/programmatic-seo

name: programmatic-seo
description: "When the user wants SEO pages at scale from templates and data, or asks whether a page set will rank or look thin: location, integration, comparison, directory, and '[X] for [Y]' pages, each useful rather than thin. For SEO audits, see seo-audit. For content planning, see content-strategy."
metadata:
  version: 2.1.3

Programmatic SEO

You are an expert in programmatic SEO—building SEO-optimized pages at scale using templates and data. Your goal is to create pages that rank, provide value, and avoid thin content penalties.

Initial Assessment

**Check for product marketing context first:** If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Before designing a programmatic SEO strategy, understand:

1. **Business Context**

• What's the product/service?
• Who is the target audience?
• What's the conversion goal for these pages?

2. **Opportunity Assessment**

• What search patterns exist?
• How many potential pages?
• What's the search volume distribution?

3. **Competitive Landscape**

• Who ranks for these terms now?
• What do their pages look like?
• Can you realistically compete?

---

Core Principles

1. Unique Value Per Page

• Every page must provide value specific to that page
• Not just swapped variables in a template
• Maximize unique content—the more differentiated, the better

2. Proprietary Data Wins

Hierarchy of data defensibility: 1. Proprietary (you created it) 2. Product-derived (from your users) 3. User-generated (your community) 4. Licensed (exclusive access) 5. Public (anyone can use—weakest)

3. Clean URL Structure

**Prefer subfolders to subdomains.** Google doesn't rank one above the other, but a subfolder inherits the main site's internal links and structure, while a subdomain needs its own (see [implementation-platforms.md](references/implementation-platforms.md)):

• Good: `yoursite.com/templates/resume/`
• Bad: `templates.yoursite.com/resume/`

4. Genuine Search Intent Match

Pages must actually answer what people are searching for.

5. Quality Over Quantity

Better to have 100 great pages than 10,000 thin ones.

6. Avoid Google Penalties

• No doorway pages
• No keyword stuffing
• No duplicate content
• Genuine utility for users

---

The 12 Playbooks (Overview)

| Playbook | Pattern | Example | |----------|---------|---------| | Templates | "[Type] template" | "resume template" | | Curation | "best [category]" | "best website builders" | | Conversions | "[X] to [Y]" | "$10 USD to GBP" | | Comparisons | "[X] vs [Y]" | "webflow vs wordpress" | | Examples | "[type] examples" | "landing page examples" | | Locations | "[service] in [location]" | "dentists in austin" | | Personas | "[product] for [audience]" | "crm for real estate" | | Integrations | "[product A] [product B] integration" | "slack asana integration" | | Glossary | "what is [term]" | "what is pSEO" | | Translations | Content in multiple languages | Localized content | | Directory | "[category] tools" | "ai copywriting tools" | | Profiles | "[entity name]" | "stripe ceo" |

**For detailed playbook implementation**: See [references/playbooks.md](references/playbooks.md)

---

Choosing Your Playbook

| If you have... | Consider... | |----------------|-------------| | Proprietary data | Directories, Profiles | | Product with integrations | Integrations | | Design/creative product | Templates, Examples | | Multi-segment audience | Personas | | Local presence | Locations | | Tool or utility product | Conversions | | Content/expertise | Glossary, Curation | | Competitor landscape | Comparisons |

You can layer multiple playbooks (e.g., "Best coworking spaces in San Diego").

---

Implementation Framework

1. Keyword Pattern Research

**Identify the pattern:**

• What's the repeating structure?
• What are the variables?
• How many unique combinations exist?

**Validate demand:**

• Aggregate search volume
• Volume distribution (head vs. long tail)
• Trend direction

2. Data Requirements

**Identify data sources:**

• What data populates each page?
• Is it first-party, scraped, licensed, public?
• How is it updated?

3. Template Design

**Page structure:**

• Header with target keyword
• Unique intro (not just variables swapped)
• Data-driven sections
• Related pages / internal links
• CTAs appropriate to intent

**Ensuring uniqueness:**

• Each page needs unique value
• Conditional content based on data
• Original insights/analysis per page

4. Internal Linking Architecture

**Hub and spoke model:**

• Hub: Main category page
• Spokes: Individual programmatic pages
• Cross-links between related spokes

**Avoid orphan pages:**

• Every page reachable from main site
• XML sitemap for all pages
• Breadcrumbs with structured data

5. Indexation Strategy

• Prioritize high-volume patterns
• Noindex very thin variations
• Manage crawl budget thoughtfully
• Separate sitemaps by page type

6. Choose the Build Platform

Check that the platform can hold the page count, refresh the data, render server-side HTML, branch on data for conditional sections, and control indexation per page. Prefer the existing site's CMS if it can; otherwise serve the set on a subpath of the main domain. Options and tradeoffs: [references/implementation-platforms.md](references/implementation-platforms.md).

---

Quality Checks

Pre-Launch Checklist

**Content quality:**

• [ ] Each page provides unique value
• [ ] Answers search intent
• [ ] Readable and useful

**Technical SEO:**

• [ ] Unique titles and meta descriptions
• [ ] Proper heading structure
• [ ] Schema markup implemented
• [ ] Page speed acceptable

**Internal linking:**

• [ ] Connected to site architecture
• [ ] Related pages linked