“Vs” keywords are searches that pit two specific options against each other: two products, two approaches, or a product and a workaround (“Zapier vs custom code”). The searcher has narrowed the field and wants the differences that matter. These searches are typically low to moderate in volume and high in intent, and they come in three forms for a vendor: you versus a competitor, two competitors, or your category versus an older way of working.
Three kinds of vs search
You vs competitor is the most direct. Searchers may already know your product and be checking how it stacks up. Competitor vs competitor searches are made by buyers who have not yet considered you; a fair comparison that mentions your product as a third option can introduce it. Category vs status quo searches, such as “spreadsheet vs CRM”, catch buyers deciding whether to buy any tool at all.
- [your product] vs [competitor]
- [competitor A] vs [competitor B]
- [category] vs [manual method or older category]
What a good vs page contains
A short summary of who each option suits, a comparison table on criteria buyers care about, pricing with dates and sources, and honest notes on trade-offs. Screenshots, migration notes and real use cases help. Avoid feature-count tables that list everything your product does and ignore what the competitor does better.
Finding them
Run each competitor's name through a keyword tool and filter for “vs”. Autocomplete for “[competitor] vs” shows who Google associates them with. Sales teams can also say which competitors appear most often in deals, which is a better guide to priority than volume.
Example
Ordering vs pages by deal data
Imagine Shalecrest, a fictional observability platform, finds that one competitor appears in most of its lost deals, while another has more search volume. It writes the comparison with the frequent deal competitor first.
The page includes a section on when the competitor is the better choice, which sales also uses as a talk track.
Common mistakes
Misstating the competitor's product
Inaccurate claims are easy for buyers to check and undermine the whole page. Cite public sources and date the review.
Covering only yourself vs others
Competitor vs competitor searches are often larger and reach buyers who have not heard of you.
Questions
Either can work. Check what ranks for the specific search. Many SaaS companies use a dedicated comparison page template so the pages stay consistent and easy to update.
