Why it matters
Some search demand follows patterns: a destination plus a type of trip, a city plus a service, a route between two places. When a business has the data to answer each of those searches well, templates can serve thousands of them at once, and no editorial team could write those pages by hand.
The risk is just as large. Pages that differ only by a swapped place name add nothing for the reader, and Google's spam policies name scaled content abuse explicitly: pages generated at scale mainly to rank, however they were produced. Good programmatic SEO is the opposite. Each page carries data or answers that are specific to it, and pages that can't meet that bar are never indexed.
This is also where SEO becomes product work. Templates, modules, indexation logic and upload tools are software. They need requirements, acceptance criteria, release plans and someone who owns the outcome after launch. In most companies that owner is missing, and SEO becomes a stream of tickets competing with feature work.
How I approach it
Find the pattern in demand
I look for repeating structures in search demand, an entity plus a modifier, and check how many combinations have real volume and clear intent.
Check the data can make each page useful
Before any design work: does the business have data that gives every page something unique, such as prices, availability, routes, reviews or local details? If not, the page set should be smaller.
Design the template in modules
The first viewport answers the main query. Below it, modules carry the unique data, related links and supporting content. Modules can be switched on or off per page depending on the data available.
Write indexation rules
Clear thresholds for when a page is indexable, when it is noindexed and when it is merged into a parent. The rules run in code so they apply to every page, including new ones.
Write requirements engineering can build
Each template ships with a written spec: URL pattern, required fields, rendering, internal links, structured data and acceptance criteria. Written well, it removes most of the back-and-forth during development.
Launch in batches and measure by cohort
A first batch shows how quickly pages are crawled, indexed and start to earn traffic. I compare cohorts before scaling, and adjust the template or the rules if a batch underperforms.
Build the update workflow
Pages at scale go stale at scale. Bulk upload and editing tools keep content current without one-by-one edits.
What good looks like
Every indexable page has data or content that is specific to it.
Each template has one clear primary intent.
Indexation thresholds are written down and enforced in code.
Templates render their main content and links on the server.
Internal links connect each page to its parent and to close siblings.
Each page type has its own XML sitemap, so indexation can be tracked per type.
Results are measured by launch cohort, not only in total.
Content can be updated in bulk.
Common mistakes
Generating every possible combination
Most combinations have no demand. Publishing them anyway wastes crawling and pulls down the perceived quality of the whole set.
Swapping only the place name
If two pages read the same apart from one word, one of them shouldn’t exist.
No exit rules
Pages that never earn impressions should be noindexed or merged after a set period. Without that rule the set only grows.
SEO without an owner
When nobody owns the template after launch, bugs and stale content build up and nobody is accountable for the result.
Launching everything at once
A single big launch makes it hard to see what is working. Batches make problems visible while they are still cheap to fix.
In practice
At TUI Future Markets I led the Geo Destination Landing Pages initiative across 5 markets. I defined the content architecture, the keyword-to-template mapping and the indexation rules for more than 100,000 destination pages, and organic traffic grew 4x.
At FLOYT Mobility I was SEO product owner across two international brands, writing requirements for first-viewport design, landing page templates, content modules and search mask UX. With engineering, we replaced manual content workflows with standard vertical templates and bulk upload tools, which cut the time to update landing pages by 60 to 70%. The full role history is on the About page.
Frequently asked
Is programmatic SEO spam?
Not by itself. Google’s policies target pages produced at scale mainly to manipulate rankings, however they were made. Templates that serve real searches with useful, specific data are a normal part of large sites, like listings, destinations and product pages.
How many pages should a programmatic set have?
As many as can each meet the quality bar, and no more. I start from the combinations with clear demand and data, launch those, and expand only when the first cohorts are indexed and earning traffic.
Can AI write the content for programmatic pages?
It can help with supporting text, but it can’t replace the unique data that makes each page worth visiting. Generated text that repeats across pages adds length, not value.
What does an SEO product owner do?
They own the search outcome of a product area: they write the requirements, prioritise them with the product team, accept the work when it ships and track the results afterwards.
