Imagine creating one page and getting 100 visitors. Now imagine creating 1,000 pages and getting 100,000 visitors. That’s the magic of programmatic SEO, and you don’t need to be a tech genius to make it work.
Also Read: The Ultimate Technical SEO Checklist for SaaS Websites
What Is Programmatic SEO? (Explained Simply)
Programmatic SEO means creating lots of web pages automatically using templates and data. Instead of writing each page by hand, you build a system that does the work for you.
Think about it like this: If you wanted to create pages for “best restaurants in New York,” “best restaurants in Los Angeles,” and “best restaurants in Chicago,” you wouldn’t write three separate pages from scratch. You’d create one template that says “best restaurants in [CITY]” and fill in different cities automatically.
Real-World Example
TripAdvisor & Programmatic SEO
When you search for “things to do in Miami” or
“things to do in London” , you’ll often see TripAdvisor at the top.
They don’t have writers creating each city page manually.
They use programmatic SEO to automatically generate millions of pages
for different cities around the world.
Why Should You Care About Programmatic SEO? Here’s the honest truth: Writing blog posts one by one is slow and expensive. If you want to rank for thousands of keywords, you’d need years and a huge budget.
Programmatic SEO solves this problem by letting you:
Create content faster: Once your system is set up, making 100 new pages takes almost the same time as making 10 pages.
Key Benefit
Target More Keywords
You can rank for thousands of specific search terms that your
customers are already using — instead of competing for just a few high-competition keywords.
Save money: Instead of paying writers for hundreds of individual articles, you build one template and reuse it.
High-Intent Traffic
Get Visitors Who Are Ready to Buy
People searching for specific queries like
“best email tool for small business” are much closer to making a
purchase than someone casually searching for “email tools” .
How Big Companies Use Programmatic SEO Let’s look at some companies you already know:
Yelp :
Zapier: This tool connects different apps. They have pages for “Connect Google Sheets to Slack,” “Connect Gmail to Trello,” and thousands of other combinations. Each page follows the same template but targets different keywords.
Zillow:
Wise (Money Transfer Service): They have pages for every currency conversion you can imagine, such as “USD to EUR,” “GBP to JPY,” “CAD to AUD.” Same template, different data.
The Strategy That Actually Works: Targeting Your Competitors One of the smartest ways to use programmatic SEO is by targeting your competitor’s customers. Here’s how it works:
When someone searches for “alternatives to [competitor name]” or “[your product] vs [competitor],” they’re already looking for a solution. They’re comparing options right now.
Here’s what you do:
Make a list of all your competitors (even the small ones)
Create pages like “Alternatives to Competitor A,” “Alternatives to Competitor B,” etc.
Create comparison pages like “Your Product vs Competitor A,” “Your Product vs Competitor B.”
Make sure your product looks good on these pages (but be honest!)
Why This Works
These people are ready to buy. They’re not just browsing — they’re actively
comparing tools and making decisions.
Step-by-Step: How to Actually Do Programmatic SEO Step 1: Find Your Keywords You need keywords that follow a pattern. Look for searches where people use the same words but swap one part.
Examples
“Best [type of business] in [city].”
“[product A] vs [product B]”
“How to [action] in [location].”
“[service] for [industry].”
Use free tools like Google’s search suggestions. Just type in your main keyword and see what Google suggests. Those suggestions are real searches people make.
Step 2: Collect Your Data You need information to fill your pages. This could be:
List of cities or locations
List of competitors
Product features and prices
Customer reviews
Statistics or numbers
Pro Tip
You can use spreadsheets (like Google Sheets) to organize everything.
Create columns for each piece of information you need.
Example for competitor pages:
Column 1: Competitor Name
Column 2: Competitor Price
Column 3: Main Features
Column 4: Your Product’s Advantages
Step 3: Create Your Template This is the page design that will be reused. It should include:
A clear headline: “Top Alternatives to [Competitor Name]” or “Best [Service] in [City]”
Helpful Content
Don’t just list information. Explain why it matters.
Help people make decisions.
Call to action: What do you want visitors to do? Sign up? Try your product? Make it clear.
Your Brand Design
The pages should look like they belong to your website,
not like robot-generated spam.
Step 4: Use Simple Tools to Build Pages You don’t need to be a programmer. Modern tools make this easy:
For Beginners
Use AI coding assistants like Cursor or ChatGPT to help build your pages
Use platforms like Webflow or WordPress with plugins
Some tools like Airtable can connect to website builders
The AI approach (easiest): Tell ChatGPT or Claude exactly what you want. For example: “I need to create 50 pages comparing my email tool to different competitors. Each page should have a comparison table, feature list, and pricing.”
Step 5: Get Your Pages Noticed by Google Creating pages isn’t enough—Google needs to find them and rank them.
Submit your sitemap: This is like giving Google a map of all your pages. You can do this in Google Search Console (it’s free)
Add Internal Links
Link to your new pages from your main website
Put them in your footer
Create a “Comparisons” section in your menu
Make pages valuable: Google ranks helpful pages higher. Don’t create junk just to have more pages. Each page should actually help someone.
Be patient: It takes Google time to find and rank new pages. Usually, a few weeks to a few months.
Common Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them) Based on discussions from real business owners on platforms like Reddit, here are the mistakes people make:
Mistake 1: Creating Too Many Similar Pages The problem: Google sees them as “duplicate content” and doesn’t rank any of them well.
The Solution
Make each page unique by adding different data, images, examples, or sections.
Don’t just change one word and call it a new page.
