How to Create Best Software Listicles That Rank and Actually Drive Leads

Why Category Content Works So Well

For a recent website I’ve been working on, the majority of their conversions have come from category content. 

We created an entire range of best software roundups for each of their product’s use cases and once we had that covered, we moved on to the different industries their tool is used for.

But why do these pages convert so well?

While I think every SaaS company should target these pages, the reason they work so well is that you’re targeting an audience who already knows the type of solution they need.

Maybe:

• They have some internal issue they’re hoping a software solution can fix
• They want a solution that can make their processes more efficient
• Someone else recommended a type of solution to them, and now they’re considering different products to choose from

The main thing is that your audience is actively in the market for your solution.

When our audience already understands their need for a product, there’s less convincing we have to do throughout their buyer’s journey.

They know they need a specific solution, and now they’re considering different options for that solution.

We know there’s at least some conversion intent behind their search.

So when we create this “best software” type of content, we’re putting our product at the top of their consideration list.

Once they find your brand through this article, it’s just a matter of them considering whether your product is the right choice for them.

So not only do these articles help capture conversion-intent traffic, but they also give you the chance to show the reader why your product would be the best option within that category.

If you create these pages the right way, then it will be pretty easy to get them to take the next step.

So that’s why we always say these articles are high converters. 

Because they are.

How to Create Best Software Listicles Content

Okay, so this is what you came here for, right?

I’ll list out below the necessary things you’ll want to include in your article to help it rank better and drive more leads.

Have a List of 9-12 Competitors Identified. 

Before you even begin, you’ll want to have a list of the competitors you’ll want to include in your listicle.

These should be direct competitors.

Maybe you can include an indirect competitor towards the bottom, but the companies you include should be relevant to that category.

Include a Summary of that Product

Once you have identified your list of competitors, you’ll want to create a brief summary of each company. 

This could be the company itself or the product you’re writing about in your article.

Either way, you want to help educate the reader about that company. 

One of the common mistakes I see with these articles is companies just rehashing their competitors’ about us or LinkedIn pages. 

If you want this content to rank (and for readers to actually read it), you should personalize each summary you write.

This could be:

• If you know the founder
• Know some of their internal employees
• Have worked with them on a project

Anything that shows you understand who they are as a company beyond just their about us page.

If you don’t have any personal connections from that company, you should admit that upfront.

It doesn’t have to be a lengthy essay either; it can just be 1-2 paragraphs giving a background on that company and why you’re including them in this “best of” list.

Create a Section Explaining Each Product’s Features

You’ll next want to create a section that covers the different features of each product.

This will usually be pretty easy since you can view each company’s product/solution/features page to get a better understanding of what their product does. 

It doesn’t have to be anything flashy.

Usually, it’s just a quick bulleted list highlighting the different features of that product.

You’ll want to be pretty neutral here; you don’t have to paint their product in a negative light. 

Just highlight what features their product has.

Include Pros and Cons

Here’s where you’ll need to personalize your article a bit more.

You’ll want to include the pros and cons of each product (including your product).

Now again, this isn’t your chance to paint your product in the best light while crapping on the competition.

Offer actual things you like about each company.

And real limitations that each product has. 

You can generally get a feel for the pros and cons by looking at a company’s G2 page.

While it is time-consuming, you can even sign up for a free trial for each product and get a feel for the pros and cons yourself.

That way, you can include insights that aren’t copied from somewhere else. 

Include User Reviews

While not entirely necessary, consider adding customer reviews to your listicle, too.

Again, don’t only include negative reviews.

Include reviews that help the reader better understand if that product is right for them.

I’ll probably sound like a broken record here, but it is literally called “the best of” list for a reason.

Include Pricing Information

Lastly, you’ll want to include pricing information for your product and your competitor’s product.

If they don’t have pricing information, mention that in your section.

But pricing will probably be the biggest lift when someone is reading your article and considering the products listed there. 

It’s almost a must to include. 

You can even include whether they offer free trials or demos.

Best Practices for Creating Category Content Listicles

Now that we covered what you should include, here are a few more specifics on how you should include it.

These are best practices myself, and Jacob recommend focusing on when creating software listicle articles.

Be Honest in Your Review

If you’re creating software listicles, be transparent and honest with your reviews.

“And you want to be honest, right? You don’t want to just poop on your competitors and talk bad about them. There are pros and cons to every company. There are cons to your company. You want to be fair and transparent about that with your competitors. If you are going to mention a con, definitely confirm that it’s true first.” – Jacob Statler

Promoting your product while putting your competitors down might seem like a good idea, but that only makes you seem incredibly biased.

Plus, it doesn’t help the reader either.  

So, when you’re creating these listicles, focus on: 

• Being honest with the cons you’re including about yourself and your competitors
• Being honest about listing the pros of your competitors. If they do something better than your product, don’t be afraid to highlight it
• Not just including negative reviews to call out your competitors

Read and Verify Reviews of that Product

This was something Jacob mentioned during the episode that was interesting.

