WIP Feedback: Alternative page Versoly vs Ghost
Still working on https://versoly.com/ghost-alternative but thought it would be wise to get feedback early on and during the process.
If you're looking for a blogging CMS or recently started using one please share products you have looked at and resources you read to make your decision.
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When I see that your product has all checkmarks and the alternative has all red x-es, it quickly puts me in "bullshit alert" mode and makes me think the comparison is not truthful and the only purpose of this comparison is to bash Ghost and make me pay for your product. That's a breach of trust on my side and I immediately go away from pages like these.
For example:
When you see a comparison page you expect to see more in-depth info on both products that are being compared, not one getting bashed and one getting shoved in your face all over the place.
It's a red flag for me too. I might not take it as BS, but at the very least it feels like it's only talking about the aspects where you're better and leaving out other considerations I need to be considering.
I agree too. Maybe you can use "-" to imply it's neutral.
Fair points, I based it on Ghost vs WordPress (they have all green ticks and give WP 1 green tick, so thought it was fair game)
For landing pages, it looks like you can create a blog post as a page with Ghost. I wouldn't call that a landing page?
Yeah, it renders blog posts as pages. Separate landing pages are also possible on Ghost, just that one has to code every piece of it.
If you have to code custom that isn't part of the platform?
Not sure if I can understand the question. I meant to say to build landing pages on Ghost, one has to write code and has to go through some complex setup.
Thanks.
You mentioned in another comment that some of your customers switched from Ghost - make sure you talk to them! Ask them what was wrong about Ghost and what convinced them about Versoly. Sometimes these users give such great insights that you'll want to use their words verbatim on your LP.
Also, the focus on conversion seems to be the one of the main differentiators of Versoly - I'd emphasize it even more (if that's what users actually care about). Take a look at Klaviyo vs Mailchimp page and this brilliant line they use:
You could make this a theme of your page too.
And lastly, as Ghost is the more popular solution on the market, you need some social proof. Reviews from third-party sites, customer logos and testimonials will help a lot.
Great feedback.
Will have to ask customers who swapped to write a testimonial.
Also plan on emailing customers to leave reviews on 3rd party sites as well.
I'm curious, why are you positioning yourself against Ghost? Keyword volume is pretty low.
From a competitor positing viewpoint, your product seems much more likely to compete with instapage/webflow. Why not position against them?
Just the first one I started with to be honest.
Lots of posts on IHs from our target customers ask what blog they should use.
And a lot go with Ghost.
With all due respect, I don't think your product is a blog platform.
From your homepage it's a "Conversion Focused All-In-One Website Builder"
We have one of the most advanced blogging platforms at the moment.
You can host multiple blogs, invite unlimited collaborators and edit the blog layout without code.
We already make it simple to convert visitors to the blog to email subs.
I don't really understand from this landing page why I'd choose your product over Ghost. Ghost themselves has a pretty good page to show how you can weigh up whether to use them or an alternative (https://ghost.org/alternatives/).
One of the biggest factors for me that doesn't ring true with this landing page is that Ghost has a bunch of great customer references and case studies (Buffer, Duolingo etc), which your product doesn't seem to have. So it definitely rings false that your landing page claims that Versoly beats Ghost in every category. I'd guess most traffic who lands on this page will be more aware of Ghost than your product (maybe they already use it etc...), so you need to be more clear in my opinion.
Thanks for the feedback.
At the start I say "Ghost is a great solution if all you require is a blog" that is all buffer use it for.
Lots of early stage companies also need a blog and are deciding between Versoly and Ghost.
The goal is to show that Versoly is equal/better in terms of blogging and better when it comes to creating landing pages etc for converting visitors to subscribers and/or paid customers.
When i read you home page, i think your product have a strong value proposition.
But i wonder, why should you compare it with ghost?
i dont think ghost is your competitor, maybe compare your product to some other products such as Unbounce or Instapage
Thanks for the feedback.
Lots of our customers use our blogging CMS.
Before they used Ghost or Wordpress.
Even large companies are still using Ghost because of how much better it is than WordPress for their use case.
But they're missing out on a ton of SEO and usually paying for 2/3 tools when they could just buy Versoly.
Hope that gives some context around why i'm creating that page.
Would love to hear some specifics as to how customers miss out on SEO if using Ghost vs Versoly -- SEO is big, so that could be very helpful information to put in your comparison.
Also, what 2/3 tools could a customer get rid of if they moved from Ghost to Versoly? That could also be helpful information.
+1
SEO wise must ghost blogs are hosted on a subdomain which adds 0 benefit to your main domain.
Website builder (WP/Squarespace/custom built), Landing page builder(instapage), blogging CMS (Ghost)
That stack is very popular with SaaS
I find that statement ("zero benefit") hard to believe, especially if you have links to your TLD on your sub-domain-hosted Ghost blog. That said, you have the option to use Ghost as a subfolder vs subdomain.
I would be careful about saying "and the SEO rankings aren't transferred to the main website" because that is argued in the SEO community. Plus, it would likely be deemed a false statement by Google.
This is a better illustration of potential difference. But, you can build landing pages on WP, Squarespace, Wix, and other website builders. You may need some extension to make it more plug-n-play to create landing pages, but it is possible. Each has their own version of a CMS/blogging platform.
I think the main lens this should be looked through -- is what the requirements are.
If you need a blogging platform only (ala Medium), then Ghost vs Versoly would be more equal. If you have more needs, then the difference could be greater.
If I were to make a recommendation on your table, I'd recommend adding a line of "Robust CMS for Blogging" (or something like that) and have checkmarks on both Ghost and Versoly.