programmatic-seo

What this skill does

# 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 `.claude/product-marketing-context.md` exists, 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
**Always use subfolders, not subdomains**:
- 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" |

---

## 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

---

## 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
- [ ] No orphan pages

**Indexation:**
- [ ] In XML sitemap
- [ ] Crawlable
- [ ] No conflicting noindex

### Post-Launch Monitoring

Track: Indexation rate, Rankings, Traffic, Engagement, Conversion

Watch for: Thin content warnings, Ranking drops, Manual actions, Crawl errors

---

## Common Mistakes

- **Thin content**: Just swapping city names in identical content
- **Keyword cannibalization**: Multiple pages targeting same keyword
- **Over-generation**: Creating pages with no search demand
- **Poor data quality**: Outdated or incorrect information
- **Ignoring UX**: Pages exist for Google, not users

---

## Output Format

### Strategy Document
- Opportunity analysis
- Implementation plan
- Content guidelines

### Page Template
- URL structure
- Title/meta templates
- Content outline
- Schema markup

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. What keyword patterns are you targeting?
2. What data do you have (or can acquire)?
3. How many pages are you planning?
4. What does your site authority look like?
5. Who currently ranks for these terms?
6. What's your technical stack?

---

## Related Skills

- **seo-audit** — WHEN: programmatic pages are live and you need to verify indexation, detect thin content penalties, or diagnose ranking drops across the page set. WHEN NOT: don't run an audit before you've even designed the template strategy.
- **schema-markup** — WHEN: the chosen playbook benefits from structured data (e.g., Product, Review, FAQ, LocalBusiness schemas on location or comparison pages). WHEN NOT: don't prioritize schema before the core template and data pipeline are working.
- **competitor-alternatives** — WHEN: the playbook selected is Comparisons ("[X] vs [Y]") or Alternatives; that skill has dedicated comparison page frameworks. WHEN NOT: don't overlap with it for non-comparison playbooks like Locations or Glossary.
- **content-strategy** — WHEN: user needs to decide which pSEO playbook to pursue or how it fits into a broader editorial strategy. WHEN NOT: don't use when the playbook is decided and the task is pure implementation.
- **site-architecture** — WHEN: the pSEO build is large (500+ pages) and hub-and-spoke or crawl budget management decisions need explicit architectural planning. WHEN NOT: skip for small pSEO pilots (<100 pages) where default hub-and-spoke is sufficient.
- **marketing-context** — WHEN: always check `.claude/product-marketing-context.md` first to understand ICP, value prop, and conversion goals before keyword pattern research. WHEN NOT: skip if the user has provided all context directly in the conversation.

---

## Communication

All programmatic SEO output follows this quality standard:
- Lead with the **Opportunity Analysis** — estimated page count, aggregate search volume, and data source feasibility
- Strategy documents use the **Strategy → Template → Checklist** structure consistently
- Every playbook recommendation is paired with a real-world example and a data source suggestion
- Call out thin-content risk explicitly when the data source is public/scraped
- Pre-launch checklists are always included before any "go build it" instruction
- Post-launch monitoring metrics are defined