---
aliases: ["Programmatic SEO"]
tags: [pm-skills, skill]
skill: programmatic-seo
description: "Plan a programmatic SEO strategy — generate many ranking pages from a data set and a template. Use when asked about pSEO, scaling content with templates/data, building [X] for [Y] pages, or capturing long-tail search at scale. Produces the head-term + modifier model, the page template and data schema, a quality/thin-content guardrail, and an indexation plan — pages worth ranking, not doorway spam."
---

# Programmatic SEO Skill

Programmatic SEO turns a data set + a template into hundreds or thousands of pages that each target a specific
long-tail query ("best [tool] for [use case]", "[city] [service]"). Done well it captures huge long-tail
demand; done badly it's thin doorway spam that gets deindexed. This skill plans the *good* version — real
data, real value per page, and the guardrails to stay on the right side of that line.

## Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

- **The business & the money pages** — what you sell and what these pages should drive (signups, leads).
- **The pattern** — the head term + the modifiers (e.g. `[integration] + alternatives`, `[role] + templates`).
- **The data** — what data set powers the pages, and where it comes from (is it real and maintained?).
- **Competition & intent** — who ranks now and what the searcher actually wants on the page.

## Output Format

### Programmatic SEO plan: [pattern]

**1. The page model** — head term × modifier(s) → URL pattern, and the realistic page count. Prioritise the modifier sets with real search volume and commercial/informational intent.

**2. Page template** — the sections every page has, and *what makes each page genuinely useful* (unique data, comparisons, specifics) — not just swapped keywords. Show the template with data placeholders.

**3. Data schema** — the fields each page needs, the source, and how it stays fresh. (No data = thin page.)

**4. Quality guardrail** — the bar a page must clear to be published (enough unique value, real data, intent match). Pages that can't clear it shouldn't exist. How to avoid near-duplicate/thin pages.

**5. Internal linking & indexation** — hub/spoke linking, sitemaps, and a phased rollout (publish a quality batch, confirm it indexes and ranks, then scale) rather than dumping 5,000 pages day one.

**6. Measurement** — what to watch (indexed %, rankings, traffic, conversion) and the kill criterion for pages that never rank.

## Quality Checks

- [ ] The page pattern targets real long-tail demand with clear intent, not just keyword permutations
- [ ] Each page has a source of *unique value* (real data/comparison), not just swapped words
- [ ] A thin-content guardrail defines the bar to publish — and what to exclude
- [ ] Rollout is phased (validate a batch before scaling) with an indexation plan
- [ ] Internal linking and measurement (incl. a kill criterion) are specified

## Anti-Patterns

- [ ] Do not generate near-duplicate pages that differ only by a swapped keyword — that's doorway spam
- [ ] Do not publish without real, maintained data behind each page
- [ ] Do not dump thousands of pages at once — phase it and watch indexation
- [ ] Do not ignore search intent — a page that doesn't answer the query won't rank or convert
- [ ] Do not skip the kill criterion — unmaintained thin pages become a sitewide quality drag

## Based On

Programmatic SEO practice (templated data-driven pages, intent + unique value, Google's thin-content/helpful-content guidance).

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