Mistake 2: Making Low-Quality Pages One Google expert called programmatic SEO “a fancy banner for spam” when it’s done poorly. Many sites create thousands of thin, unhelpful pages just to get traffic.
The Solution
Every page should actually help someone. Ask yourself:
“Would I find this page useful if I was searching for this information?”
Mistake 3: Focusing Only on Quantity Some people think: “More pages = more traffic.” That’s not always true.
The Solution
Start small. Create 50-100 really good pages first. See if they rank and get traffic. Then expand.
Mistake 4: Ignoring Page Speed and Mobile If your pages load slowly or look bad on phones, people leave immediately.
The Solution
Test your pages on mobile devices. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights (free tool) to check loading speed.
Mistake 5: Not Updating Information If your pages have old prices, outdated information, or broken links, people won’t trust you.
The Solution
Set a reminder to review and update your pages every few months.
Is Programmatic SEO Right for Your Business? Programmatic SEO works best when:
✅ You have lots of similar information (products, locations, services)
✅ People search for variations of the same thing
✅ Your keywords follow patterns
✅ You’re selling something online (SaaS, ecommerce, services)
Programmatic SEO might NOT work if:
❌ You only have a few products or services
❌ Your business is very specialized or unique
❌ You don’t have much data to work with
❌ You’re just starting and have no website traffic yet
The Honest Truth About Results Many people expect instant results. That’s not realistic.
Timeline You Should Expect
Week 1-2: Build your template and first batch of pages
Week 3-4: Submit to Google, start getting indexed
Month 2-3: Pages start appearing in search results (usually on page 2-5)
Month 4-6: If pages are good, they move up in rankings
Month 6+: Steady traffic starts coming in
The advantage is that once pages rank, they keep bringing traffic without you doing more work.
Tools You’ll Need (Free and Paid) For keyword research:
Google Search (free—just look at suggestions)
Ubersuggest (free version available)
Answer the Public (free)
For Organizing Data
Google Sheets (free)
Airtable (free for basic use)
For building pages:
WordPress with plugins (free to start)
Webflow (paid but easier)
AI coding tools like Cursor (paid)
For Checking Results
Google Search Console (free)
Google Analytics (free)
Real Success Story: Stealing Competitor Traffic Let’s say you have an email marketing tool. Your bigger competitors are MailChimp, Constant Contact, and AWeber.
Here’s What You Do
“Best MailChimp Alternatives”
“YourTool vs MailChimp”
“Best Constant Contact Alternatives”
“YourTool vs Constant Contact”
And so on for all competitors…
On each page, you:
List several alternatives (including yours)
Honestly compare features
Highlight where your tool is better (maybe it’s cheaper, easier to use, or has better support)
Include real reviews or testimonials
When people search for these terms, they find your page. Even if they’re looking for MailChimp alternatives, they discover your product.
Frequently Asked Questions
Isn’t this just spam?
It can be if done wrong. The key is making pages that genuinely help people. If someone lands on your page and finds useful information, it’s not spam—it’s helpful content that happens to be created efficiently.
How many pages should I start with?
Start with 20-50 pages. This is enough to test if your strategy works without overwhelming you. If those pages get traffic and rank well, then create more.
Do I need to know how to code?
Not anymore! AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor can write code for you. Just describe what you want in plain English. Many business owners with zero coding experience are successfully doing this.
Will Google penalize my site?
Only if you create low-quality, unhelpful pages. Google specifically targets “scaled content abuse,” which means creating tons of pages with no value. If your pages help users, you’re fine.
How long does it take to see results?
Typically 2-6 months before you see meaningful traffic. SEO is a long-term strategy. The good news is that once pages rank, they can bring traffic for years.
Can I do this for a local business?
Absolutely! Create pages for different services in different neighborhoods. Example: “Plumber in Downtown Miami,” “Plumber in Coral Gables,” “Emergency Plumber in South Beach,” etc.
What if my competitors are doing the same thing?
Make your pages better! Add more helpful information, better design, customer reviews, videos, or tools. Quality beats quantity when everyone is doing the same strategy.
How do I know which keywords to target?
Look at what people are already searching. Use Google’s autocomplete, check forums like Reddit for questions people ask, and see what keywords your competitors rank for.
Can I update pages after creating them?
Yes! In fact, you should. Update prices, add new features, refresh outdated information. This helps maintain rankings and shows Google your content is current.
What’s the biggest mistake people make?
Creating thousands of pages all at once without testing. Start small, see what works, then scale up. Also, making pages that are too similar to each other—Google won’t rank duplicate content.
Your Action Plan (What to Do Right Now) If you want to try programmatic SEO, here’s your simple action plan:
This week:
Pick one topic where you can create multiple similar pages
List out 20-30 keyword variations
Gather the data you need for those pages
Next week:
Create a simple template for your pages
Make your first 5 pages manually to test
See if the template works and makes sense
Following Weeks
Use AI tools or simple automation to create the remaining pages
Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console
Share links on social media and your email list
After 1 month:
Check which pages are getting traffic
Improve the pages that are performing well
Fix or remove pages that aren’t working
Final Thoughts Programmatic SEO isn’t a magic button that instantly brings traffic. It’s a smart strategy that lets you compete with bigger companies by creating helpful content at scale.
The key is balance: use automation to save time, but don’t sacrifice quality. Every page should help a real person solve a real problem.
Start small, test what works, and grow from there. Many successful businesses started with just 50 programmatic pages and grew to thousands over time.
Remember: The best time to start was months ago. The second-best time is now. While you’re thinking about it, your competitors might already be building their pages and stealing your potential customers.
Good luck! You’ve got this.
