best way to get started, use the following template as a guide to writing your own comparison page:
Here are some title formats you can use:
As an affiliate, all of your placements must meet FTC compliance, which means you need to disclose for every post with an affiliate link that you receive commission on any sales. Here are some examples of the disclosure language you can use:
These are only our suggestions based on our understanding of the FTC. The examples above should not be used as legal advice in any form. Check out the FTC's guide on how to make effective disclosures and reach out to them directly if you have questions.
Price is one of the most important comparison criteria. It’s what a lot of people primarily base their final decision on and should always be included in your comparison content.
See some examples below:
Source: HubSpot
Source: LiveChat
It’s often helpful to have a side-by-side comparison table that shows all the relevant specs to consider, or whether the product has them at all. This kind of table makes it easy to skim through otherwise dense content.
Source: Marketing Automation Insider
Similarly to the feature comparison table, a pros and cons table helps your reader quickly determine what’s good and what’s bad about the products they’re considering.
Source: Marketing Automation Insider
People doing comparison shopping don’t always have the time or willingness to sign up for a free trial and try out the product for themselves. A lot of companies also do a poor job of presenting the interface of their products. Having product and UI screenshots in your content will help the reader see what they would be working with and whether a product seems easy and enjoyable to use.
And if you can do a video walkthrough, even better!
Source: LiveChat
We all use a lot of different tools to help us achieve all sorts of things. This makes knowing which tools a product does and doesn’t integrate with an important part of the decision-making process.
Source: Marketing Automation Insider
Having an aggregate view of the ratings awarded to each product helps your readers get a picture of what others consider to be good or bad.
As mentioned earlier, testimonials and quotes are a great way to add a more human touch to your content and appeal to the emotional side of your readers. Tables and numbers are great and all, but sometimes you just really need to hear from someone’s personal experience.
Source: Nectafy
Here are some great comparison pages to inspire your own:
For further reading, check out this blog post on how to create great competitive comparison pages.