SEO is essential for every SaaS company. That said, the enterprise’s playbooks differ from those of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Recognizing these contrasts can help determine the optimal configuration to achieve the desired results.
Target Audience and Goals
The only difference between SMB SEO and enterprise SaaS SEO is who you are targeting and what your goals are. Enterprises often target a broader, more varied audience across several areas. For them, it could be brand awareness and significant market capture. SMBs typically target a more niche market, servicing customers with specific needs in a particular geographic area. They usually focus on relationship-building and lead generation in a smaller market.
Budget and Resources
Further, budget allocation and resource availability make a massive difference between enterprises and SMBs. With bigger budgets, big companies have a bigger advantage for investing in exorbitant tools, deep research, and ample teams. It allows them to integrate their SEO strategy to cover all components within the SEO efforts. On the other hand, SMBs tend to have smaller teams and significantly smaller budgets. A more targeted approach is needed to emphasize the areas that offer the best return on investment.
Keyword Strategy
Keyword strategy is also very different for enterprise and SMB businesses. Highly competitive keywords that are hard to rank on are potential targets, and more effort is required to target these keywords. They may focus on both broad and niche keywords to reach different parts of the target population. But then again, SMBs often target low-competition, long-tail keywords that are extremely relevant to what they are selling. This can help them generate more quality leads and get results faster.
Content Strategy
The other place where enterprises differ from SMBs is in content creation. Many larger SaaS companies create multiple content types like whitepapers, webinars, and case studies to build authority on the subject and educate their audience. They have the luxury of trying various formats to determine what works best. Compared to bigger enterprises, SMBs tend to focus on publishing great blog posts and guides that speak to their audience’s pain points directly. This focused strategy helps them earn the trust and credibility of their audience.
Technical SEO
The technical parts of SEO also vary. With hundreds or thousands of pages, presenting and arranging the content to require technical optimization for seamless navigation and quicker load times becomes a necessity with enterprise websites. That might mean working on site architecture and international SEO issues. SMBs with simpler sites can opt for the more basic technical optimization process by focusing on site speed and mobile optimization to ensure a better user experience.
Link Building
For enterprises and SMBs, building backlinks is essential; however, the strategies differ. If they are an enterprise, they are likely to have links from authoritative and trustworthy sources — the brand may be in the news, and it becomes easier to get quality links. They may do partnerships or sponsorships to improve their link profile. For SMBs, the level of recognition is not the same as larger brands, so they may focus on building relationships with local businesses or niche influencers to acquire valuable backlinks. Over time, this grassroots approach can be practical in building a strong link profile.
Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and reporting are important for tracking the success of your SEO efforts. Since most enterprises triage analytics tools at a regional and channel level, more granular performance details (at a post level) might reside at a higher tier within the same hierarchy. This data-driven approach not only enables them to make better decisions but also to adapt strategies whenever needed. SMBs might gravitate towards more basic tools, honing in on KPIs that move the needle on their business. This simplified reporting can give many insights without bombarding the team with data.
Conclusion
Enterprise SaaS SEO vs. SMB SEO introduces new differences in target audience, budget, keyword strategy, content, technical SEO, link building, and analytics. Large enterprises have the bandwidth to implement a more comprehensive strategy, while SMBs tend to take a more focused, targeted approach. Recognizing these distinctions will allow businesses of any size to maximize the effectiveness of their SEO. With the proper techniques that fit their resources, enterprises or SMBs alike can accomplish individual objectives.
Table of Contents