programmatic-seo

Overview

What the programmatic-seo skill does

The programmatic-seo skill helps you design SEO-optimized pages at scale using templates and structured data. Instead of writing every page manually, you use this skill to plan out repeatable page types—like "[keyword] + [city]" pages, industry-focused landing pages, comparison pages, integration pages, directories, and profile pages—while still delivering unique value on each page.

The skill is focused on strategy and structure, not on writing or deploying code. It guides you to:

• Identify viable programmatic SEO opportunities
• Choose the right playbook (templates, locations, comparisons, integrations, directories, etc.)
• Define data requirements so every page has real, non-thin value
• Plan URL structure, internal links, and indexation
• Avoid duplicate or near-duplicate content that underperforms in search

Who this skill is for

Use the programmatic-seo skill if you are:

• SEO specialists and growth marketers planning to launch hundreds or thousands of landing pages for a product or marketplace
• Content and product marketers who want scalable, conversion-focused content (e.g., "CRM for [industry]" pages, "best [category]" hubs, or integration directories)
• Founders and product teams exploring programmatic SEO for lead generation without hiring a large content team

If you only need high-level SEO strategy or a general content plan, start with seo-audit or content-strategy. Use programmatic-seo when you specifically want templated, data-driven landing pages at scale.

Problems the programmatic-seo skill solves

This skill is designed to address the classic challenges of programmatic SEO:

• Thin content risk – It pushes you to define unique value per page so you are not just swapping a city or industry name in a template.
• What should we build? – It uses proven programmatic SEO playbooks (templates, locations, comparisons, personas, integrations, directories, profiles, etc.) from references/playbooks.md to match patterns to your assets and audience.
• How do we structure all these URLs and links? – It encourages clean URL patterns (like /templates/[type]/, /best/[category]/, or /locations/[city]/) and an internal linking strategy.
• What data do we actually need? – It helps you identify proprietary or curated data that makes each page genuinely useful.

If your main goal is to automatically churn out text without a strategy or unique data, this skill is not a good fit; it is built to prioritize quality and usefulness over sheer volume.

Key concepts and repository structure

Inside the programmatic-seo skill directory, you will find:

• SKILL.md – The core playbook, including:
  • Initial assessment questions (business, audience, conversion goals)
  • Opportunity and competitive analysis prompts
  • Core principles like unique value per page and proprietary data
• references/playbooks.md – "The 12 Programmatic SEO Playbooks" with real-world patterns such as:
  • Templates (e.g., resume templates, invoice templates)
  • Curation (e.g., "best [category]")
  • Comparisons (e.g., "Notion vs Asana")
  • Locations, Personas, Integrations, Directory, Profiles, and more
• evals/evals.json – Example prompts and expected behaviors that show how the skill should respond in common scenarios (e.g., CRM for [industry] pages, comparison pages for multiple competitors).

Understanding these files will help you quickly decide whether this skill matches your programmatic SEO goals.

How to Use

Installation and setup

1. Install the programmatic-seo skill

To add this skill to your agent environment, run:

npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill programmatic-seo

This pulls the programmatic-seo configuration and supporting references into your skills setup from coreyhaines31/marketingskills.

2. Review core guidance files

After installation, open these files first to understand how the skill works:

• SKILL.md – Read this from top to bottom. It defines the role of the agent as a programmatic SEO expert and outlines:
  • How to check for product marketing context
  • How to assess business and search opportunities
  • Principles for avoiding thin content
• references/playbooks.md – Scan the 12 programmatic SEO playbooks and note which patterns match your business (templates, curation, locations, personas, comparisons, integrations, glossary, directory, profiles, etc.).
• evals/evals.json – Review the example prompts (e.g., "CRM for [industry]" pages, comparison pages for multiple competitors) to see how the skill is expected to reason and respond.

If your repo includes .agents/product-marketing-context.md (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), ensure it is accurate and up to date; the skill looks for this first to ground its recommendations.

Running programmatic-seo for a new project

1. Gather product and audience context

Before asking your agent to design a programmatic SEO strategy, prepare:

• A short description of your product/service
• Your primary target audiences or segments
• The main conversion goals (trial signups, demo requests, purchases, newsletter, etc.)

The skill will use these inputs—as reflected in SKILL.md—to avoid generic page templates and instead tailor ideas to your actual funnel.

2. Define the programmatic SEO opportunity

Trigger the skill when you have a clear scalable pattern, such as:

• "We want 'CRM for [industry]' pages for 20 industries."
• "We want comparison pages like '[Our product] vs [Competitor]' for 15 competitors."
• "We want a directory of '[service] providers in [city]'."
• "We want template pages like 'invoice template', 'quote template', etc."

