SEO has several subcategories. One that gets thrown around is enterprise SEO and traditional SEO. But what’s the difference? 

In general, it’s size. Traditional SEO is for local businesses, small websites, etc., whereas enterprise SEO is for large websites. Think thousands of pages. 

Because of the difference in scale, both require a different campaign approach. One option isn’t better than the other, it just depends on the goals of the website. 

What is Traditional SEO?

Traditional SEO refers to the SEO strategies applied to small websites. These are usually websites with a hundred or less pages. 

What is Enterprise SEO? 

Enterprise SEO refers to the SEO strategies applied to large websites. These websites usually have hundreds or thousands of pages. 

Core Difference Between Enterprise SEO and Traditional SEO 

When it comes to the differences between enterprise SEO and traditional SEO it mainly comes down to the size of the website. 

Scale of Operations 

Traditional SEO is for small to medium-sized websites. Therefore, the business itself and the size of its operations are usually pretty small. Think micro to small firms, which have between 1 to 49 people employed. 

Enterprise SEO, on the other hand, are for large websites and are usually for medium to large enterprises. According to the OECD, these enterprises have anywhere from 49 to 250+ employees. 

Content Strategy 

Traditional SEO uses its resources wisely, only focusing on bottom-of-funnel (BOF) content. These content pieces are what generate sales. Therefore, smaller websites create and optimise these content pieces to boost revenue. 

Because they’re small websites also, they have lower domain authority (DA). Because of this, it forces those following traditional SEO to focus on long tail keywords. These are more targeted but usually offer less search volume. 

Reference: Example of Long Tail Keyword Search

When it comes to enterprise SEO, websites usually have more resources. Because of this, they can create content for all funnel stages: top, middle, and bottom funnel content. This helps attract users, get them interested, make them desire something, and cause them to take action. 

They also have higher DA. Because of this, they can target head term keywords that have a much higher search volume. 

Reference: Example of Head Term Keyword Search

Keyword Strategy 

As briefly mentioned above, the keyword strategy is also different. Typically speaking, traditional SEO goes for longer-tail keywords, whereas enterprise SEO head terms. 

Not only this, but enterprise SEO targets global and branded keywords. These are usually very difficult to rank well on and require some serious SEO strategies. 

Team Involvement 

When it comes to traditional SEO, it’s usually carried out by an individual, marketing team, freelancer or a small agency. 

Enterprise SEO, however, requires a lot of people. Most of the time, these are cross-department teams that need to collaborate. 

Think content, PR, and marketing teams. You may even have web development, social media teams, etc. 

SEO Tools and Technologies 

Both types of SEO also use different types of tools and technologies. 

With traditional SEO, you can get away with some basic tools. For example, for on-page SEO, Yoast, for off-page SEO, Ahrefs (basic version), and for technical SEO Screaming Frog (free version) (or Ahrefs again). They’ll also use Google tools like GA4 and GSC. 

While enterprise SEO can and does use these tools, they use the premium or enterprise versions. For example, Ahrefs Enterprise, Screaming Frog (paid version), etc. They may even swap out GA4 for Google 360 - which starts at about $50,000 a year. 

Budget Considerations 

Lastly, the budget considerations are massively different.  

Most SEO campaigns cost around $1,250 – $10,000 a month. The price will vary based on the extensiveness of the work. 

Enterprise SEO, however, can cost unlimited. Think of campaigns that cost $50,000+ monthly. That’s the budget difference between traditional SEO and enterprise SEO. 

This is solely due to the cost of tools and labour. Some enterprise SEO tools cost a lot. Just look at Google 360, for example, it’s $50,000 a year. That’s only one tool as well. 

Plus, you need writers, editors, SEOs, web developers, marketers, etc., to manage and control an enterprise SEO campaign. 

Comparing Enterprise SEO and Traditional SEO 

You now know the difference between enterprise and traditional SEO. To make it easier for you, here’s a quick overview of the two: 

When Should You Choose Enterprise SEO? 

When it comes to choosing between pursuing traditional or enterprise SEO, the main question comes down to scale. For example, we recommend enterprise SEO if:

You Have a Large Website 

If you have a large website, something with over a thousand pages, then you should be considering enterprise SEO. 

In this case, it’s likely your website is profitable and garners a lot of attention. This is more than most websites will ever achieve. 

Therefore, taking advantage of enterprise SEO and utilising a large team will help push your website into its next stage. 

Your Target Audience is National or Global 

If your target audience is either national or global, you may want to consider enterprise SEO over traditional SEO. 

Simply put, small websites won’t rank for national or global keywords. There’s far too much competition. If you’re hoping to rank for these keywords, an enterprise SEO approach can help. 

You Have a Substantial SEO Budget 

If you have a large SEO budget, then enterprise SEO could be beneficial. SEO generates, on average, a 22:1 return on SEO spend. This is much greater than any other marketing method out there (minus email). 

This does depend on your products/service and niche, however. Some niches, products, and services perform better on search than others. Therefore, it’s always best to consult with an SEO beforehand. 

You Want to Target Head Term Keywords 

Most head term keywords with high buyer intent, such as “buy shoes”, “buy dress”, or “buy XYC”, are remarkably hard to rank for. They usually have keyword difficulty scores far into the red.

In other words, you need a strong website to rank for them. You need a high DA website that’s relevant to that user.

You Have a Large Marketing Team

If you have a large marketing team and can spread them across an enterprise SEO campaign, then it’s also worth considering. 

Enterprise SEO can take up a serious number of people. Sometimes hundreds. And if you have this sort of capacity for your website, then it may be worth considering. 

Final Word 

As you see, the key difference between enterprise and traditional SEO really comes down to the scale and size of the operation.

Enterprise SEO is ten times larger than traditional SEO. It requires more people, it targets more difficult keywords, it costs more, it needs more expensive tools, and so forth. 

One isn’t better than the other, either. They’re just different. Traditional SEO is suitable for a lot of websites. Most websites don’t want to become enterprises. Maybe they’re local businesses, blogs, etc. 

However, if you dream of having a large website, a website with thousands of pages, then an enterprise SEO campaign might be worth pursuing.