Programmatic SEO
Creating large numbers of targeted pages automatically using templates and data sets.
Programmatic SEO is the strategy of creating hundreds or thousands of web pages at scale using templates and data. Instead of manually writing each page, you create a template and populate it with data from a database, API, or spreadsheet.
Examples are everywhere: Zillow has millions of pages for individual properties, Yelp has pages for every business in every city, and TripAdvisor has pages for hotels in every destination. These are all programmatic SEO at work.
The key to successful programmatic SEO is providing genuine value. Each page needs unique, useful content — not just the same template with swapped city names. Google's helpful content update specifically targets low-quality programmatic pages that exist only for SEO.
Common programmatic SEO patterns: [keyword] + [location] pages, comparison pages, statistics pages, glossary pages (like the one you're reading!), and tool landing pages. The best ones combine template structure with unique data or insights for each page.
Why It Matters for SEO
Programmatic SEO lets you capture long-tail search traffic at scale. While each individual page might get small traffic, thousands of pages add up to significant organic traffic. It's how many of the largest sites on the web built their organic presence.