banatie-strategy/execution/19-placeholder-seo-sprint.md

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Placeholder SEO Sprint

Date Created: January 2, 2026
Status: Active — Track A remaining
Priority: HIGH
Owner: Oleg
Last Updated: January 5, 2026


Sprint Summary

@spy research uncovered major SEO opportunity:

Metric Value
Total search volume 31,000+/month
Zero-KD keywords 10+ keywords (profile, ios, dark mode)
AI competitors ZERO
Direct user validation r/ClaudeAI quote about MCP for placeholders

Strategic approach: "Trojan Horse" — capture placeholder traffic, convert to full generation users.

Source: /banatie-content/research/keywords/placeholder-niche-deep-dive-2026-01-02.md


Research Key Findings

Top Keywords by Priority

Keyword Volume KD Status
placeholder image 14,800 18 → Landing page
image placeholder dark 4,400 2 Covered in guide
app placeholder image 1,900 2 Covered in guide
profile placeholder image 720 0 Covered in guide
placeholder image url 390 21 Covered in Live URLs docs

Zero-KD Opportunities (all covered in guide)

  • profile placeholder image — 720 vol, KD 0
  • ios placeholder image — 590 vol, KD 0
  • loading image placeholder — 170 vol, KD 0
  • image placeholder dark — 4,400 vol, KD 2
  • app placeholder image — 1,900 vol, KD 2

Direct User Validation

From r/ClaudeAI:

"right now my instructions are to just do placeholder image in various sizes... I am wondering if there is an mcp that can create or fetch these images for Claude instead."


Execution Status

Track A: Landing Page /placeholder-images TODO

Goal: Capture 14,800+ monthly searches for core placeholder keywords

Target Keywords:

  • placeholder image (14,800)
  • image placeholder (14,800)
  • ai placeholder images
  • placeholder image generator
  • placeholder image url

Page Structure:

1. HERO
   ├── H1: "AI Placeholder Images"
   ├── Subhead: "Generate contextual placeholders instantly"
   └── CTA: "Try It Free"

2. HOW IT WORKS (3 steps)

3. SIZE GRID (interactive)
   ├── Avatar (200×200)
   ├── Thumbnail (300×200)
   ├── Card (400×300)
   └── Hero (1200×630)

4. COMPARISON TABLE
   | placehold.co | Gray boxes |
   | picsum.photos | Random stock |
   | Banatie | AI-generated, contextual |

5. PRODUCTION BRIDGE
   └── "Same images work in production"

6. FOOTER CTA

File to create:

  • apps/landing/src/app/(landings)/placeholder-images/page.tsx

Track B: Docs Updates COMPLETE

Task Status Location
Live URLs — placeholder section Done /docs/live-urls/
Guides section created Done /docs/guides/
Placeholder Images guide Done /docs/guides/placeholder-images/

Guide covers:

  • Quick Start with Live URLs
  • Templates (general, photorealistic, illustration, etc.)
  • Dark mode and color control
  • Common use cases (avatars, heroes, products, testimonials)
  • File-based workflow (API download)

Track C: Homepage Quick Wins COMPLETE

Task Status
Keywords in metadata Added placeholder-related keywords
PromptUrlsSection subtitle Updated to mention placeholders

Success Metrics

Completed

  • Placeholder guide live at /docs/guides/placeholder-images/
  • Live URLs docs enhanced with placeholder examples
  • Homepage keywords updated
  • All pages in sitemap

Week 1 Targets

  • /placeholder-images landing live and indexed
  • GSC submission for new pages

Month 1 Targets

  • GSC shows impressions for placeholder keywords
  • First organic clicks from placeholder searches

Month 3 Targets

  • Top 20 for "placeholder image" (14,800 vol)
  • Top 10 for "image placeholder dark" (4,400 vol, KD 2)

Next Steps

  1. Create landing page /placeholder-images

    • Use research findings for structure
    • Include interactive size grid
    • Show comparison with competitors
  2. Submit to GSC after deployment

  3. Monitor rankings for target keywords


Keyword Cannibalization Prevention

Decision Date: January 6, 2026

Guide and Landing target the same keyword cluster but different search intents. This prevents cannibalization.

Intent Separation

Aspect Guide (/docs/guides/placeholder-images/) Landing (/placeholder-images)
Intent Informational — "how to use" Transactional — "I want a service"
Title focus "How to Generate...", "Guide", "Examples" "Generator", "API", "Service"
H1 "AI Placeholder Images" "AI Placeholder Image Generator"
Content How-to, code examples, prompt tips Features, comparison table, pricing, CTA
Target queries "how to generate placeholder images", "placeholder tutorial" "placeholder image generator", "placeholder api service"

Current Implementation

Guide (DONE):

  • Title: AI Placeholder Image Generator — Light & Dark Mode | Banatie
  • Focus: Tutorial content, code snippets, LivePreview examples
  • Sections: Light/Dark Mode, Prompt Tips, Examples by use case
  • URL: /docs/guides/placeholder-images/

Landing (TODO):

  • Title: Should include "Generator" or "Service" + transactional framing
  • Focus: Product benefits, comparison with competitors, conversion
  • Sections: Hero → How It Works → Size Grid → Comparison → CTA
  • URL: /placeholder-images

Shared Keywords — Allowed

Both pages can mention:

  • "placeholder images"
  • "image placeholder dark"
  • "ai placeholder"

Google will rank the appropriate page based on query intent.

Keywords to Differentiate

Guide should rank for Landing should rank for
how to create placeholder placeholder image generator
placeholder image tutorial ai placeholder service
placeholder images examples placeholder image api
dark mode placeholder guide generate placeholder images online

Reference Documents

  • Research: /banatie-content/research/keywords/placeholder-niche-deep-dive-2026-01-02.md
  • Guide revision task: /banatie-service/inbox/task-placeholder-guide-revision.md (if created)
  • Docs SEO analysis: /banatie-content/research/keywords/docs-seo-analysis-2026-01-02.md

Document Owner: @men
Last Updated: January 6, 2026
Next Review: After landing page deployment
Status: Track B+C complete, Track A in progress