how to
Tactic № 049Conversion

Alternatives Pages

ConversionSEOAcquisitionImpact · HighIntermediateCost · FreeEffort · Medium
Stage
Acquisition
Difficulty
Intermediate
Cost
Free
Effort
Medium

Build a 'best alternatives to [competitor]' page where your product is one entry among several. High commercial intent, captures switchers, and the implicit framing positions you in the consideration set without bashing competitors.

  1. 1

    Identify the target keyword cluster and dominant search intent (informational, navigational, transactional).

  2. 2

    Audit the top 10 ranking pages — note their word count, headings, internal links, and content gaps.

  3. 3

    Draft a piece that's measurably better: 1.5× depth, original data, clearer structure, FAQ schema baked in.

  4. 4

    Optimize on-page basics: descriptive H1, semantic H2s, internal links to 3-5 supporting pages.

  5. 5

    Push 5 outreach emails to sites linking to the original — the upgrade is the pitch.

  6. 6

    Republish quarterly with a fresh date, refreshed stats, and one new section to keep rankings climbing.

Timeline
Ship in 1–2 weeks · first signal in 14–30 days · full read in 30–60 days.
Benchmarks
20–60% CVR lift on the targeted page in top decile cases; median 10–18%.

A CRM tool builds a 'best Salesforce alternatives' page listing five tools including itself with honest pros and cons, and converts switchers at 4x the rate of homepage traffic.

Real-world caseLinear vs. Jira · 2019 → present

Linear ranks #1-3 on Google for "Jira alternative" with a single dedicated comparison page, despite Atlassian's content team being orders of magnitude larger. The page outranks alternatives with 10× the backlinks because it directly matches user intent. Loom built the same wedge against Vidyard, Notion against Evernote.

List yourself second or third, not first — readers smell ranking bias when the publisher's own product sits at #1.

  • Optimizing the top of the funnel before the bottom — fixing CVR while leaks remain is wasted lift.
  • Running variants sequentially instead of simultaneously — seasonality contaminates the comparison.
  • Watch-out from the playbook: List yourself second or third, not first — readers smell ranking bias when the publisher's own product sits at #1.

B2B SaaS, productized services, established categories

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