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.

Kenmore and Brands

Strategy owner for owned, earned, and paid media channels.

Director of Marketing

Social Media Management
Graphic Design
Copywriting
Digital Content Development
Content Management
PR & Communications
Brand Strategy

Senior Marketing Manager

Transformco

Home Improvement Marketing Program Management
KCD Brands Marketing Program Support
Strategy & Execution Partner on all brand creative
Organic Social Strategy Development Owner
Internal and External Corporate Communications Manager
Paid Social, Paid Display, and Paid Search Graphic Designer and Copywriter

Senior Marketing Manager, Home Services

Sears Home Improvement Products

Cross-Functional Project Management
New Hire Program Design and Development
Embedment Content Design and Development
Internal Communications Management
Sales Technology Procurement and Contract Execution Management

Senior Manager, National Sales Training

Sears Home Services

Partnered with field sales development as UX design support and concept development for web-based coaching and performance improvement engagement platform

Reinvented home improvement referral program design for internal full-line stores, content and branding refresh in coordination with payment structure updates

Scoped, developed, and implemented updated sales incentive program for HVAC technicians, in alignment with updated business dynamics and in-home technician structure to improve efficiencies in training, program updates, and payroll practices

Led rewrite of call center experience for in-home consultation scheduling, including testing and update of ancillary sales offers

Performed full customer experience review, complete with industry and market data/practices, and redesign concept for end-to-end home improvement journey. Currently overseeing/executing action plan for implementation of updated experience

Acted as customer advocate for both customer project portal UX strategy design and production contact strategy redesign; designed portal usage strategy for end-to-end customer journey

Outlined and built 360-view, comprehensive lead nurturing strategy for Sit-No-Sale customers, including automated email development 

Supported design, development and launch of lead generation and production job status SMS notification series for home improvement projects

CMS Management and Communications support for internal associate engagement

Sales Channel Strategy Development Manager

Designed and built business vision documents for CEO's growth strategy communications

Designed and drafted engagement strategies for new products and services for both call center and in-home technician sales channels

Built training packages for Test & Learn initiatives including Presentations, Facilitator Guides, Participant Guides, Quick Reference Guides, Process Documents, and Engagement Overview Resources
Crafted strategy content documents designed to inform, educate, or train at multiple leadership levels to support proposed initiatives and implemented activities 

Collected and designed business update content for our CEO for internal and external board of director meetings

Designed engagement strategies and training content for service offerings available on ServiceLIVE.com including call center Member Support, remote technicians, and product sales as a start-up initiative. Participated in UX design meetings and provided customer-facing site-use and copywriting feedback  to enable conversion

Manager, Sales Development 

Sears Holdings Corporation

Responsible for the growth and development of the Market Training teams for the Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis Markets of our Sears Full Line Stores. My job is to provide them with every tool and resource necessary to provide the best support, and therefore best results in 76 units. 

My job also includes partnering with Market, Regional, and corporate staff to evaluate current and future initiatives and plan the most efficient means of communicating and implementing within the various aspects of our Northwest region field leadership teams.

Project - Development of our hourly orientation class materials, including Facilitator Guide, Associate Guide, Presentation Deck, and supplemental materials for Sears Full Line Stores. Responsible for:
 > Soliciting ongoing feedback from national training team and store staff to determine gaps in training delivery to curriculum retention. 
> Partnering with corporate content owners to ensure fresh, updated curriculum is built into facilitation.
> Creating/Adapting new versions with hiring cycles: Seasonal, Post-Seasonal, and Mid-Year updates.

These materials serve as basis for Sears Full Line Store salaried manager orientations, as well as Kmart Store hourly orientations.

Senior Training Manager

Responsible for the growth and development of the Market Training teams for Nashville and Little Rock Markets of our Sears Full Line Stores. My job is to provide them with every tool and resource necessary to provide the best support, and therefore best results in 56 units. 

My job also includes partnering with Market, Regional, and corporate staff to evaluate current and future initiatives and plan the most efficient means of communicating and implementing within the various aspects of our Southeast region field leadership teams.

I am responsible for the onboarding and ongoing training for all associates in six Sears Full Line Stores in the St. Louis, MO area. My responsibilities encompass – 

•	More effective new hire onboarding
•	New hire and incumbent associate training administration (facilitated classes and one-on-one)
•	Leadership team development
•	Improved customer engagement through skill development, and..
•	Serving as the knowledge expert for existing and new Integrated Retail capabilities to assist stores as they implement and improve their ability to drive success with these tools. 

I am responsible for facilitating these trainings and coordinating with each store's management team to conduct follow-up evaluations to identify potential training/performance gaps in order to develop and execute action plans to close these gaps.

District Trainer

The sales manager for all Home Improvement (Tools, Lawn and Garden, Fitness, Sporting Goods) and Brand Central (Electronics, Appliances) departments of the Owensboro Sears store. I am responsible for developing a team of engaged, knowledgeable consultative selling associates; business analysis and action planning; and driving core processes to produce profitable sales.

Hardlines Assistant Store Manager

Store YTD at 1.5% regretted turnover (ranking 19th among almost 800 full line stores), compared to finishing YTD 33.3% for the 2012 fiscal year (ranking 704th). Retention of new hires past 90 days improved 3% from last year to end of my time in position. Continuing as Acting Human Resources Lead while taking on new position.

Human Resources/Office Lead

Softlines Merchandising and Pricing Associate

Murray State University

I was a CAD Instructor, for both AutoCAD and Revit Architecture courses for department sponsored events. I also served as a CAD Lab Supervisor.

Student Worker

i5 Design Group, Inc.

Multi-Family/Light Commercial design work, Interior and Exterior. Designing exterior structures and finishes. Creating and editing new and existing floor plans and detail drawings using AutoCAD and Revit Architecture. Creating full construction document sets using Revit Architecture.

Design Assistant

Professional Storyteller | Bringing Brands to Life for Marketing, Training, & Communication

Passionate and highly adaptive content and strategy designer specializing in new initiatives with a strong background in project management. My experience includes learning & development content design, customer-facing sales and engagement strategy design, new initiative design and implementation, communications management,  and coordinating multiple high-priority projects simultaneously.

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Jake Ward

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