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 28 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 28:

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 in 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/

Rank #1 in ChatGPT and AI Search: My next LIVE SEO session on 8th April. Co-Founder at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

SEO?
“Just add some keywords”
”Get green lights on Yoast”
”Let’s write a blog and rank #1?”
”Can’t we just buy some backlinks?”

But SEO in 2026 is a totally different beast.

Here’s what it actually involves:

- Total Addressable Search Market
- Google Search Console
- “Don’t change URLs”
- Quick win keywords
- Customer research
- Programmatic SEO
- Entity optimization
- LLM optimization
- Keyword Insights
- Topical authority
- Site architecture
- Schema markup
- Core Web Vitals
- Monthly reports
- Log file analysis
- Google updates
- Brand mentions
- Screaming Frog
- Technical audit
- Content decay
- Internal linking
- XML Sitemaps
- Topic clusters
- “llms.txt file?”
- Search intent
- Link building
- “It depends”
- Crawlability
- Canonicals
- Robots.txt
- Digital PR
- Mentions
- Semrush
- E-E-A-T

Just adding keywords or getting green lights on Yoast doesn't get SEO results.

True SEO and holistic marketing does.

I can’t stop thinking about this Tweet.

ChatGPT now handles over 2.5 billion queries per day and Google is eventually defaulting to "AI Mode."

This is the future of SEO.

6 tips you need to rank in AI platforms:

1. Win brand mentions

- Get your brand mentioned on high-authority websites
- Contribute to industry publications
- Be featured in news outlets
- Engage in forums and community discussions
- Encourage authentic UGC and word-of-mouth mentions

2. Build brand equity

- Monitor online reviews and brand sentiment
- Respond to feedback and address complaints
- Build a consistent, trustworthy public image
- Use tools like Mentions.so to track visibility, sentiment, and competitors

3. Be the source

- Publish authoritative, reference-style content
- Use neutral, factual, data-backed tone
- Avoid excessive personal takes or fluff
- Regularly update key content for accuracy
- Include credible citations and external data sources

4. Embrace passage-level SEO

- Structure content into short, focused paragraphs
- Use clear subheadings for logical segmentation
- Include concise, standalone answers
- Avoid burying insights in long text block
- Add structured data (e.g. schema markup)
- Make each paragraph extractable and cite-ready

5. Cover the conversation

- Use tools like Semrush for question research
- Monitor forums/socials for emerging questions
- Identify and answer sub-questions users ask
- Add relevant FAQs and support content
- Internally link related topic clusters

6. Optimise for crawlability

- Ensure AI crawlers are allowed in robots.txt
- Verify CDN settings aren't blocking crawlers
- Submit up-to-date XML sitemaps in GSC
- Optimise for fast page speed and clean HTML
- Review server logs for GPTBot, BingBot, etc. behaviour

But first, start with an audit:

- Your current visibility across all LLMs
- Prompt and content gaps vs your competitors
- Technical issues preventing AI from citing your site

Use a tool like Mentions.so to find this information.

Don’t regret not starting AI SEO sooner.

SaaS SEO in 2026: Join my (free) LIVE session on 4th March. Co-Founder and Head of Strategy & Innovation at Contact (and 3x SaaS companies).

SEO has been dying since 1997.

Some notable "deaths" include:

- Web 3.0
- Google Ads
- Social media
- TikTok search
- Voice assistants
- Featured snippets
- Zero-click searches
- Every Google update
- AI Overviews in Google
- GEO/AEO as the new SEO
- ChatGPT replacing Google

And now... AI agents?

Here’s the reality:

- SEO will always evolve
- People will always use search
- Search habits take time to change
- Google handles 14B+ daily searches
- Sends 190x more traffic than ChatGPT
- SEO is a $100B+ industry (growing ~12% YoY)

Even the newest "SEO killer" (GEO/AEO) is literally built on SEO fundamentals.

Richard Hoy said this in 1997:

"I’m beginning to believe that search engines are a dead-end technology and fretting over where your site comes up is a big waste of time."

Don’t be him in 2026.

SEO is very much alive.

I literally live and breathe this SEO framework.

5 years ago, I watched a SaaS company burn through 6 months of content budget. 60 blog posts on topics like "what is email marketing" and "benefits of newsletters."

Their traffic skyrocketed, but their revenue flatlined.

Their entire content game was backwards.

So that's when I built my "SEO Content Pyramid" to flip it completely and start at the top.

Here's how it works:

1. Convert (Top of Pyramid)

High-intent content for people ready to buy.

A. Competitor Comparisons
↳ "beehiiv vs Kit"
↳ "Kit alternatives"

B. Product Reviews
↳ "beehiiv reviews" (brand)
↳ "Kit review" (competitor)

C. Buyer Guides
↳ "Best newsletter platforms in 2026"
↳ "Best newsletter tools for beginners"

D. Product Pages
↳ "Email newsletter software"
↳ "Newsletter platform pricing"

2. Discover (Middle of Pyramid)

Solution content for people exploring options.

