What is programmatic SEO and how to do it in 2023
Programmatic SEO is a technique that allows you to generate content on a large scale using code.
In this article we are going to explain what programmatic SEO is, how it works, what benefits it has and how you can apply it to your business.
What is programmatic SEO and why is it important?
Programmatic SEO is the creation of web pages at scale using code. For example, creating 100 pages for “best hotels in town,” which is a technique used by companies like Airbnb and Expedia.
This is a relatively new concept in SEO that involves developing landing pages on a larger scale.
This method allows you to create targeted pages that aim to get more mobile, voice, and local searches on your search engine. To match the large number of Google search entries, websites that employ this technique deploy large masses of web pages that contain editable content.
It is a method commonly used by aggregator sites, to create and optimize landing pages using metadata on a large scale.
It's less about authoritative, informative, or quality content, it's more about creating high-volume, user-friendly landing pages with transactional intent.
This technique can also be viewed as a process where ranking factors and their changes are detected, the software or scripts are updated, and the changes based on the modification of ranking factors are applied and reflected on particular pages of the site.
Why is programmatic SEO important?
Because it allows you to reach the largest number of users possible by attacking many different searches. Therefore, you can increase your organic traffic, your visibility and your conversions.
Plus, it saves you time and resources by automating and scaling the content creation process.
Elements of programmatic SEO
Generally, programmatic SEO has three elements:
- Main and Modifying Terms
- Dynamic and optimized landing pages
- Automation and scalability
Main and Modifying Terms
Head terms are the most generic and popular keywords that relate to your business or niche.
For example, if you have a travel website, your main keywords might be “hotels,” “flights,” or “destinations.” These keywords have a high search volume but also high competition.
Modifiers are more specific and varied keywords that are added to main terms to create longer and more precise combinations.
For example, if you add “cheap”, “in Madrid” or “for couples” to your main terms, you get modifiers like “cheap hotels”, “flights to Madrid” or “destinations for couples”. These modifiers have a lower search volume but also less competition.
The idea of programmatic SEO is to create as many possible combinations between your main terms and your modifiers to generate thousands of web pages that cover all searches related to your business or niche.
This way you can capture the attention of users who are looking for specific solutions to their problems or needs.
Dynamic and optimized landing pages
Landing pages are the web pages that welcome users arriving from search engines. These pages must be designed to offer a good user experience and to persuade the user to perform a desired action (buy a product, book a service, subscribe to a newsletter, etc.).
In programmatic SEO, landing pages are created dynamically and optimized using code. That is, software or a script is used to automatically generate the content of the page based on the combination of head terms and modifiers that has been chosen.
For example, if the combination is “cheap hotels in Madrid”, the software will generate a page with a title, a description, an image and a list of cheap hotels in Madrid.
The content of the page should be relevant and tailored to the user's search. In addition, it should follow good SEO practices, such as including the keyword in the title, URL, headings, and text; using meta tags, internal and external links; optimizing for loading speed, responsive design, and security; etc.
Automation and scalability
The final element of programmatic SEO is automation and scalability . This means that the process of creating web pages is done automatically and can be replicated on a large scale.
That is, you don't have to manually create each web page, but rather use software or a script that does it for you. This way, you can generate thousands or millions of web pages in a short time and with little effort.
Automation and scalability allow us to fully exploit the potential of programmatic SEO. We can create web pages for any combination of head terms and modifiers that we can think of or that we detect as business opportunities.
We may update and modify the web pages based on changes in ranking factors or user preferences.
How to do programmatic SEO step by step
Now that you know what programmatic SEO is and what elements it consists of, I'm going to explain how you can do it step by step. These are the steps you should follow:
- Find your main and modifier terms
- Create your landing pages with relevant and personalized content
- Use tools and software to automate and scale the process
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Find your main and modifier terms
The first step to doing programmatic SEO is to find your main and modifier terms. To do this, you must do keyword research. This consists of analyzing what searches users make on Google related to your business or niche.
To do this research, you can use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, or Ahrefs. These tools allow you to enter a main term and get a list of keywords related to their search volume, competition, and difficulty.
You can also use other sources like Google Trends , Google Suggest, or Google Search Console to find more keyword ideas.
The goal is to find the most generic and popular head terms that relate to your business or niche, as well as the more specific and varied modifiers that can be added to those head terms to create longer, more precise combinations.
For example, if your business is a travel website, your main keywords could be “hotels,” “flights,” or “destinations.” Your modifiers could be “cheap,” “in Madrid,” “for couples,” “all-inclusive,” “with spa,” etc.
Create your landing pages with relevant and personalized content
The second step to doing programmatic SEO is to create your landing pages with relevant and personalized content .
To do this, you need to use software or a script that automatically generates the content of the page based on the combination of main and modifier terms you have chosen.
There are different types of software or scripts that you can use to do programmatic SEO. Some examples are:
- WordPress : It is the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world. It allows you to easily create websites using templates, plugins, and widgets. You can use plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math to optimize your websites for SEO .
- Webflow : This is a platform that allows you to create web pages without having to know how to program. It offers you a visual editor where you can drag and drop elements to design your web page. It also allows you to create dynamic pages using a database.
- Python : Python is a programming language that allows you to create web pages using code. You can use libraries like Flask or Django to create dynamic and scalable web applications. You can also use tools like BeautifulSoup or Scrapy to extract data from other websites and use it in your own pages.
- Others : There are other options such as Shopify, Squarespace or Wix that allow you to create websites quickly and easily. However, these options are usually more limited and less flexible than the previous ones.
Use tools and software to automate and scale the process
The third and final step to doing programmatic SEO is to use tools and software to automate and scale the process.
This means that you need to use software or a script that allows you to automatically generate thousands or millions of web pages in a short time and with little effort.
There are different types of tools and software you can use to do programmatic SEO. Some examples are:
- Screaming Frog : This is a tool that allows you to analyze your website and detect possible SEO errors or problems. It helps you optimize your structure, your metadata, your links, your loading speed, etc. It also allows you to create sitemaps and upload them to Google Search Console to facilitate the crawling and indexing of your web pages.
- Google Sheets : This is a tool that allows you to create online spreadsheets where you can store and organize your data. It helps you create lists of main and modifier terms, as well as generate keyword combinations. It also allows you to import and export data from other sources or tools.
- Python : It is a programming language that allows you to create web pages using code. It helps you create dynamic and optimized pages using libraries like Flask or Django. It also allows you to extract data from other websites and use it in your own pages using tools like BeautifulSoup or Scrapy.
- Others : There are other tools like Zapier, IFTTT or Integromat that allow you to automate tasks and processes between different applications or services. For example, you can create a workflow that automatically generates a web page every time you add a new row to your Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Written by Moises Hamui Abadi : I am an entrepreneur, founding partner of Viceversa and SoyMacho. After leading several digital businesses and advising several other businesses, I decided to form MHA Consulting, a digital marketing consultancy dedicated to growing and empowering digital businesses in more than 7 countries and generating more than 1,500 million pesos.
If you want more information on this topic or are looking for other options to profile your ideal client, you will find the solution you need at MHA. Schedule a call.