Jason Berkowitz explains programmatic SEO: automating templated pages from data sources for directories and city pages. It works for large catalogs but risks diluting important pages and causing duplication on smaller sites.
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In this quick video, we're going to dive into what pragmatic SEO is, when it's a powerhouse, and when it might not be the best fit for your brand. So pragmatic SEO, if you've ever Googled it, there's a chance you've seen our agency Break the Web near the top. And because of this, we actually get tons and tons of inquiries from brands looking to implement pragmatic. And 9 times out of 10, we're actually telling them they don't need to worry about pragmatic SEO. The TL;DR. Pragmatic SEO is the strategy of publishing, managing, and optimizing a massive amount of pages on your website at scale through automation and databases. In a very simplistic example, think of it like a giant page template where aspects are individualized, like sections, words, headers, all maybe based on a data source like Google Sheets. It's like plugging and playing all at scale. Say you're creating a directory. Of the best ice cream shops in the US, showing listicles of specific stores in various metro cities. Programmatic SEO will help you build your city lists, SEO optimize those pages in bulk, and publish sometimes all with a click of a button. Let's say you're an e-commerce brand selling equipment for an ice cream store. There's a good chance programmatic SEO may not be applicable. Realistically, you might not need to publish dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of pages at scale, and doing so might actually dilute your key important pages. Maybe it'll also lead to cannibalized or duplicate content issues. Maybe even more importantly, it might ruin the information architecture of your website. So think about your brand's needs. Are you dealing with a vast, complex business model with thousands of products or services? And if so, then pragmatic SEO can absolutely be a game changer. But for most smaller, mid-level brands, a more traditional, completely custom approach to SEO is probably the best way to go. And if you're unsure, continue to reach out to us. We'll let you know if it's a good idea.
