What is programmatic SEO?

Programmatic SEO involves creating landing pages at scale in order to achieve the best possible positions on search engine results pages (SERP). This process is sometimes referred to as pSEO. Each landing page follows the same template with the same elements (e.g. images, pricing, reviews, etc.). Different versions of the same page are then created using automated tools. Each page is targeted at a different keyword with low competition.

An example is Expedia, which uses this content marketing strategy on its site. Let’s assume the search term is “best hotels in [location]”. You will probably find an Expedia page among the top results.

On such pages, the location and content change, while the page layout remains the same. Expedia does not create such pages from scratch for every city, region and country. They are the result of programmatic SEO.

Standard SEO vs programmatic SEO

Standard search engine optimisation and programmatic SEO have the same goal: to generate as much organic traffic as possible. The difference lies, however, in the way the site’s visibility in search engines is increased.

Regular SEO includes a set of processes that increase a site’s visibility in search engines (such as Google). It is a long-term strategy that focuses heavily on high-quality content. Part of a standard SEO strategy is creating landing pages and blog posts focused on specific keywords. This is where the biggest difference compared with programmatic SEO lies.

In the case of standard SEO, creating unique content is a much longer process. Such content can be targeted at more competitive keywords.

Programmatic SEO is a faster process that achieves the same goal: SEO in Google. It is a method involving the creation of many landing pages with the same layout. Such pages are created from a database, templates and using automated solutions. From a single database or template, thousands of pages can be created.

Such pages involve researching specific keywords and search intent, just as is the case with standard SEO.

1. 01Common goalOrganic traffic
2. 02Standard SEOLong-term strategy
3. 03Programmatic SEOAutomation and scale
4. 04Creation processManual vs generated
5. 05Type of contentQuality vs quantity

The key difference lies in the approach to content creation and the scale of activity, with the shared goal of increasing visibility in search engines.

Advantages and disadvantages of programmatic SEO

Programmatic SEO is characterised by a different approach than standard SEO. However, pSEO (going hand in hand with a standard strategy) is a permitted method of generating more traffic and conversions.

Here are some of the most important advantages of Programmatic SEO:

• scaling pages is easy once you have created a landing page template,
• with one approach you can target many keyword categories and optimise the site for all possible search cases,
• targeting low-competition keywords and ranking them in Google increases your visibility in search results,
• the more visibility and traffic you gain from search engines, the greater the likelihood of acquiring backlinks,
• targeting audiences who are ready to buy can increase sales.

Before starting to work with pSEO, you should keep the following things in mind:

• creating a pSEO template requires coding skills,
• investing in the right no-code tools involves a higher initial cost,
• creating low-quality or duplicated content may result in a breach of Google’s Spam Policies,
• indexing all your pages can be difficult,
• programmatic SEO is still a process that requires time and testing as well as constant monitoring.

Three potential pillars of programmatic SEO

Effective strategy in programmatic SEO focuses on low-competition keywords with the highest likelihood of conversion. These keywords are then used to create high-quality landing pages containing unique content.

1. 01Low-competition keywordsHighest likelihood of conversion
2. 02High-quality pagesContaining unique content
3. 03Difficulty tools (KD)Measuring query competitiveness

An effective strategy focuses on low-competition keywords to build unique, highly ranked landing pages.

1. Low-competition keywords

Programmatic SEO focuses on keywords with low competition, in order to increase the page’s chances of achieving a higher ranking position. For example, “places to stay in Warsaw” is a low-competition keyword that services such as Expedia, TripAdvisor, etc. will target.

You can find such keywords by measuring query competitiveness using a metric known as keyword difficulty (KD). There are various online programmes and tools that enable you to search for such keywords.

2. Search intent

Search intent means the user’s main goal when visiting your website.

There are four main types of search intent:

• navigational – users are looking for a specific page (e.g. “Gmail login”),
• informational – users are trying to learn more about a given topic (e.g. “what is Search Console”),
• commercial – users are researching before making a purchase decision (e.g. “best programmatic SEO tools”),
• transactional – users are trying to carry out a specific action or make a purchase (e.g. “buying an e-commerce domain”).

Programmatic SEO typically targets keywords with transactional or commercial search intent. This means that pSEO pages work best for people at the bottom of the sales funnel, that is, people ready to make a purchase.

Meeting search intent on your landing page sufficiently early tells readers they are in the right place. This increases the likelihood of them staying on the page.

1. 01Visibility foundationGreater reach, appeal.
2. 02Maximising ROIHigher return on investment.
3. 03Low cost and efficiencyMinimal use of resources.
4. 04Scalable automationPages working on their own.

pSEO offers a scalable way to maximise return on investment in SEO with minimal effort.

3. User experience (UX)

Excellent user experience will help keep people on your site and convert them. However, automation that makes it possible to scale a landing page can adversely affect UX.

This means you need fast-loading pages with unique, useful content on each one. For example, the largest review sites have thousands of pages with the same layout. These pages contain a lot of information. Even so, all their elements load instantly and everything works smoothly. This has a positive impact on user experience.

You can create similar landing pages using pSEO. However, you must remember to maintain a high quality standard.

Use automated tools to create landing pages. These should include content written by people (or at least carefully edited by them). Using a landing page template containing the same AI-generated text copy can lead to penalties and ranking drops due to low-quality content.

This can be avoided by creating eye-catching design and writing unique copy.

5 stages of implementing a Programmatic SEO strategy

An effective programmatic SEO process starts with researching the target audience and competitors. Next, you should choose long-tail keywords that are relevant to your business.

Once you know your keywords, create a template for your landing page. Also make sure you pay attention to user experience to encourage visitors to convert (make a purchase, etc.).

