programmatic-seo

SKILL.md

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:

Business Context

What's the product/service?

Who is the target audience?

What's the conversion goal for these pages?

Opportunity Assessment

What search patterns exist?

How many potential pages?

What's the search volume distribution?

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:

Proprietary (you created it)

Product-derived (from your users)

User-generated (your community)

Licensed (exclusive access)

Public (anyone can use—weakest)

3. Clean URL Structure

Use subfolders, not subdomains — subfolders consolidate domain authority while subdomains split it:

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

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

What keyword patterns are you targeting?

What data do you have (or can acquire)?

How many pages are you planning?

What does your site authority look like?

Who currently ranks for these terms?

What's your technical stack?

Related Skills

seo-audit: For auditing programmatic pages after launch

schema: For adding structured data

site-architecture: For page hierarchy, URL structure, and internal linking

competitors: For comparison page frameworks

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