A. Solve Pain Points
↳ "How to start a newsletter"
↳ "Newsletter best practises"

B. Case Studies
↳ "Email marketing case studies"
↳ "How [Brand] grew to 100k subscribers"

C. Data Studies
↳ "Open rate benchmarks 2026"
↳ "Email marketing statistics"

D. Templates and Tools
↳ "Newsletter templates"
↳ "Email subject line generator"

3. Awareness (Bottom of Pyramid)

Educational content for people learning and exploring.

A. Definitions
↳ "What is open rate"
↳ "Email deliverability explained"

B. Educational Guides
↳ "How to increase email open rate"
↳ "How to write engaging emails"

C. Industry Trends and News
↳ "Gmail manage subscriptions feature"
↳ "Email marketing trends 2026"

D. Ideas
↳ "Newsletter content ideas"
↳ "Email campaign ideas for holidays"

Start at the top with Convert content. Only move to Discover once you've covered every competitor comparison, product review, and buyer guide. Then tackle Awareness last.

This framework will 10x your SEO results.

A single "Competitor Alternatives" blog post made $1M+ in revenue for my SaaS client over 3 years.

They are ALWAYS the highest converting articles.

Alternative articles help users discover a better alternative (i.e. your product) to what they're currently using or considering buying.

For example:

You might target the following keywords if you're a team communication platform.

- Microsoft Teams Alternatives
- Discord Alternatives
- Slack Alternatives

= 16.5K/mo Google searches

These searchers are the most ready-to-buy AND they’re highly cited by LLMs once ranking in Google.

Here’s how to write your own:

PS. I’m hosting my very first SaaS SEO in 2026 LIVE session on March 4th. Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

I've been doing SEO for 10 years and AI search is making me rethink everything I know, here are 10 changes I’m seeing:

PS. Join my (free) SaaS SEO in 2026 live session on Wednesday, March 4th @ 12pm EST.

Add it to your calendar: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

SEO vs AI SEO/AEO/GEO...

I just built SEO strategies for beehiiv and Kleo.

A ~$300M newsletter platform and my own 7-figure SaaS we launched 43 days ago.

(Sadly I didn't make this pic with Tyler Denk)

Completely different products, audiences, and business stages. But I'm using the same playbook.

SaaS SEO in 2026 isn't what it was 2-3 years ago.

The old playbook:

- Target high volume keywords
- Build comparison pages
- Rank in Google and get clicks

But in 2026:

1. Search is as fragmented as ever across Google, LLMs, socials, and other platforms.

2. Even if you rank, SERPs are busy with AI Overviews and ads making position 1 less valuable.

3. Zero-click searches mean AI is answering queries before any clicks to your website.

4. AI has commoditised average content and the quality bar is much higher.

I'm breaking down how I built the strategies for beehiiv and Kleo in a live session tomorrow at 12PM EST.

You'll see:

- What 20% of SEO to focus on in 2026
- How to rank across Google AND AI platforms
- The exact playbook for turning SEO into revenue

Register for free: https://lnkd.in/eherWr2a

PS. The next 20 SaaS companies that register and comment below get a free AI visibility report from my team (normally only for our clients like beehiiv).

Marketing today is no longer just creative, it’s technical, behavioral, AI-driven, and deeply connected to trust. I operate at the intersection of all four.

My background blends software engineering, marketing strategy, and AI-driven systems, which allows me to help brands simplify complexity, scale responsibly, and grow through clarity, precision, and intelligent execution. 

As Founder of Nexa Engage, I work with ambitious B2B and tech companies to build marketing ecosystems that combine:
• B2B lead generation 
• Founder-led marketing
• High-converting growth strategy
• Responsible, compliant email marketing
• AI-powered automation and content systems
• Clear positioning and narrative development

I’m also exploring the emerging space of AI governance, AI ethics, and responsible AI adoption, specifically how AI will reshape marketing, data privacy, content authenticity, and the decisions companies make at scale. 

The next phase of marketing isn’t just faster. It’s more accountable, more human, and more secure. Alongside agency work, I teach email marketing and B2B lead generation at Brainster, helping the next generation understand how to blend human insight with AI capabilities.

What I share and write here:
• B2B lead generation, growth strategy
• Founder-led marketing systems
• Email marketing, compliance, responsible outreach
• AI in marketing, AI governance, ethical AI practices
• Content authenticity, search evolution, misinformation challenges
• How to build modern marketing operations that scaleIf you believe marketing should make sense, not noise. 

Let’s connect.

📩 Book a call: https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/ljubcho

Ljubcho Gjorgjioski

Последно време сум запнал на едно нешто.
Наратив. Та наратив.

"Кој ти beep со тој наратив?" 🙃

Е па вака.

Работејќи со различни клиенти, скоро секогаш слушам исто прашање:
"Од каде да почнеме? Да пуштиме некоја реклама? Google Ads нешто?"

