How I Built $10M Using Programmatic SEO
Programmatic SEO can turn simple patterns into huge traffic and real revenue. In this post I explain the exact process my team used to reach over one million monthly visitors and grow a business to more than $10 million in revenue. Read on for the steps, the tools, and the decisions that mattered most.
Programmatic SEO process overview
Programmatic SEO is methodical. You map keyword patterns, generate pages at scale, and tune what works. That combination makes search engines reward volume when each page has clear user value. The approach is not a hack; it requires systems, data, and careful measurement.
We focused on breadth and precision at once. Instead of targeting a few high-competition terms, we targeted millions of specific long-tail variations.
Some pages perform amazingly. Many do not.
Execution falls into repeatable stages: keyword research, data acquisition and scraping, content rewriting to add unique value, indexing, link building, and monitoring. Each stage has concrete tasks and trade-offs. You can follow this flow to build a programmatic site that both ranks and converts.
Keyword research and modifier selection
Keyword research is the foundation. A keyword here is a combination of a core term and a modifier, for example person name + email or location + vacation rental. Choosing modifiers with actual search demand changes everything. Start with volume, then refine for conversion intent.
Use tools that combine search data with clickstream to get broader, more accurate volumes. That helps you find which modifiers will attract actual traffic. In our case the word "email" had massive volume, and pairing it with high-interest names unlocked many queries.
When you need to evaluate many modifiers at scale, automation helps. We generated millions of full names by combining common first and last name lists, then used volume tools to identify the highest searched combinations. Mix common names with notable public figures and highly searched organizations for better indexing and click potential.
Here are practical tasks to perform during keyword research:
Collect core terms — List the main keywords your product or site serves, for example email, template, or vacation rental.
Generate modifiers — Create large modifier lists such as names, cities, or business names to combine with core terms.
Check volume — Use a robust traffic tool to measure combined-keyword volumes, not only the base term.
Assess conversion intent — Track whether the keyword is likely to lead to signups or purchases for your product.
Prioritize — Rank the modifiers by the mix of volume and conversion likelihood.
Gathering and scraping data at scale
Programmatic pages need data. That means buying or collecting large structured data sets that you can turn into thousands or millions of pages. Sources include public records, directories, social networks, and specialized scrapers. The right data set shapes the type of pages you can create.
Buying pre-scraped data accelerates development. There are providers that supply LinkedIn-like profile data, company directories, and other public records. Prices vary from a few thousand dollars to six figures depending on scope and freshness. Pick what matches the page concept and budget.
You can also scrape transcripts, API outputs, and public registries. Podcast and YouTube transcripts, for instance, become unique article seeds when rewritten properly. Think beyond simple profile dumps: transform data into useful analysis, charts, or summaries to increase page value.
Consider these data tasks:
Source selection — Choose datasets that match your page concept such as people profiles, company lists, or public records.
Provider purchase — Buy pre-scraped data when speed matters; get quotes for custom scrapes if needed.
Custom scraping — Commission scrapes for specific targets if public datasets are incomplete.
Sanity checks — Validate sample data for completeness, freshness, and legal compliance.
Data normalization — Clean and standardize fields so page templates can render consistently.
Rewriting content and creating unique value
Google will not rank duplicate or low-value pages. That is a hard constraint. Each programmatic page must provide unique, useful content that answers a real search intent. This is the difference between a spammy directory and a high-performing resource site.
We transformed scraped profiles, transcripts, and company data into short analyses, personality summaries, or tech stack overviews. For example, a LinkedIn profile becomes a concise bio, a personality graph, and an estimated salary range—content that adds context beyond raw data.
Automated rewriting is useful, but human review matters. Generate the first draft at scale and then sample-edit. Focus human effort on templates that get traffic and higher intent queries. This preserves quality while keeping costs manageable.
Follow these content tasks to keep pages valuable:
Template design — Build page templates that combine data fields with short, original narrative sections.
Value additions — Add analysis elements like personality scores, tech stack summaries, or related resources.
Automated drafts — Use automated rewriting to create drafts, then apply human editing on high-value pages.
Uniqueness checks — Ensure content is not verbatim scraped material and provides fresh user value.
Quality gating — Prioritize human review for pages that show traffic or conversion promise.
Indexing strategy and site structure
Indexing is the gating factor to traffic. If Google never indexes your pages, they cannot drive visits or revenue. Many programmatic projects fail because indexing was not planned. For large sites, indexing rates depend on domain authority, link structure, and real user engagement metrics.