When he’s creating “best software” content, he’ll actually read the most recent reviews for each product to understand what people are genuinely saying about that product.

“I like to read every single customer review from that software from the past year. And I take notes on all the pros and cons people mention. And the cons: I make sure that I try to verify that it’s actually true because sometimes customers just don’t know what they’re doing. And then they’ll say this software doesn’t have this feature.”

In a way, he’s using recent customer reviews to better understand that product and how he can write about it.

He takes notes of the pros and cons for each company and then decides whether it’s worth highlighting in the article. 

He also mentioned not to take every review at face value. 

Some users might leave negative reviews due to overlooking or misunderstanding a feature, so this will at least help your content stay accurate.

Be warned, he did say this is very time-consuming. 

Consider Testing Out Those Products Firsthand to Get a Better Understanding of it

One tip that Jacob offered that I thought was interesting was to actually review each product.

“If you’re reviewing like PLG competitors that have free trials, Sign up for the free trials, poke around their tool, try to use some features, see if you can catch any problems, or you can develop your own opinion on it. That way you can actually talk from personal experience in your product reviews. “

Instead of just relying on third-party resources when creating this content, why not demo the tool yourself?

This way, you can include insights that only you would understand.

Test out each tool as a user and see what you like and don’t like.

This doesn’t mean purchasing a paid plan for each product, but it means seeing if each product has a free trial option where you can test it out. 

If You Can’t Test Out That Product, Look For Subject Matter Experts Who Are Familiar With The Product

If there isn’t an option to trial the tool you’re including, you can always ask around your network for those who are familiar with that tool.

If you find someone who is, you can replicate the process above.

Ask them:

• What they like about the tool
• What they dislike about it
• How they use the tool
• If they’re planning on staying with that tool

Even better, you can include their responses in your article to make it more neutral.

Where it isn’t just entirely your review, coming from a direct competitor of that company.

Give a Reason Why You’re Putting Yourself at the Top

One thing that’s often overlooked in these articles is why you’re putting yourself at the top.

“If you’re putting yourself as number one, have a reason why you’re putting yourself as number one. Just don’t splat yourself at the top and have no good reason why.”

Don’t just say, “In our humble opinion, we’re the best” (even though I think I have an article on my website where I do this)

Give a legitimate reason why you consider your product to be the superior choice within that category.

This could be:

• Features only your product has
• Better customer support
• Reviews

Even though these articles are mainly to promote your product, you still want to offer value to your readers that helps them consider each of the products mentioned. 

Don’t make yourself come off as too biased (that’s a common theme here) 

Get Right to the Point

One of the worst things you can do with your content is include unnecessary fluff.

It’s a reason why SEO content is so commonly complained about.

We bury useful information in 1,000s of words of fluff that isn’t helpful to the person reading your article.

So, when you start your “best software” list, jump straight into your list.

Don’t spend time explaining “What is Supply Chain Planning Software?”

The user likely already knows what it is and is just looking to find options for that type of product.

“Companies don’t start it with what is category software. People that are looking for that software don’t need to know what that software is. Try to meet your audience where they’re actually at. And don’t just try including what is software just because you’re trying to rank for another keyword. That’s really stupid and a waste of time. Get right to the competitors as quickly as possible. Maybe in the intro, keep it short. Maybe mention the pain points that someone’s trying to solve with the software, but get to the point, get to the competitors, position yourself.”

That’s not to say you shouldn’t include additional content (well, maybe not the “what is” part).

After you cover your listicle, you can use the inverted pyramid to cover the rest of the article.

Meet their intent first (the roundup list) and then use the rest of the article to cover secondary information.

But again, don’t include content that you think will only benefit you through SEO.

Actually include questions that will be helpful to the person reading that article.

Jacob even recommends asking client-facing teams what common questions customers ask about your product and then includes that within his article.

“One tip with the FAQ: if you’re actually trying to create a valuable FAQ for one of these best category software topics or best competitor alternatives, one of the questions that we ask them is what are some common questions that customers ask you guys about your product? And you get to hear those questions and how they answer those. And you can actually include that in your FAQ. It might be like, how do I migrate from this newsletter platform to this one? How available is your customer support? These are questions that people care about because they’re actually asking them. It’s not just something that Google generated or Google’s showing the people also ask section because some SEO person uses some AI tool to generate an FAQ.”

Creating the Best “Best Software” Articles  

There you have it.

If you want to create category content that not only ranks but drives conversions, you have to focus on the person reading your article.

Be honest with your review. 

Don’t be biased towards your product. 

Don’t rehash your information. 

Actually take the time to create a worthwhile article.

Once all that is said and done, you’ll have a piece of category content that’s ready to be a top converter for you.