Jake Ward

Started an SEO agency in 2019. Making $20M/yr for Contact.so clients. Also building: Mentions.so Byword.ai Kleo.so

I’m 27 with 4 businesses and no home.

Here’s how I got here:

Age 0-15:

Spent early life growing up in a hippie commune.

Raised by an incredible single mother who wore both hats. Gave everything to support me.

Overly shy and didn’t speak much.

Seen as a problem by a teacher who suggested there was something wrong with me.

Age 16:

First job stacking supermarket shelves.

Completed high school with bang-average grades.

Started sixth form college.

Age 17:

Quit sixth form college after 3 months due to illness.

Doctor said I was 24 hours away from dying.

Spent my 17th birthday in hospital, tubes everywhere.

Became an apprentice at a print marketing agency. Learnt my way around Adobe’s design suite.

Started doing bits of design work on the side.

Age 18-19:

Discovered search marketing to help get more clients for the print marketing agency.

Became obsessed with SEO. Spent my free time messing around with the websites I built.

Age 20:

Wanted to take marketing more seriously. Quit my job to start a marketing degree.

Quit after 2 weeks.

Started an apprenticeship at an SEO agency where I managed 25 clients and attended college part-time.

Quit after 9 months.

Realised traditional education sucks. I learnt 100x more (and quicker) through self-education.

Went all-in on learning and building whilst living at home with my mum and 2 young siblings.

£0 income.

Age 21:

Got my first 2 freelancing clients on Upwork. They referred me to other clients.

Built a 6-figure business by the end of the year.

Age 22-23:

Started a podcast side project and quickly reached 300,000 listeners per month. Sold it for 5 figures.

Bought and sold 5 websites.

Maxed out my freelancing capacity.

Age 24:

Founded Content Growth and built a team to help companies turn their blog into a 7-figure sales channel.

Started posting on LinkedIn.

Grew revenue by over 200% in 6 months.

Age 25:

Co-founded Byword and launched a platform to help marketers generate articles at scale for SEO.

Sold my belongings, moved out of London and started travelling the world.

Merged Content Growth with Contact Studios to take the SEO agency to the next level.

Helped my mum quit her 15-year corporate job.

Age 26:

Lived out of a suitcase and travelled around 16 countries.

Grown the userbase of my SaaS tools to over 130,000.

Helped multiple unicorn companies scale their SEO with our 25-person team at Contact.

Age 27:

Continuing to levelling up, exploring, following my curiosities, collaborating with great people, and helping family and friends along the way.

Founder

We help software companies get more qualified traffic, sales and revenue through conversion-focused SEO and content marketing. Turn your blog into a 6 figure sales channel.

"I don't know how to do SEO in 2026"

Start from level 1 in The New SEO Game:

SEO isn't just Google rankings anymore.

It's now "Search Everywhere Optimisation".

Reframe your “New SEO” project as a game, and you'll become addicted to levelling up.

Level 1: Traditional SEO

- Fix technical problems killing your rankings
- Research keywords and target quick wins
- Optimise on-page elements (titles, content)
- Earn quality backlinks through outreach and PR

Level 2: AI Search Optimisation

- Format content so AI can parse it easily
- Build pages that AI platforms want to cite
- Structure information for machine consumption
- Test how your brand appears in AI search results

Level 3: Paid Search Visibility

- Run Google Ads for high-intent keywords
- Target competitor terms with YouTube Search Ads
- Capture Bing traffic through Microsoft Ads
- Measure paid performance across every platform

Level 4: LLM Answer SEO

- Produce authoritative content LLMs trust
- Build a knowledge base for AI training data
- Position your brand as the definitive source
- Monitor brand mentions in LLMs with Mentions

Level 5: Brand Authority SEO

- Get unlinked brand mentions across the web
- Feature in industry roundups and expert lists
- Build brand recognition without traditional backlinks
- Track brand mention volume and sentiment

Level 6: Community SEO

- Provide value in relevant Reddit threads
- Share expertise on Quora in your space
- Engage in Slack communities and Discord servers
- Build reputation in industry forums and groups

Level 7: Parasite SEO

- Repurpose content on Medium and LinkedIn Pulse
- Publish beehiiv newsletters to rank in Google
- Guest post on high-authority platforms/websites
- Leverage existing domain authority for quick rankings

Level 8: Platform-Specific SEO

- Optimise for Amazon search if selling products
- Focus on YouTube SEO for video content
- Master TikTok's algorithm for short-form content
- Optimise App Store listings for apps/extensions

Level 9: Topic Domination

- Own conversations across ALL channels
- Create content ecosystems to reinforce each platform
- Become the go-to expert mentioned everywhere
- Monitor and maintain authority across all channels

Completed all levels?

SEO is constantly evolving going into 2026.

Stay ahead or get left behind.

PS. Need help levelling up? We'll help build and execute your “New SEO” domination strategy.

Book a call: https://www.contact.so/

I analysed 66,796 sites to understand where their SEO traffic came from last month.

(You can too at chatgpt-vs-google .com)

Google still dominates at 40.31%.
ChatGPT is just 0.24%.

