Introduction
Heads of SEO often face a critical issue: vital technical tasks (Hreflang implementation, Core Web Vitals fixes, dynamic meta tags) get lost in the product backlog. Developers fail to see the business value, and Product Managers prioritize user-facing features.
The solution is standardization via an SEO PRD. This document translates abstract SEO requests into product language, making them clear, measurable, and mandatory.
SEO Feature PRD: Template
1. Product Overview
This section explains the initiative and its strategic fit.
Feature Name: (e.g., Automated FAQ Schema Generation for Category Pages)
Context: (e.g., Our SERP CTR is below benchmark (2% vs 5%). Competitor snippets look richer due to FAQ blocks.)
Primary Goal: (e.g., Increase organic traffic by 15% by capturing SERP real estate via Rich Snippets.)
2. Business Objectives
| Metric | Current Value | Target Value | Deadline | Business Impact |
| Organic Traffic | 10,000 visits | 11,500 visits | Q3 2024 | +3% Lead Growth |
| Indexation (GSC) | 80% of pages | 95% of pages | Q3 2024 | Eliminating traffic leaks |
| Core Web Vitals (LCP) | 3.5 sec | < 2.5 sec | Q3 2024 | Reduced Bounce Rate |
3. Stakeholders
RACI matrix to prevent conflicts.
SEO Manager: (Accountable) Requirement owner, final sign-off.
Product Manager: (Consulted) Roadmap prioritization.
Developers: (Responsible) Coding and architecture compliance.
QA: (Informed) Testing against acceptance criteria.
4. Functional Requirements (User Stories)
| User Story | Priority (MoSCoW) | Technical Details |
As an SEO Specialist, I want a self-referencing Canonical tag generated for all pages to prevent duplicate content issues. | MUST | Implement in <head>. Must be absolute URL & HTTPS. |
As Googlebot, I want to see Hreflang tags on localized versions to correctly target users by region. | MUST | Bidirectional links (x-default + lang codes). |
| As a User, I want images to load in WebP format so that the page loads faster. | SHOULD | Implement via <picture> tag or CDN auto-format. |
Validation: Schema markup passes the Google Rich Results Test with zero errors.
Crawlability: New pages return a 200 OK status code and are not blocked by robots.txt.
Performance: Script implementation does not degrade LCP by more than 0.1s.
QA: Tags are visible in the Source Code (View Source), not just the DOM (crucial for CSR websites).
Author: Yautseyeva Natallia
"With 11 years in growth and SEO, having worked with top agencies and accelerators, I am now based in Shanghai. I build a bridge between traditional SEO and emerging tech. I consult founders on how to secure their traffic as users shift to ChatGPT."
