Templated pages at scale, where does thin start?

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Ayanseo

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Programmatic pages are everywhere right now, the same template filled with a different city, product or tool name. Some of these sites seem to hold their pages in the index at a few thousand URLs, and others get stuck in crawled, currently not indexed after the first batch.
From what I have read, the difference is not the number of pages but whether each page has something that is unique to it. Not just a swapped keyword or a rewritten intro. Real data, a local detail, a calculation, something a user would not get from the next page in the set.
Where do you draw the line? Do you publish a small batch first and wait to see what gets indexed before scaling? And is there one element you add to every template that made a visible difference to indexing or rankings?
 
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Start with a small batch and see how they perform before scaling. Each page needs to offer something useful beyond just changing the city or keyword.

Unique data, specific examples, or a tool that actually solves a problem can make a big difference.
 
internal links between related pages helps the most, like nearby cities on each city page. the orphan ones are usually the ones stuck in crawled not indexed
 
Ayanseo said:
Programmatic pages are everywhere right now, the same template filled with a different city, product or tool name. Some of these sites seem to hold their pages in the index at a few thousand URLs, and others get stuck in crawled, currently not indexed after the first batch.
From what I have read, the difference is not the number of pages but whether each page has something that is unique to it. Not just a swapped keyword or a rewritten intro. Real data, a local detail, a calculation, something a user would not get from the next page in the set.
Where do you draw the line? Do you publish a small batch first and wait to see what gets indexed before scaling? And is there one element you add to every template that made a visible difference to indexing or rankings?
Click to expand...
I’d test a small batch first and monitor indexing. Unique data and genuinely useful content matter more than simply changing keywords.
 
I would begin with a small number of pages and see how Google indexes these pages first the city or the keyword variation does not seem to be sufficient if all the other content remains nearly similar i will add valuable information or data that is relevant to each of the pages.
 
i publish a small batch first, always, about 50 pages, and then i do the thing nobody in this thread said. i dont wait for google to find them, i point links at them. the orphan point above is right but internal links alone didnt do it for me on a fresh templated site, the pages sat in crawled not indexed for a month. once i put a tier of links at a few dozen of them from support sites they went in within 2 weeks and the rest followed through the internal links. the unique element on my template is a small data table per page, but honestly the links did more for indexing than the data did
 
Ayanseo said:
Programmatic pages are everywhere right now, the same template filled with a different city, product or tool name. Some of these sites seem to hold their pages in the index at a few thousand URLs, and others get stuck in crawled, currently not indexed after the first batch.
From what I have read, the difference is not the number of pages but whether each page has something that is unique to it. Not just a swapped keyword or a rewritten intro. Real data, a local detail, a calculation, something a user would not get from the next page in the set.
Where do you draw the line? Do you publish a small batch first and wait to see what gets indexed before scaling? And is there one element you add to every template that made a visible difference to indexing or rankings?
Click to expand...
I’d test a small batch first. If every page offers something useful and unique, scaling makes more sense.
 
Testing small batches first is definitely the way to go adding custom schema and unique dynamic data points per location helps avoid getting stuck in crawled not indexed.
 
Anantara said:
i publish a small batch first, always, about 50 pages, and then i do the thing nobody in this thread said. i dont wait for google to find them, i point links at them. the orphan point above is right but internal links alone didnt do it for me on a fresh templated site, the pages sat in crawled not indexed for a month. once i put a tier of links at a few dozen of them from support sites they went in within 2 weeks and the rest followed through the internal links. the unique element on my template is a small data table per page, but honestly the links did more for indexing than the data did
Click to expand...
What are support links here? What kind of links do you use in tier 1?
 
I’d pilot a representative batch with data that helps users decide, like actual local prices. Indexing alone wouldn’t convince me to scale; I’d also check relevant queries, impressions and conversions.
 
I'd publish a small batch first and check indexing. Each page should offer unique data or useful information, not just swapped keywords.
 
Publish 20–50 pages first, add unique data and actionable insights, then scale based on indexing results.
 
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