Sitemaps and internal linking are critical. Make it easy for crawlers to find representative pages, then link related pages together. For person directories, link people by company, role, or related names. That internal graph helps both indexing and relevance signals.
Release pages in controlled batches. We found that publishing only keywords with clear search demand yields much higher indexing rates than bulk publishing everything. Random or low-interest pages are unlikely to be indexed at scale.
Practical indexing actions include:
Submit sitemaps — Publish sitemaps in logical batches that prioritize higher-demand pages.
Strengthen internal links — Create directory pages and related-item links to distribute crawl equity.
Monitor indexing — Track which pages index and identify patterns among indexed pages.
Manage indexing budget — De-index or redirect pages that never get traffic to free up crawl priority.
Build authority — Grow backlinks to the domain to improve overall indexing rates.
Link building and outreach
Backlinks are still the primary external signal for both indexing and ranking. For a programmatic site, link building is a numbers and process problem. You do outreach, you track responses, and you scale the activities with a small team.
We used three practical approaches: ask sites that mentioned us to add a link, request links from sites that link to competitors, and run reciprocal or co-marketing promotions with legitimate partners. Quality matters; avoid spammy networks and sites that lack real traffic.
Outreach scales with repeatable scripts and persistence. A small, well-trained team can send high volumes of personalized messages and build hundreds of links per year when focused. Track wins and domain authorities to prioritize the best opportunities.
Outreach tasks to organize your link efforts:
Brand-mention outreach — Find articles that mention your product and request a link.
Competitor backlink hunting — Identify sites linking to rivals and pitch your resource as an alternative.
Content partnerships — Offer free trials or exclusive content in exchange for featured mentions.
Quality checks — Verify that potential partners have genuine traffic and are not part of a link network.
Scale documentation — Provide clear templates and tracking sheets for your outreach team to use.
Monitoring, pruning, and conversion tracking
Traffic without conversion is vanity. Track not just visits but how many sessions turn into signups and paid customers. Different keywords will have wildly different commercial intent. Use that data to prioritize which pages to scale and which to remove.
Most programmatic pages will not get traffic. We observed that a large majority of released pages remain dormant. That is normal. The practical step is to prune or redirect nonperforming pages so your indexing budget and crawler attention focus on winners.
Use server logs and analytics together. Server logs are often more accurate for crawl and visit records; analytics shows user behavior. Combine both to get a reliable signal of which pages earn traffic and which convert.
Key monitoring tasks include:
Traffic attribution — Map organic visits to specific page templates and keywords.
Conversion measurement — Track signups, trials, and paid conversions by landing page.
Pruning plan — Archive or redirect pages that never attract users to preserve indexing budget.
Iterative improvement — Rework templates that show partial traffic but low conversion intent.
Server logs analysis — Use logs to verify crawl frequency and detect indexing anomalies.
Scaling, team and tooling
Scaling programmatic SEO is an operational challenge. It needs a repeatable pipeline, a small team, and clearly documented processes. We hired a focused outreach and content team and trained them on standard operating procedures to scale link building and page quality work.
Offshore teams can be highly effective for outreach and content tasks. We prioritized clear interview questions to test writing ability and logical thinking rather than advanced credentials. Consistent training and simple metrics kept performance predictable.
Tool selection matters. Use volume tools that combine search and clickstream, scraping providers for bulk data, and outreach tools to automate campaigns. Build a monitoring dashboard that merges indexing, traffic, and conversion signals so you can make decisions quickly.
Scaling tasks to delegate and automate:
Hire and train — Recruit writing and outreach staff and give them reproducible playbooks.
Automate templates — Create reusable page templates and automated draft generation pipelines.
Outsource scraping — Buy large datasets or commission scrapers to save internal time.
Centralize tracking — Build a tracker for links, indexed pages, and conversion rates.
Iterate fast — Release in safe batches, measure, and adjust processes based on real results.
Key Takeaways
Programmatic SEO is a systems play. It requires a steady mix of data, content quality, indexing strategy, link building, and measurement. When each piece works together the result can be massive traffic growth and real revenue impact.
The practical steps are clear: pick strong core terms, generate meaningful modifiers, buy or scrape reliable data, create unique page value, manage indexing carefully, and run disciplined outreach. Then measure conversions and prune low performers so your site remains healthy.
This approach scales with repeatable processes and a small, well-trained team. It is not effortless, but it is systematic. If you apply these steps you can move from experimental pages to a programmatic engine that consistently drives new users and revenue.
Finally, experiment responsibly. Legal and privacy constraints matter for contact and personal-data projects. Use public records and licensed datasets appropriately, and prioritize user value over mass publishing for its own sake.
