How Programmatic SEO Boosted Traffic by 40% and Sessions by 37% Without Traditional SEO

How I Grew Traffic 37% on Google, Without SEO 

Introduction:

 

In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), content creation and link building have always been considered the key drivers of organic traffic. However, what if there was a way to achieve significant growth without relying on these traditional SEO practices? Enter programmatic SEO, a powerful technique that allows websites to generate thousands of landing pages at scale using automated tools. In this blog post, we will explore how programmatic SEO helped one agency, The Search Initiative; achieve remarkable results for their client, including a 40% increase in users and a 37% increase in sessions, all without traditional SEO techniques.

 

The Client Situation and the Need for Programmatic SEO

 

The agency's client was a software supply chain management company. Despite offering a valuable product and having ambitious goals, their website was only ranking for their brand name. This lack of visibility in search results severely limited their organic traffic potential. The Search Initiative realized that ranking one or two pages wouldn't be enough to achieve their goals. They needed a scalable solution that could generate thousands of pages to increase their search presence. This is where programmatic SEO came into the picture.

 

Understanding Programmatic SEO

 

Programmatic SEO is a technique that involves creating landing pages at scale using automation tools. It allows websites to generate a large number of pages based on a template and make each page unique by leveraging readily available data. This approach has been successfully implemented by various businesses, including real estate and e-commerce companies.

 

Certainly! Here are some additional details about programmatic SEO:

 

1. Automation and Scale:

Programmatic SEO relies on automation tools to generate landing pages at scale. With programmatic techniques, you can create hundreds or even thousands of landing pages with minimal effort. This scalability allows you to target a wide range of keywords and search queries, increasing your website's visibility in search results.

 

2. Data-Driven Approach:

Programmatic SEO is highly data-driven. By leveraging relevant data sets, you can generate unique and valuable content for each landing page. This data can come from various sources, such as government databases, public APIs, or data providers. The key is to find reliable and up-to-date data that aligns with your target keywords and audience.

 

3. Dynamic Content Generation:

Programmatic SEO relies on templates and dynamic content generation. By using formulas and AI language models, you can automate the process of content creation. The generated content can include statistics, insights, comparisons, or any other relevant information based on the data you have collected. This dynamic content helps make each landing page unique and valuable to users.

 

4. Targeted Landing Pages:

With programmatic SEO, you can create landing pages that specifically target long-tail keywords or niche topics. This allows you to cater to specific user intents and capture organic traffic from highly targeted search queries. By providing valuable and relevant information, you can increase user engagement and conversions.

 

5. Speed and Efficiency:

Programmatic SEO can deliver faster results compared to traditional SEO methods. Since the content generation process is automated, you can create and publish landing pages more quickly. This agility allows you to adapt to changing trends and stay ahead of the competition.

 

6. Potential for Backlink Acquisition:

With a larger number of landing pages, your website has a higher chance of earning backlinks from other websites. As more pages attract organic traffic and provide valuable information, they become linkable assets. Backlinks are an important factor in search engine rankings, and programmatic SEO increases your opportunities for acquiring them.

 

7. SEO Optimization Considerations:

While programmatic SEO can generate a significant number of landing pages, it's crucial to optimize them for search engines. This includes adding unique content, relevant keywords, meta tags, headers, and internal linking. Additionally, ensuring a good user experience, mobile-friendliness, and fast page load times are essential for overall SEO success.

 

8. Potential Limitations:

Programmatic SEO may not be suitable for all types of websites or industries. Some limitations to consider include the quality and availability of data, potential duplication of content, and the need for technical expertise. It's important to assess the feasibility and relevance of programmatic SEO for your specific business goals before implementing it.

 

Overall, programmatic SEO offers a powerful way to generate a large number of landing pages and increase organic traffic. By leveraging automation and data-driven content generation, you can achieve significant growth without relying solely on traditional SEO practices. However, it's important to approach programmatic SEO strategically, ensuring the quality and relevance of the generated pages while optimizing them for search engine visibility.

 

The Power of Programmatic SEO

 

One prime example of the power of programmatic SEO is the website realtor.com. With over 19,000 landing pages, realtor.com has a dedicated page for every city in the United States. These pages were all created programmatically, allowing the website to cater to specific location-based search queries and attract a massive amount of organic traffic.

 

Programmatic SEO is not limited to specific industries. Content-based websites like NerdWallet, Nomad List, Zapier, and TripAdvisor have also leveraged programmatic SEO to generate data-packed pages, become topical authorities, and attract millions of visitors each month.

 

Overcoming Technical Challenges

 

You might be thinking that programmatic SEO sounds too technical, but fear not. The Search Initiative's success with programmatic SEO proves that anyone can implement it with the right tools and guidance. Even the agency's founder, who failed his computer science course in college, was able to master programmatic SEO.

 

The Process of Programmatic SEO

Step 1: Finding Scalable Keywords

The first step in programmatic SEO is to identify a set of scalable keywords in your niche. Using keyword research tools like Ahrefs' Keyword Explorer, you can search for keywords with low difficulty and where weaker websites are ranking at the top. This will give you a list of keywords that you can dominate easily with programmatic SEO.

 

Step 2: Data Collection

To turn numbers into engaging content, you need relevant data. Websites like Google Dataset Search, Kaggle, and Data.gov provide numerous free data sets that you can use. For example, if you want to create content about life expectancy, you can search for relevant data sets and download them for further use.

 

Step 3: Content Generation

Using a simple Google Sheet, you can create a template that pulls data from your downloaded data sets and generates unique sentences for each landing page. By utilizing formulas and AI language models like ChatGPT, you can automate the process of content generation.

 

Step 4: Uploading Content to Your Website

To upload the generated content to your website, you can use tools like WP All Import plugin. This plugin allows you to import the data from your Google Sheet and create a new post for each record. With a few simple steps, you can programmatically create all the landing pages on your website.

 

Step 5: Optimizing for SEO

While programmatic SEO is a powerful technique, it's important to optimize your landing pages for search engines. This includes adding unique content, graphics, and incorporating SEO elements like metadata, internal linking, and XML sitemaps. These optimizations will help search engines crawl and index your pages effectively.

 

The Pros and Cons of Programmatic SEO

 

Pros:

1. Scalability: Programmatic SEO allows you to create hundreds or even thousands of landing pages with a single click, saving time and resources.

2. Fast Results: With programmatic SEO, you can achieve topical authority and increase your search traffic faster compared to traditional SEO methods.

3. Backlink Potential: The more pages you create, the higher the chances of earning backlinks, leading to increased domain authority and organic traffic.

 

Cons:

1. Technical Expertise: Complex programmatic SEO implementations may require the assistance of a developer with coding skills. However, simpler implementations can be achieved without extensive technical knowledge.

2. Data Quality: Programmatic SEO relies heavily on the quality of the data you feed into the system. If the data is inaccurate or outdated, it can negatively impact the quality and relevance of the generated landing pages.

 

The Results: A 40% Increase in Users and a 37% Increase in Sessions

 

After implementing programmatic SEO for their client, The Search Initiative achieved impressive results. The client's website experienced a 40% increase in users and a 37% increase in sessions. These results were achieved without relying on traditional SEO practices such as content creation and link building.

 

Conclusion: Embracing the Power of Programmatic SEO

 

Programmatic SEO offers a compelling alternative to traditional SEO practices. By leveraging automation tools and data-driven content generation, websites can generate thousands of landing pages at scale, attracting organic traffic and achieving significant growth. While programmatic SEO does require technical expertise, the results can be well worth the investment. If you're looking to boost your website's search presence and drive more traffic, it may be time to consider incorporating programmatic SEO into your strategy.