Here is how to do it:

1. Research your niche and competition

Research your niche to determine the format of the landing pages you want to create. Also check what your competitors are doing to get more ideas.

First of all, think about what your audience is looking for, for example:

• different examples of how your product or service can be used,
• locations where you work,
• the integration options available,
• top 10 lists of elements related to your niche,
• templates you can create.

To determine what to focus on, create a list of every relevant topic you will cover. It is a good idea to organise everything in a spreadsheet. Such top-level topics will become the main topics.

Think not only about topics, but also about your competition. For example, in the travel industry for English-language queries, competitors include sites such as Tripadvisor and Expedia. In the property sector, it is worth looking at OtoDom or foreign sites like Zillow or Realtor.com. These are the sites that show an interesting creative vision in the context of programmatic SEO.

Note down the competitors you know, as well as the formats and layouts of their landing pages. They can help and provide inspiration for your own ideas. Once you have done this, expand your network.

2. Find your main topics and modifiers

Main topics are the top-level keyword categories you will target. Modifiers turn main topics into long-tail keywords. These keywords are very specific queries with fairly low search volume.

For example, you might choose a search term relevant to your niche (main topic). Then add a specific location that people are searching for (modifier).

For example, TripAdvisor uses location-based modifiers. The two most popular main topics are “best hotels” and “best holiday rentals”. Another is “things to do”.

In this example, we are dealing with a travel site, so the modifier focuses on the place “in [location]”. For example, “things to do in Wrocław”.

You can also add a secondary modifier to narrow the search further, e.g. “things to do in Wrocław with children”.

Because it is a more specific search term, secondary landing pages may have a slightly different layout compared with the primary modifiers. You can also leave them unchanged. It depends on you.

Here are a few additional pSEO examples when it comes to main topics and modifiers:

• Zapier: “how to connect [app] and [app]”,
• Yelp: “best restaurants in [location]”,
• Zillow: “[location] homes for sale”,
• Canva: “[graphic format] design template”.

3. Choose your long-tail keywords

Combining your chosen main topics and modifiers will allow you to create a large list of long-tail keywords. You should take search intent into account, as well as phrases that are repeatable across landing pages. This can be made easier by using various online tools.

Once you have selected a group of long-tail keywords with the right search intent, add them to your spreadsheet. You can then reduce the list by asking the following questions:

• Can I create hundreds of options using these keywords?
• Will my content match the search intent?
• Will my content be good enough to rank well for these terms?
• Will these landing pages bring me traffic?
• Will these landing pages have a positive impact on my business?

If the answer to all the questions is “yes”, then these are the right keywords. If not all answers are “yes” for a given keyword, then you should reject it or use it for other purposes, because it is not suitable for pSEO.

4. Create a template for your landing page

You need one template to create thousands of copies of the same landing page. In that case, design and create one page to use as the foundation for a programmatic SEO project.

The first element you need to think about carefully is the content. Each landing page will probably contain the same elements (e.g. graphics, lists, reviews, etc.), but these pages cannot convey the same information if you do not want them to receive a Google penalty.

Choose the layout of your landing page based on the keywords. Some pages focus more on visual elements, while text dominates in others. The choice is, of course, yours and depends on your offer and the type of landing page you are creating.

5. Take care of user experience (UX)

After creating landing pages, it is not enough just to optimise them for SEO. They must also meet a range of UX standards to convince people to convert. Here are the five most important UX standards for programmatic SEO pages.

Make sure the design is attractive

You need a landing page that catches the eye and attention of the visitor. It does not, however, need to be complicated. For example, Zapier uses simple graphics showing how easy it is to connect apps using this tool.

The design is based on large amounts of white space, which draws attention to the “Connect My Apps” button. The secondary colours also focus the visitor’s attention on the written content.

Make sure the content meets audience expectations

Your copywriting must persuade people to convert. This means that the content of the landing page must match the audience’s expectations. When they land on a page about renting or selling property, they expect a list of houses, etc.

If the content does not meet expectations, the user may leave the page. If this happens often, it may negatively affect your rankings.

Improve AI-generated content yourself

If you use an AI-powered copywriting tool, it is important to pay attention to whether each page is valuable and whether it is not, by any chance, a copy of other pages. Making your own edits also helps you maintain the tone characteristic of your brand.

If you do not take care of your own revisions and the pages are deemed unhelpful or automatically generated, Google will mark them as spam.

Interesting examples are TripAdvisor and Yelp. Instead of creating the content themselves, they encourage businesses to create their profiles. These services then encourage customers to write reviews. As a result, each landing page contains extensive fragments of unique content.

Use one clear call to action

Depending on the layout and style of your site, it is a good idea to stick to one visible call to action (CTA) on each page. When you satisfy users with your offer, a single button can draw their attention to the conversion stage.

If your site layout includes many different elements (e.g. markets, travel pages), make sure that each one has its own CTA.

Monitor your pages after publication

The work does not end once the landing pages are published. Monitoring them after publication is important in order to meet UX standards and encourage visitors to convert. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to find tools online for auditing pages and fixing various errors.

Increase your visibility online through programmatic SEO

We already know how important SEO is for the success of a given business online and in digital marketing. Using it helps companies reach a larger audience and make their websites more attractive to potential customers and search engines.

Programmatic SEO is a tool that ensures you achieve maximum value, namely return on investment. It is a way of assessing the effectiveness of an investment by showing different types of benefits.

If you care about the return on your SEO investment, the pSEO approach can be very profitable. The entire optimisation requires a certain amount of money, but thanks to programmatic SEO it is minimal. Very few people are involved in pSEO activities. Once the landing pages have been created, practically no major human action is required.