Product comparison tables are a great way to highlight differences between offerings. They save visitors time, removing the need  to read lots of content to establish which products are most suitable.

Surprisingly, many life insurance websites force visitors into doing the work. Products are described, in summary or detailed form, without a list of differences. Some sites we have evaluated don’t even discuss differences in text areas, and just provide long lists of features.

A simple table takes little time or effort to produce. Some companies have clearly considered what prospects need to know and have produced tables that are easy to read. Thrivent Financial’s, for example, lists features that are available across five insurance products.

Thrivent's table of differences is simple and easy to read

Nationwide offers a similar table, with the addition of ‘Learn More’ buttons that provide a quick path to detailed information about each product.

Nationwide's table of differences includes a 'Learn More' link

Western & Southern’s table offers another dimension of information, including advantages and disadvantages of each feature for each product.

Life insurance is complicated for novices, and not providing a table of differences is adding unnecessary complexity to the education process.