But here's what most people miss:

Traffic isn't the ONLY metric that matters anymore.

Zero-click searches are everywhere now.

ChatGPT processes 2.5 billion prompts every day, but barely any of them send direct traffic.

AI Overviews now appear in 60% of U.S. searches. And position 1 CTR dropped by -34.5% when AI Overviews appear.

People aren't clicking through like they used to.

They're getting answers directly from AI, and that creates a massive blind spot.

Your brand could be mentioned 10,000 times in ChatGPT responses.

Your product could be recommended in Claude conversations.

Your company could appear in Google AI Mode answers.

None of that shows up in your traffic data.

That's why I've been building Mentions for the past few months. I needed a way to track this visibility.

Because the future of SEO isn't just ranking on Google.

It's being visible wherever people ask questions.

Lumen SEO

Lumen SEO is the 100% transparent SEO agency. Our mission is to redefine an industry known for it's lack of clarity and trust. Our aim is to be the most trusted SEO agency in the world, and I do that by trusting and empowering our people.

CEO & Founder

NEW DAWN ORGANIC SKIN AND HAIR CARE LTD

Advising on the marketing and growth of a natural skin and hair care company based in Pembrokeshire. Using a combination of marketing psychology and digital marketing, I am responsible for ensuring the business experiences year on year growth.

Director

Coleg Gwent

Like a careers coach, but for starting businesses. Supporting young talented students find their purpose and find financial freedom through entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneur in Residence

University of South Wales

Encouraging young talented and creative individuals to work with purpose, confidence and curiosity. Currently teaching business, marketing and leadership modules to creative industry students.

Marketing & Leadership Lecturer

Learna Ltd

Managing all operations in SEO, PPC and Sales.

Learna provides online education to thousands of postgraduate students around the globe.

Digital Marketer

Alpacr

Leading the Digital Marketing campaigns for a brand new social network for travellers.

Alpacr is a new exciting social-networking platform for people travelling and adventuring.

Whether you are backpacking around Thailand, kayaking in the US, or skiing in France, Alpacr is the voice of your adventure. Download today, begin the adventure.

Head Of Marketing Operations

Google

Following Google training I embraced the responsibility of leading a team of skilled marketeers in delivering marketing tuition and inspiring students, startups, SMEs and non-profits. I specialised in environmental and music clients managing and refining content for over 100 businesses, targeting multiple markets in a fast-paced environment.

Digital Marketing Consultant

The Lost Agency PR

The agency specialise in achieving national airplay and play-listing international artists. As part of a small team I am responsible for forming and nurturing relationships with BBC Radio, Commercial Radio, Indie Radio and Spotify Playlist curators. Fuelled by a passion for artist development I formed relationships with over 15 indie and BBC radio presenters, successfully achieved playlist success for over 10 clients and introduced Analytics into artist monitoring; all whilst at University. Excellent communication and press release writing skills were required.

Radio Plugger & PR

Alter Beat Music Services

Running the business from day to day
Organising and running events
Managing temporary staff
Teaching different age groups

Owner

Town and Country Broadcasting

Full time employment at Town and Country Broadcasting on a fixed term contract at their Radio Pembrokeshire HQ in Narberth.

Carrying out Outside Broadcasts, commercial scheduling and event organisation.

Promotions and Traffic Assistant

UK workers are unfulfilled, unfocused and lack autonomy. 

As CEO of Lumen SEO, director at New Dawn Organics and guest speaker for Cardiff University, USW and Business Wales I am helping young people build a life they love through purposeful work, discipline and self-belief.

Aled Nelmes

Parental leave changes today 👶

This is our new policy, and it's going to change the game 👇

Lumen SEO staff are now entitled to a full 9 months of fully paid parental leave - full salary, 9 months 📅

Simple - as all things should be. 🙏

I've watched as the government have said "young people need to have more children" and read articles about the "responsibility" upon young people to sustain a growing population, and I've had enough 😓

As always, I believe it's businesses, it's the private sector that can move faster and set a better example 💪

Why this policy?

- Because not all births are smooth sailing 🤱

- Because statutory leave does not consider same sex parents 👨‍❤️‍👨

- Because fathers deserve the same amount of time to experience one of the most beautiful chapters of life 👨‍👩‍👦

- Because it makes no sense to have income reduced at the same time you get an additional mouth to feed 💲

- To reduce the gender pay gap 💸

- To give brand new humans the best start at life 👦👧

Is this a profitable decision? 🤔

In the short term, absolutely not 📉

In the long term? Like the 32 hour week, I believe it is 📈

It's the right thing to do 💙

Thank you so much to Sarah Eynon, Kirsty Betteridge and the 100+ people who commented and gave their time, stories, and insight - you inspire me 🙏

Questions? I'd love to hear them and I'm happy to share how we've structured the business to achieve this because it took a lot of planning 👇

Building People-First Businesses | Lumen SEO Founder & Guest Speaker

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The Battle

Jake Ward

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jake Ward's LinkedIn Performance

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