The skill will:

• Identify which playbook this fits (e.g., Personas, Comparisons, Locations, Templates, Directory)
• Ask for any missing context
• Propose a structured plan: keyword patterns, data requirements, template sections, internal linking, and indexation approach

3. Choose and refine your playbook

Using references/playbooks.md, the skill can:

• Select one or more playbooks that match your idea
• Explain why a specific pattern works for your niche
• Outline value requirements (for example, for Templates: actual usable downloads, multiple variations, high quality; for Curation: clear evaluation criteria and regular updates)

You can then refine the direction, for example:

• Expand from just "Locations" to a combination of Locations + Directory (e.g., a directory of providers per city)
• Pair Comparisons + Conversions (e.g., comparison pages that also drive trials with strong CTAs)

4. Plan data and content structure

A core goal in programmatic-seo is unique value per page. In practice, that means the skill will help you:

• List the data points you need to collect or generate for each page (e.g., industry-specific pain points, city-level stats, product feature usage per vertical)
• Map those data points into sections of your template (hero, proof, comparison tables, FAQs, local or segment-specific details)
• Decide where proprietary data, real examples, or curated insights should appear so pages are not just generic text with a keyword swap

This is where the skill is especially useful for installation decisions: it will help you see whether you have enough structured data to make programmatic SEO worthwhile.

5. Define URL and internal linking strategy

Based on examples in references/playbooks.md, the skill can suggest:

• URL structures such as:
  • /templates/[type]/ or /templates/[category]/[type]/
  • /best/[category]/
  • /locations/[city]/
  • /integrations/[tool]/
• Internal linking patterns, like:
  • From each industry page to a core "Industries" hub
  • From comparisons to the main product and pricing pages
  • From directory entries back to city pages, and vice versa

This planning step is crucial before you build anything, since restructuring large sets of URLs later is costly.

6. Validate against eval scenarios

Use the examples in evals/evals.json as a checklist:

• Are you checking for existing product marketing context?
• Are you applying the core principles (unique value, proprietary data, clean URLs)?
• Are you planning keyword research and data collection per variation?
• Are you including an internal linking strategy and warnings about thin content?

If your plan would fail these evals, revisit your data model or reduce scope until each page can genuinely stand on its own.

When this skill is and isn’t a good fit

Use the programmatic-seo skill when:

• You have a repeatable page type that could scale to many variations (locations, industries, integrations, use cases, templates, profiles, etc.)
• You can access or create structured data that makes each variation meaningfully different
• You want a strategic blueprint for high-intent, conversion-focused landing pages

It may not be a good fit when:

• You only need a handful of one-off landing pages (a general landing page skill or manual content work is fine)
• You lack any data or angle to create unique value, and just want "AI to generate 1,000 pages"—the skill is explicitly designed to warn against this
• Your main need is technical SEO auditing or site-wide issues (use seo-audit instead)

FAQ

What is the main purpose of the programmatic-seo skill?

The programmatic-seo skill is built to help you plan and structure programmatic SEO projects—large sets of templated, data-driven landing pages that can rank and convert—while minimizing the risk of thin, low-value content. It focuses on strategy, data design, and page structure, not on automatically publishing pages.

How do I install the programmatic-seo skill?

Install it via the Skills CLI:

npx skills add https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill programmatic-seo

Then review SKILL.md, references/playbooks.md, and evals/evals.json inside the skills/programmatic-seo directory to understand how it will shape your agent’s behavior.

What kinds of pages can I design with programmatic-seo?

Using the playbooks in references/playbooks.md, the skill is suited for patterns like:

• Templates (e.g., "invoice template", "resume template")
• Curation lists (e.g., "best [category]", "top [number] [tools]")
• Comparisons (e.g., "[Product] vs [Competitor]")
• Locations (e.g., "[service] in [city]")
• Personas or industries (e.g., "CRM for [industry]")
• Integrations (e.g., "[Product] + [Tool]" pages)
• Directories and profiles (e.g., marketplaces, expert directories)

The skill helps you choose and combine these patterns to match your product and data.

How does this skill help avoid thin content in programmatic SEO?

SKILL.md emphasizes that every page must have unique value, especially through proprietary data, real examples, or meaningful curation. The skill is evaluated (via evals/evals.json) on whether it:

• Identifies data requirements to differentiate each page
• Warns against simply swapping out a keyword or city name in a template
• Encourages clean, purposeful URL and internal link structures

If your plan cannot meet these standards, the skill will push you to narrow the scope or improve your data before scaling.

Can I use programmatic-seo for an existing site with many low-performing pages?

Yes, but the skill is oriented around designing or redesigning structured page types rather than auditing technical issues. You can:

• Use it to rethink your existing patterns (e.g., location pages or industry pages) using the playbooks
• Re-spec your templates and data requirements so each page becomes more valuable

For crawling issues, indexing problems, or broad site health checks, pair this with the seo-audit skill.

How is programmatic-seo different from a general content strategy skill?

content-strategy focuses on overall editorial planning: topics, formats, and content calendars. programmatic-seo focuses specifically on repeatable, data-backed templates (like directories, comparisons, and location pages) and the systems needed to scale them. Use programmatic-seo when your core question is, "How do we design hundreds of SEO landing pages that are actually useful?" rather than, "What should we blog about this quarter?"

What do I need in place before programmatic-seo is useful?

You will get the most value from this skill if you already have:

• A clear product and target audience
• At least one repeatable page pattern (e.g., industries, cities, competitors, templates)
• Some form of structured data or the ability to collect it (e.g., internal metrics, marketplace listings, curated lists, or research)

If those pieces are missing, you can still install the skill and use it to identify gaps, but you may need additional work before executing a full programmatic SEO build.