Plan programmatic SEO pages around a repeatable search need and reliable data. This Skill helps your assistant choose a suitable page pattern, define what makes each page useful, design the template and internal links, and set quality checks before your team expands a small tested set into a larger page collection.
Generating many URLs is easy; giving each one a reason to exist takes more work. This Skill starts with the search pattern, data source and user task, then works through the page structure and the value that changes from one page to the next.
Use it before building a large collection of templated pages. Bring sample queries, structured data, CMS constraints and the desired conversion. The output is a page-system design and validation plan, not an automatic publishing service or a promise that search engines will index every page.
Twelve playbooks provide different ways to match a search pattern with a page type. Choose the one supported by your data and customer need, then define the unique information each page must contain rather than swapping only a keyword in the title.
Template design, internal linking and quality checks are considered together. Testing a small sample can expose missing data, thin sections or weak navigation before those problems are repeated across the entire collection.
Search patterns, reliable structured data, sample pages, CMS constraints, and conversion goals.
Use a compatible agent that can discover the installed Skill and read its supporting files. Any external service or creative runtime must be configured separately.
The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.
Copy this request into Codex or Claude Code. The assistant downloads the original repository at the specified commit, installs the complete files and checks required dependencies.
Install programmatic-seo in the app I am using and carry out the file installation, not just explain it.
Original repository: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills.git
Commit: e85f3cbc2e4a79bf33b2a12e9bdd9087d414735b
Skill folder: skills/programmatic-seo
1. Download this exact source into a new directory. Read SKILL.md and its setup references before running any bundled scripts. Do not substitute another author’s package.
2. For Codex, use ~/.agents/skills/programmatic-seo; for Claude Code, use ~/.claude/skills/programmatic-seo. Install only for my current app. Install the complete Skill folder, including scripts, references, assets and bundled notices. Keep any root license with the installed folder. Check all destination folders first; if any already exist, report differences before replacing them.
3. Compare the source and installed file lists and hashes. Inspect documented runtimes, dependencies and required connections. Configure only the local dependencies needed for this Skill; use an isolated environment when appropriate. Ask me to complete any account login locally, without putting credentials in chat.
4. Report the source commit, actual installation path, file-check results and any remaining runtime setup. Explain how to invoke programmatic-seo in this app. Check discovery separately from file copying; start a new session if needed. Do not run production tasks or claim a successful business outcome from installation alone.This is the unchanged source SKILL.md for the reviewed version. Install the complete package to retain referenced scripts, assets, and instructions. Starter prompts below are EcomAgentTools examples.
---
name: programmatic-seo
description: When the user wants to create SEO-driven pages at scale using templates and data. Also use when the user mentions "programmatic SEO," "template pages," "pages at scale," "directory pages," "location pages," "[keyword] + [city] pages," "comparison pages," "integration pages," "building many pages for SEO," "pSEO," "generate 100 pages," "data-driven pages," "templated landing pages," or "which CMS for pSEO." Use this whenever someone wants to create many similar pages targeting different keywords or locations. For auditing existing SEO issues, see seo-audit. For content strategy planning, see content-strategy.
metadata:
version: 2.1.0
---
# 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:
1. **Business Context**
- What's the product/service?
- Who is the target audience?
- What's the conversion goal for these pages?
2. **Opportunity Assessment**
- What search patterns exist?
- How many potential pages?
- What's the search volume distribution?
3. **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:
1. Proprietary (you created it)
2. Product-derived (from your users)
3. User-generated (your community)
4. Licensed (exclusive access)
5. 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](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
### 6. Choose the Build Platform
Check that the platform can hold the page count, refresh the data, render server-side HTML, branch on data for conditional sections, and control indexation per page. Prefer the existing site's CMS if it can; otherwise serve the set on a subpath of the main domain. Options and tradeoffs: [references/implementation-platforms.md](references/implementation-platforms.md).
---
## 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
1. What keyword patterns are you targeting?
2. What data do you have (or can acquire)?
3. How many pages are you planning?
4. What does your site authority look like?
5. Who currently ranks for these terms?
6. 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
Starter prompts for the main use cases—copy and use them directly.
Design a location or category page template Use for: Design a location or category page template. Prepare: Search patterns, reliable structured data, sample pages, CMS constraints, and conversion goals.
Use the installed programmatic-seo Skill. Task: Design a location or category page template. Inputs: [INPUT]. Constraints: [CONSTRAINTS]. Check missing information first. Produce a reviewable result with evidence, assumptions, and next steps. The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.[INPUT][CONSTRAINTS]Audit a template for unique value and thin-content risk Use for: Audit a template for unique value and thin-content risk. Prepare: Search patterns, reliable structured data, sample pages, CMS constraints, and conversion goals.
Use the installed programmatic-seo Skill. Task: Audit a template for unique value and thin-content risk. Inputs: [INPUT]. Constraints: [CONSTRAINTS]. Check missing information first. Produce a reviewable result with evidence, assumptions, and next steps. The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.[INPUT][CONSTRAINTS]Plan data validation, internal links, and rollout checks Use for: Plan data validation, internal links, and rollout checks. Prepare: Search patterns, reliable structured data, sample pages, CMS constraints, and conversion goals.
Use the installed programmatic-seo Skill. Task: Plan data validation, internal links, and rollout checks. Inputs: [INPUT]. Constraints: [CONSTRAINTS]. Check missing information first. Produce a reviewable result with evidence, assumptions, and next steps. The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.[INPUT][CONSTRAINTS]The merchant has one SKU and limited unique information. Capacity/care facts and synthetic demand data determine a defensible page set without generating thin duplicates for synonymous keywords.