Пред да "пуштиме" реклама, секогаш им поставувам едно многу едноставно прашање: Објасни ми го твојот бренд со 3 збора. Или во една реченица.

И тука почнува вербалната гимнастика.
Добивам 15 минути визија, мисија, планови…
Па "ти пушти сега реклама, а наративот ќе го мислиме после, и купи леб и млеко по пат... 🤣".

Или:
"А бе што ја мислиш толку, пиши нешто на Џи Пи Ти да не губиме време."

А кога ќе отворам веб страна, во hero section стои:
"Ние сме tool/service/company за тоа и тоа."
"Helping you grow one lead at a time."
"Grow your business one customer at a time." 🤦‍♂️🥲

Супер. 👏

Со тоа сте уште еден tool/service.
Ништо повеќе од конкуренцијата.

А проблемот е едноставен:
Луѓето не купуваат tools/services/products.
Луѓето купуваат затоа што се поистоветуваат со вашата приказна. Со вашиот наратив.

Patagonia не продава јакни. Продава мисија за планетата.

Nike vs Puma: Продаваат патики. Скоро идентични модели, сличен квалитет.

Ама Nike продава мотивација, инспирација, "Just Do It" менталитет.
Puma продава брзина, перформанс.

Under Armour vs Gymshark: Продаваат фитнес облека, ама наративот е сосема различен.

Under Armour продава "underdog" дух, resilience, grit, "The Only Way Is Through".
Gymshark продава "garage-to-global" приказна, authenticity, community, and "lifting culture."

Иста облека. Различна приказна. Различна цена. Различна публика.

Ако твојот наратив е самопрезентација, а не guidance, имаш проблем.

Вие не сте херојот во приказната. Вашиот customer е.
Вие сте водичот. Менторот. 

Оној што им помага да станат тоа што сакаат да бидат.

Не зборуваме за copywriting и "убави зборови".

Зборуваме за основата на тоа зошто некој би платил $100 наместо $10.
Луѓето не купуваат за да те направат тебе херој.
Тие купуваат за да станат тие херојот.

И да, тоа носи big money.

Разликата помеѓу "уште еден tool за $10/месец" и "premium решение за $100/месец" обично не е во features.
Туку во тоа како им зборуваш на луѓето преку твојот brand.

Кога ќе почнеш да градиш наратив наместо да собираш features, цената веќе не е проблем.

Brand narrative е навистина underrated.

И еве една мала брза вежба за крај.

Ако имаш бренд или градиш personal brand:

🤔 Дали зборуваш за features/services?
🤔 Дали зборуваш за тоа зошто постоиш?
🤔 Дали конкурент може да го стави истиот текст на својата страна?
🤔 Дали customer е херојот или ти во приказната?

Ако на барем три прашања одговорот е погрешен, не ти треба уште една реклама.

Fractional CMO & Strategic Marketing for CEOs and B2B Companies | Founder, Nexa Engage | Certified Digital Marketing Professional

Most founders I meet aren’t failing.

They’re actually successful.
They started.
They shipped.
They didn’t overthink.
They figured things out as they went.
That’s why the business exists in the first place.

But there’s a moment, and it’s a quiet one, when success starts to feel heavy.
Marketing stalls, comms gets inconsistent, newsletters stop (or simply are boring and repetitive), communities go quiet...

Not because founders don’t care.
But because they’re wearing too many hats being CEO, CMO Sales, Finance, HR).

And marketing is always the one that gets postponed because "we’ll get to it next week."

This is usually the phase when founders start asking themselves:
🤔 What should I focus on now?
🤔 What actually moves the business forward?
🤔 Where is this going if I keep operating like this?

It’s not a motivation problem.
It’s not a talent or resources problem.
It’s a structure problem.

Founder-led execution works at the beginning.
But at some point, the business needs to become independent of the founder’s energy, especially in marketing.

And here’s the important part:
When founders are present enough to recognize this phase and communicate it clearly, to themselves, they usually succeed more, not less.

Because marketing at this stage isn’t about campaigns, quick wins or simply chasing the next tactic and trend.

It’s about a long-term, overarching strategy that keeps the business moving forward even when attention is elsewhere.

That’s where fractional CMOs become useful.

Not because we have a magic playbook.
But because we’ve seen where things break, and where they’re rebuilt.

We’ve been inside the mess and the cleanup.
We have a nose for when something looks good on the surface, but is quietly holding the business back.

Growth doesn’t break companies.
Unstructured growth does.

If you’re a founder who feels like marketing is "working, but somehow stuck," this might not be a performance problem, it might just be the phase you’re in.

I’m open to a quick conversation to help you think it through.

taplio

The Battle

Jake Ward

Ljubcho Gjorgjioski

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taplio

The Battle

Jake Ward

Ljubcho Gjorgjioski

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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Performance ScoreJake Ward's LinkedIn Performance