How to do Programmatic SEO in WordPress

TL;DR:

• WordPress has plugins for programmatic SEO, but they require constant updates and maintenance.
• Multi Page Generator is a tool that integrates with WordPress to generate unique pages efficiently.
• Steps include creating a template, linking it to MPG, sourcing data, connecting a database, and setting URL formats.
• Challenges of programmatic SEO in WordPress include thin content, lack of generative AI, slow loading times, and plugin updates.
• Letterdrop offers a no-code solution that pairs proprietary data with AI for effective programmatic SEO on WordPress.

WordPress is known for its trusty plugins, and there's no exception when it comes to programmatic SEO — WordPress has plugins for that, too.

Unfortunately, this can prove a little tedious since you have to keep these plugins updated and running smoothly.

Luckily, there is a tool out there that integrates directly with WordPress and has a programmatic feature to help you generate thousands of unique pages — the right way — all from one place.

Creating Programmatic Pages for WordPress Using Multi Page Generator

Multi Page Generator (MPG) is a popular WordPress plugin used specifically for programmatic SEO pages.

(An alternative is WP All Import that lets you import and export data as posts, pages, or other content types. This can get difficult to maintain, though, so we won't go into it in this post.)

Here's a step-by-step guide to generating your programmatic pages for WordPress.

1. Create a Template Page for Your Programmatic Campaign in WordPress

The benefit of using Multi Page Generator is that you can design your page in the WordPress block editor as opposed to in a separate database.

Design your page and save it to "Posts."

2. Create a New Project in Multi Page Generator and Link it to Your Template

Now that you have your template, navigate to the MPG plugin menu.

In the Template section, fill in the specified fields. Make sure to link to the correct entity type or location of the template you created in the above step — in our case, "Posts."

Make sure you're visible in search and exclude the template page itself from crawlers.

3. Create and Store Data

There are two ways you can source data for your programmatic pages:

1. Scrape publicly available datasets yourself or with web scrapers. This includes Data.gov and r/datasets. You can use no-code scrapers like Octoparse or TexAu to do this, although they do come with their own challenges and risks
2. Use proprietary data. This makes your pages truly unique. Source information from customers, crowdsourcing, your team, and subject matter experts

Once you have your data, it's time to create a database.

The easiest database to use for your Webflow pages would be a spreadsheet, although there are more robust databases out there like Xano.

For this guide, we will assume you will use a spreadsheet.

• Every row should correspond to one new programmatic page
• Every column should correspond with a type of data that you would want to insert dynamically on your template pages

Here's an example of a programmatic SEO page database in Google Sheets:

4. Connect your Database to Multi Page Generator

Once you save changes in the Template section of MPG, another section will open where you can connect your database.

Simply paste the spreadsheet URL or database URL into the given field. You can also choose how regularly you want to check for new data.

5. Create the URL Format for Your Programmatic Pages

Once you click "Fetch and Use" after uploading your dataset, it's time to set the URLs for all your programmatic pages.

In the URL Format Template field, make sure to pick "slug."

You will then receive all of your programmatic pages.

5.1 Optional: Create Lists using the Shortlist Feature

You can make sure that any given page refers readers to other pages relating to that same group — for example, only reference pages that talk about cities or food groups.

The Challenges of Programmatic SEO in WordPress

As mentioned at the very beginning of this guide, generating your programmatic pages using WordPress plugins poses some challenges.

• Since only one template is used, you'll likely get "thin" content that's repetitive and merely a duplicate of other pages — this could flag Google
• WordPress doesn't have generative AI to help you make your pages more unique, which means you will have to copy-paste descriptions over from ChatGPT for every programmatic page — this will take hours
• Plugins can slow page loading, which can affect user experience and negatively impact ranking
• Plugins need to be updated to keep your pages running smoothly

There are plenty of programmatic SEO tools out there that you can outsource to help you. However, most of them rely on AI-generated writing on its own to generate your pages — this will get you nowhere with your users, and Google can flag these pages as spam.

Just look at what happened to Causal, who used byword.ai to generate primarily AI-written pages.

If you want to create genuinely helpful pages, you have to pair AI and templates with proprietary data. Placeholders and keywords alone will only lead to thin and spammy content.

No-Code WordPress Integration that Pairs Proprietary Data with AI for Programmatic SEO

Letterdrop, founded in 2021 by ex-Googlers, acts as a headless CMS and integrates seamlessly with WordPress. It's completely codeless.

Among its suite of smart SEO tooling that lets you optimize for the changing search landscape, Letterdrop offers a programmatic SEO tool that automatically identifies opportunities for programmatic pages on your site, pulling this data from sales calls, Google Search Console, and from top pages on the SERP.

It can then auto-generate these pages for you, pairing proprietary data with AI-generated content to create truly unique and helpful pages.

This is a feature completely unique to Letterdrop.

FAQs

What Is a Programmatic SEO?

Programmatic SEO is an SEO tactic where you use software to create a large number of keyword-targeted web pages at scale using templates, data, and AI, something that would be cost-prohibitive to do manually. These pages are created programmatically by a computer program.

What Are the Disadvantages of Programmatic SEO?

The risks of programmatic SEO include the possibility of Google mistaking your pages for spam, accidentally exceeding your crawl budget, and — especially when using generative AI tools like ChatGPT — low-quality pages.

How Much Does Programmatic SEO Cost?

The cost of programmatic SEO can vary depending on the scale and services needed. On average, businesses typically budget between $500 to $10,000 per month for SEO services. Hourly rates for SEO services usually range from $100 to $300.

Put WordPress Programmatic SEO on Autopilot

You don't want to end up generating thin, placeholder-type programmatic pages that are of no use to your potential buyers.

You need to pair proprietary data with AI in a way that produces pages that can drive business for you at scale.

Let Letterdrop take care of programmatic SEO for your WordPress site from start to finish.

Programmatic pages for WordPress, the right way

Let Letterdrop pair proprietary data with AI to generate your programmatic pages, today

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