Comparison Pages – the virtual equivalent of tech companies entering a rap battle, except where one of the contestants has a sock stuffed in their mouth.
A dependable feature on almost every SaaS organization’s website, it is designed to give the potential customer an objective answer to a single question; “why should I be choosing this solution over another?”
The problem is, of course, trust. No company in their right mind is going to claim their service inferior to another. There will always be a bias. And this inherently counteracts the supposed purpose of these pages – to provide an objective answer.
And this is where Ahrefs, the SEO software suite, has tried to shake things up a bit.
Their page eschews the common result of simply becoming a tedious side-by-side comparison of features that can overwhelm a buyer. Instead, they do three important things:
- List the features that only they offer against the likes of SEMrush and Moz, highlighting the points of difference a customer would care about.
- Present a bucketload of social proof on the sentiment held towards their product against their competitors, both from customers and software review websites.
- Offer a clear opportunity for readers to try the product after every proof point with a clear CTA – a 7-day trial for $7.
Sure, these are small decisions. But they are far more impactful in highlighting the core points of differentiation that Ahrefs possess which, in turn, helps the customer do the most important thing – make a choice.
Takeaway
Be transparent. Buyers can smell from a mile away the scent of an organization trying to pawn off an opinion on their company as objective. It’s just something that can never be.
Use competitors as a launchpad to highlight the uniqueness of your proposition. Maybe you have award-winning customer service, unparalleled operational reach, or a set of features other companies in your space are at least a year out from developing.
Don’t focus on the comparable; highlight the incomparable proof points that set you apart.