Case input files: business-inputs.zip
Use the programmatic-seo Skill.
Turn the supplied glossary research into a small, useful buying-help section. Consolidate synonyms, choose canonical URLs and build two complete topic pages, a hub and internal links to relevant products. Include title, description, H1, structured data and sitemap entries; explain how the template avoids publishing thin duplicate pages.
The attached business materials are:
- inputs/brief.json
- inputs/merchant.json
- inputs/references.csv
Deliver a complete result.md report that the operations team can read, plus any finished files needed for this task. Keep supporting calculations and evidence with the deliverables. Write the report in English; use the requested target language for customer-facing copy. The business datasets are fictional examples unless the brief explicitly names a live public website.The primary file produced by this prompt is shown below in its original language.
The delivered static site contains two distinct guides, a buying-help hub and a linked product destination. It answers capacity and care questions with practical checks instead of generating a page for every synonym.
| Canonical path | Intent and unique contribution |
|---|---|
| /learn/ | Choose between capacity and care guidance |
| /learn/mug-capacity/ | Understand 500 ml, convert to US fluid ounces, compare normal serving and distinguish outer size from usable volume |
| /learn/mug-care/ | Understand hand-wash-only care, separate washing from microwave suitability and identify missing cleaning instructions |
| /shop/blue-500ml-mug/ | Check supplied product specifications, price and shipping after reading a guide |
“Capacity,” “volume” and the 16.9-US-fluid-ounce comparison share one canonical guide. “Hand wash,” “hand-washing” and dishwasher suitability share the care guide. No synonym-only pages or redirects were invented. Canonicals and sitemap entries use the reserved store.example domain as a deployment placeholder.
Capacity describes the volume a mug is designed to hold. A 500 ml capacity is about 16.9 US fluid ounces. It does not describe how long a drink stays hot.
Compare the drink you actually make: use a marked measuring jug to measure your usual serving, then compare it with 500 ml. Leave room for carrying and additions. A nominal capacity is not a guaranteed comfortable fill level for every task.
HarborMug lists exterior dimensions of 9 × 9 × 19 cm. Use them to judge available space. Multiplying outer measurements cannot establish usable interior capacity because walls, shape and construction occupy space.
The unit calculation is 500 ÷ 29.5735295625 = 16.907 US fluid ounces. Imperial fluid ounces are different. Keep the unit name beside the conversion. Before buying, follow the care guide and product-detail links to check washing, microwave suitability and price.
Hand-wash only means cleaning the product by hand rather than putting it in a dishwasher. A mug's washing instructions and microwave suitability are separate requirements.
Check where you will wash it after use and whether that routine is practical. If dishwasher cleaning is essential, choose a model whose instructions explicitly permit it. Another stainless steel mug's instructions do not establish this model's compatibility.
HM-BLUE-001 is marked hand-wash only and not microwave safe. Cleaning it by hand does not make it suitable for microwave reheating. The supplied record does not specify detergent, soak time or disassembly; ask the merchant before trying an unconfirmed cleaning method.
Finish by comparing capacity and available space, then review the product details. No temperature-duration or leakproof claim is inferred from the word insulated.
Each HTML page has a unique title, description, one H1, canonical link and matching WebPage, CollectionPage or breadcrumb data. The two topics cross-link and link to the hub and relevant product. sitemap.xml includes the three content pages and the example product destination. The supplied static stack is sufficient for this small scope; a new CMS is unnecessary.
The search-volume inputs (120 and 80, total 200) and competitor observations are explicitly fictional. They demonstrate prioritization and do not establish current demand, rankings or an SEO opportunity forecast. The prior total is 180, so the fixture's aggregate change is 11.11%, driven by the capacity term; do not publish that as market research.
Only pages with a distinct question, supported product fact and practical action are generated. A missing fact suppresses the corresponding claim. Before expanding the template, collect verified demand and merchant evidence and review a sample for duplication. The included browser record checks all four rendered pages and their internal targets. No search-ranking improvement or production deployment is claimed.
Merchant business data is synthetic. Website observations, when present, come from the public URLs listed in the report.
The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.
Source and package files reviewed: GitHub e85f3cbc2e4a. This is a static review, not an installation or business-outcome test.
Use authorized inputs and keep secrets out of prompts. Review customer-facing claims, calculations, code changes, and any proposed external action before applying them.
Design data-driven page templates and quality checks for a scalable SEO project. Twelve playbooks help match search patterns to unique page value, data sources, and internal links.
Choose the method for your agent and install the complete package, not just the displayed SKILL.md. Search patterns, reliable structured data, sample pages, CMS constraints, and conversion goals. Start a new agent session and explicitly ask to use programmatic-seo. Try one use case below with a small sample and review the output.
Design a location or category page template; Audit a template for unique value and thin-content risk; Plan data validation, internal links, and rollout checks
The Skill is a design workflow, not an automatic ranking or publishing service. Validate a small page set before scaling.
Source and package files reviewed: GitHub e85f3cbc2e4a. This is a static review, not an installation or business-outcome test.
Source and package files reviewed: GitHub e85f3cbc2e4a. This is a static review, not an installation or business-outcome test.
Source and package files reviewed: GitHub e85f3cbc2e4a. This is a static review, not an installation or business-outcome test.
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