Definition Programmatic-SEO
Programmatic SEO could be defined as “creating relevant content for users in bulk”.
At first glance, it might seem like AI content or low-quality, automated content. In fact, most content for programmatic SEO is created automatically.
But provided that the quality is right, this content is by no means bad.
Programmatic SEO is also not a newfangled term that has suddenly popped up and is making a splash in the SEO world. In fact, programmatic SEO has been practiced for a long time, and entire companies are based on this principle.
This type of page creation refers to pages like:
domain.de/werkstatt-in-berlin/
domain.de/steuerberater-kmu/
domain.de/steuerberater-konzern/
etc.
Here, thematically similar subpages are repeatedly created, which, however, provide different information for the user.
For IT start-ups in particular, this represents a cost-effective way of scaling relatively early.
Well-designed landing pages in large quantities can lead to very high visitor flows and, as a result, more customer inquiries.
Successful examples of programmatic SEO
Freshbooks
This is a start-up from the USA that specializes in accounting software.
You have created various templates for invoices here for a wide variety of industries. They use this to serve search queries such as “invoice template for hotels”.
Booking.com
Another good example is booking.com.
Although Booking is no longer a start-up, it has grown steadily through programmatic SEO.
Example: CATEGORY hotel in city → 3 star hotel in Berlin
Google currently has almost 60,000 search results indexed, i.e. landing pages from booking.com that were built using programmatic SEO.
And that only for the 3-star hotel category.
Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor should be familiar to anyone who has ever searched for a recommendation abroad.
Tripadvisor has only gotten so big thanks to programmatic SEO, among other things.
Example: Best KEYWORD in CITY → Best Sushi Restaurant in Barcelona
All such search queries have their own landing pages on Tripadvisor. These pages were not all created manually, but cleverly automated by programmatic SEO.
Cost savings through programmatic SEO
If Booking were to manually create the content for these almost 60,000 pages, the costs would be immense. Estimating the costs per page at 800 to 1,000 euros, the expenditure for 3-star hotels alone amounts to 48,000,000 to 60,000,000 euros worldwide.
With a programmatic SEO approach, however, the costs would be manageable. The following steps would be necessary for this:
- Creation of a master landing page and integration of variables.
- Enrichment of a database with relevant information.
- Creation and publication of all landing pages.
- This makes it clear that cost reduction is the biggest advantage of programmatic SEO.
Another plus point is the creation of a so-called topical authority in the SEO area. Content is created for as many search terms as possible that are related to the product or service. This signals Google that the company has expertise in this area and is being rewarded for it.
Only a few start-ups use the advantages of programmatic SEO, since the necessary knowledge is often missing. However, more and more SaaS start-ups are recognizing the importance and are investing in SEO at an early stage, sometimes creating thousands of landing pages in the low search volume area.
As soon as a few thousand pages have been created and put online, expectations are naturally high. However, patience is required here.
SEO takes time, and with a few thousand new pages being indexed by the search engine, this process can potentially take longer.
Experience shows that these pages created by programmatic SEO usually only develop their full effect after 3-6 months. The prerequisite for this is, of course, that SEO measures in the form of off-page SEO and new pieces of content continue to be carried out.
Overall, programmatic SEO offers significant advantages for companies and IT start-ups that are willing to invest in optimizing their web presence.
The cost savings and the creation of topical authority are just two of the many reasons why this approach is becoming more and more important in the SEO world.
Nevertheless, companies should be aware of the fact that SEO requires a long-term commitment and success cannot be achieved overnight.
However, with patience, strategic planning, and continuous optimization, programmatic SEO can help significantly increase a website’s visibility and reach, thereby supporting business growth.
Are there disadvantages of programmatic SEO?
From the perspective of an SEO expert, there are hardly any disadvantages when using programmatic SEO. The decisive factor is the quality of the landing pages created.
But what characterizes a high-quality landing page?
It must provide visitors with key solutions and answers about search intent. Otherwise, such pages are largely useless and will have a hard time getting an acceptable ranking on Google.
If the pages actually provide valuable information for the searcher, it is possible to easily win new customers with them.
The skillful placement of call-to-action elements (CTAs) plays an important role here. However, this is a separate topic that requires separate consideration.