Playbook · SEO
Bottom-of-funnel pages first
Most SaaS blogs start at the top of the funnel, with guides to the problem, and never reach the pages a buyer reads the week they choose. This playbook reverses the order.
Bottom-of-funnel pages target searches made by people already comparing products. There are fewer of those searches, they are easier to rank for than broad topics, and each visit is worth far more.
The steps
5 steps- 1List every search a buyer makes on the way to choosing
- 2Write the alternatives pages first
- 3Then the head-to-head comparisons
- 4Publish your pricing in words, not only in a table
- 5Link them together and into the product
Use this when
- You have fewer than a dozen comparison or alternative pages.
- Competitors or review sites rank for searches that include your own brand name.
- Your organic traffic is healthy and your organic sign-ups are not.
The steps
5 steps, in order
The order to build comparison, alternative and pricing pages in, and what each one has to contain to rank and convert.
- 1
List every search a buyer makes on the way to choosing
Start from your sales calls and your CRM's lost-deal reasons, not a keyword tool. Write down every competitor a prospect mentioned, every objection about price, and every “does it work with” question.
- “[competitor] alternatives” for each competitor
- “[you] vs [competitor]” and “[competitor A] vs [competitor B]”
- “[category] software pricing” and “[you] pricing”
- “best [category] software for [use case]”
- 2
Write the alternatives pages first
Someone searching for alternatives to a competitor has a budget and a reason to move. Open by naming who the competitor suits and who it does not, then list real alternatives, including ones that are not you.
A page that lists only your own product is not an answer to the search, and it reads like an advert. Include four to six options with an honest line on each.
- 3
Then the head-to-head comparisons
Put a side-by-side table near the top: features, limits, pricing model, who it is for. Follow it with the three or four differences that actually decide the choice, each with a verdict.
Say where the competitor is the better choice. It costs you a few visitors who were never going to buy, and it earns the trust of the rest.
- 4
Publish your pricing in words, not only in a table
A pricing page that is a grid of ticks cannot answer “how much does this cost for a team of twenty”. Add plain sentences that state what each plan costs, what it includes and where the limits are.
Then write the category pricing page: what products like yours cost, what drives the price up, and what is usually charged extra.
- 5
Link them together and into the product
Every comparison page links to the relevant alternatives page and to pricing. Feature and use-case pages link down to the comparisons. A buyer should be able to move between them without going back to search.
What goes wrong
The mistakes to avoid
Claiming to win every row
A comparison table where your column is all ticks is ignored by readers and gives an AI system nothing it can quote as balanced.
Writing about a competitor from memory
Check their current pricing and features on the day you publish, date the page, and revisit it. Out-of-date comparisons are the quickest way to lose credibility.
Hiding the page
Comparison pages left out of the navigation and the sitemap rarely rank. Link them from the footer and from relevant product pages.
How to tell it worked
Impressions and average position for each page's target search in Search Console.
Sign-ups or demo requests where the first page viewed was one of these pages.
Whether you appear when the same question is put to an AI assistant.
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