Introduction
Mason Yu, Marketing Lead at Marketer Hire and former programmatic SEO specialist at ClickUp, shares his battle-tested approach to programmatic SEO in this episode of Coach By TripleDart.
His results speak for themselves: one subfolder went from 15K to 200K traffic, while another project generated 75 additional conversions in just four months.
But programmatic SEO isn't just about publishing tons of pages. It's also about creating a systematic process that delivers hyper-personalized content at scale. And this guide is here to take our programmatic SEO knowledge up by several notches.
What Is Programmatic SEO?
Let's start with the basics.
Programmatic SEO is an operational process where you publish a large number of hyper-personalized pages that all target similar intent. Notice the emphasis on "operational process"—it's not a strategy in itself, but rather a way to execute your broader SEO strategy.
Think of WalletHub's approach to Delta miles. They created individual pages for "how much are [X] Delta miles worth" for every increment from 1,000 to 100,000 miles. When someone searches for exactly "how much are 89,000 Delta miles worth," they land on a page that answers their exact query and not a more general article about calculating miles.
That's the power of programmatic SEO: answering specific queries with precision as opposed to creating one-size-fits-all content.
Busting Common Programmatic SEO Myths
Myth #1: Programmatic SEO is spam
When done right, programmatic SEO can actually serve users better than traditional content. Would you rather land on a massive article about calculating miles or a page that tells you exactly what your 89,000 miles are worth? The latter answers your query directly, which is exactly what good SEO should do.
Myth #2: Programmatic SEO equals AI content
Starting with AI can turn counterproductive. Instead, begin by thinking like an engineer. Consider all the edge cases and grammatical challenges you'll face with dynamic variables. Only after understanding these constraints should you layer in AI for flexibility.
Myth #3: But does it actually convert?
Absolutely. Programmatic SEO often converts better than traditional content because it's more personalized. It's like sending personalized emails versus generic blasts—the targeted approach always wins. One page in a recent launch achieved an 18% conversion rate!
Is Your Company Ready for Programmatic SEO?
Before diving in, evaluate your readiness across three key areas:
1. Risk Tolerance
Programmatic SEO requires significant upfront investment in time and resources. You need to be comfortable with testing, potential content errors, and waiting months for results. It’s almost like a product launch.
2. Current SEO Foundation
You need solid SEO fundamentals first. Can you rank and index pages effectively? Do you understand your website's performance metrics? If your traditional SEO isn't working, programmatic SEO won't magically fix it.
3. Market Potential
This is where keyword research becomes crucial. You need enough search volume across your keyword patterns to justify the effort.
Keyword Research for Programmatic SEO
Traditional keyword research focuses on individual terms. Programmatic SEO research focuses on patterns—sets of keywords that follow similar structures.
Common Keyword Patterns:
- Location-based: "[Tool] in [City/State]"
- Jobs-to-be-done: "Use [Tool] for [Task]"
- Industry-specific: "[Tool] for [Industry]"
- Specifications: "Ideal [specification] for [use case]"
Finding Your Keyword Sets
Use tools like SEMrush's Keyword Magic Tool or Ahrefs' Keyword Explorer with phrase match to find variants. Don't ignore zero-volume keywords—they're often gems that other tools miss. Also, leverage auto-suggest and your own search console data.
The goal is to exhaust every possible variant within your chosen keyword pattern.
The Three Essential Artifacts for Programmatic SEO
1. Page Template
Start with a simple Google Doc outlining your page structure. Identify what's static (hardcoded elements like navigation), what's dynamic (replaceable content), and what requires AI. This becomes your blueprint for consistency across thousands of pages.
2. Content Database
Everything lives in a spreadsheet. Your keyword research, page template elements, and any internal data get combined here. You'll become best friends with formulas—IF statements, REGEX matches, text concatenation.
3. AI Prompts
For each AI element in your template, create detailed prompts with examples, guidelines, and specific formatting requirements. Test these on your most edge-case keywords to ensure they work across your entire set.
The Publishing Process
Once your content is ready, you need to get it live. The easiest DIY approach uses tools like Airtable to Whalesync to Webflow, or WP import/export plugins for WordPress. If you have engineering support, they can work with CSV files to create static sites.
Always test small batches first. Don't waste budget on 1,000 pages only to discover a formatting error.
What to Expect After Launch
Results take time. Here's the typical progression:
1. Indexation (First Priority)
Aim for 75-80% of pages to be indexed. Some won't make it and that's normal. Google might see some as duplicate or low-traffic.
2. Rankings and Traffic
This can take weeks to months. Large companies with strong domain authority might see results in weeks, while smaller sites could wait several months.
3. Conversions
Often, the most impressive metric. Highly targeted pages frequently convert better than broad content, even with lower traffic volumes.
Case Examples: Real-life Results
ClickUp's Success
Starting with 23 test pages that ranked on page one, the team eventually scaled to 10,000+ pages. One subfolder grew from 15K to 200K traffic, with conversions increasing even more due to better targeting.
Modash's Growth
This B2B influencer platform used internal product data to create location-based influencer pages, resulting in 220,000 additional traffic and big conversion boosts.
Marketer Hire's Efficiency
With minimal SEO investment, 2,000 programmatic pages generated 75 additional conversions in four months, surpassing their entire blog's performance.
Common Pitfalls
1. Duplicate Content Concerns
Don't worry about it if you're serving different intents. WalletHub's pages are 90% identical but rank well because they answer different queries. Focus on value over uniqueness.
2. Internal Linking Strategy
Create logical linking patterns. California city pages link to other California cities, while Texas pages link within Texas. Use formulas to automate this process in your spreadsheet.
3. Content Updates
Plan for maintenance. Revisit your keyword sets every six months, redirect non-performing pages, and refresh AI content for targeted page sets when needed.
Conclusion
Programmatic SEO isn't about gaming the system. It's about serving users better through precision and scale. When someone searches for exactly what you offer, you should have a page that answers their exact query.
The initial investment is high, but the payoff can be transformative. You're not just creating content; you're building a scalable system that can generate thousands of targeted pages as efficiently as creating ten.
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