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.

Successful SEO looks like:

- 120 new blog posts
- 60 high DR backlinks
- 500 AI-created pages
- 1,000% growth in traffic

But remember, it also looks like:

- Removing 3 cannibalising pages
- Improving a cluster’s internal linking
- Tweaking 5 titles for better targeting
- Fixing internal links to canonical pages
- Writing a featured snippet in 10 minutes
- No-indexing low-quality pages in Google
- Redirecting a 404 page with 30 backlinks
- Creating indexable URLs for 15 sales pages
- Adding a new section to an existing blog post

Don’t forget to consistently do the little things.

They can be just as impactful.

VSCO®

Senior SEO Manager

ThinkShout

▪ Plan and execute comprehensive digital strategy for large nonprofit organizations, specifically focused on site redesigns and iteration / feature development. 
▪ Strategic expertise includes search engine optimization (SEO), web analytics, and content strategy. 
▪ Conduct analytics audits, optimize information architecture and site structure, plan content strategy, map user journeys, improve conversion rates, and execute analytics measurement plans. 
▪ Analyze and deliver data visualization reports to provide insights to stakeholders. 
▪ Collaborate across departments with copywriters, designers, and web developers to efficiently create and implement SEO projects, content strategy, A/B tests, and analytics tracking.

Tools: Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Optimize, Google Search Console, Google Data Studio, Screaming Frog, BrightEdge, Hotjar, Crazy Egg, SEMrush, Ahrefs

Senior Strategist

Intuitive Digital

▪ Specialized in on-site and off-site search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that help improve search rankings for ecommerce and local businesses in a variety of verticals.
▪ Keyword research, targeted content creation, technical audits & enhancements, site structure planning, Schema markup, data collection & analysis, and user experience optimizations to bring high-quality organic traffic. 
▪ Used tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Google Data Studio, Google My Business, Ahrefs, Moz, SEMRush, Hotjar, Unbounce, Search Console, BrightLocal, and many more.
▪ Team lead of 4-5 SEO Digital Strategists and Copywriters

Senior Strategist & SEO Team Lead

Lead SEO Digital Strategist

SEO Digital Strategist

SEO Digital Analyst

Squarespace

▪ Offered technical support regarding web design, formatting and layout, domain and email registration, SEO techniques, site analytics, e-commerce tools, social media, and third party integrations such as email marketing services.
▪ Provided accurate advice and troubleshot issues regarding the use of the website building platform, Squarespace, as part of the award-winning Customer Care team.
▪ Guided and taught a variety of users from freelance web designers to customers with no coding knowledge or technical experience.

Customer Operations Advisor

OMIC USA Inc.

▪ Collected customer data to assist in marketing strategy.
▪ Maintained document control and wrote SOPs for training.
▪ Intermediated between laboratory and clients using logistics, planning projects, and managing tasks. 
▪ Helped clients determine import/export testing requirements.
▪ Received samples, cataloged, and entered into LIMS system.

Sample Processor & Customer Service Representative

Bridgetown Natural Foods

▪	Wrote SOPs, SSOPs, and analysis procedures for technicians to follow.
▪	Adjusted production needs in response to changing data.
▪	Ensured compliance with GMPs, HACCP, and SQF requirements. 
▪	Monitored critical control points and performed food analysis.       
▪	HACCP trained and certified.

Quality Assurance Lead

Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates

▪	Performed analyses on grapes and juice samples before and during fermentation. 
▪	Daily viticulture, cellar additions, and laboratory work.
▪	Analyzed data to navigate and improve fermentation.
▪	Techniques: pH Measurements, Brix & Temperature Measurements, Yeast Additions, Dilutions,       Titrations, VA measurements, Residual Sugar, Specific gravity

Harvest Intern at Stonestreet Wines

University of Washington

▪ Analyzed data for research purposes 
▪ Performed genetic mapping
▪ Techniques: PCR, Agarose Gel Electrophoresis, Genomic DNA Isolation, DNA Digestion, DNA Sequencing, Fluorescence Microscopy, and Gel extraction

Undergraduate Researcher

I blend technical and creative to create high-quality organic growth. I help organizations bring in relevant organic visitors from search results and optimize the converting power of sites through web strategy, analytics, SEO, content, and user experience.

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The Battle

Jake Ward

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The Battle

Jake Ward

Lynn Hericks

Followers

Posts

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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