About Jake Braught: freelance SEO consultant and search strategist
Jake Braught is a freelance SEO consultant and the founder of Search Garden, an independent SEO consultancy based in Oregon. He has more than 15 years of experience in SEO, search marketing, and AI search strategy, working with organizations from Fortune 100 companies to startups and local small businesses.
Through Search Garden he provides SEO audits, SEO strategy consulting, local SEO consulting, SEO content strategy, generative engine optimization (GEO), and SEO website design and development.
I’m based in Oregon where I live with my two dachshunds. We enjoy gardening, hiking, camping, and swims in surrounding lakes and rivers.
As a marketer and SEO professional for over 15 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with companies of all sizes and stages from new small businesses to heritage brands and large enterprise corporations.
My favorite thing about search is that it is the most useful form of marketing. Your customers are looking for your products and services in Google and increasingly asking AI chatbots for recommendations.
When your customers are searching, your brand needs to be visible and the sentiment about your brand must be positive to avoid losing people. We’ll work together to help you show up over your competitors.
As an independent freelance SEO consultant, I work directly with you. No account managers, no junior staff, just expert strategy tailored to your business
Please find my full resume and SEO consultant qualifications below. If you have any questions or want to get started, please contact me.
Experience
Marketing leader with 15 years in search, digital experiences, content, & buyer journeys. Proven track record growing B2B and DTC businesses. Detail-oriented lifelong learner passionate about building better processes, teaching others, and leading cross-functional teams with empathy.
Digital Marketing Consultant / Founder
Search Garden • Aug 2025 – Present
Consulting businesses and agencies on digital strategy, SEO, SEM, CRO, & new websites.
- Increased client’s site engagement +103% and leads by +33%.
- Grew client’s organic search sessions 26% and pageviews by 99% in 2 months.
Senior Search Manager & Senior Digital Strategist
Intel • May 2021 – July 2025
Owned global paid + organic search and digital experiences for integrated campaigns, Intel.com homepage, brand, events, community, creator, Intel Foundry, and multiple product lines.
- Directed global digital experiences and hundreds of landing pages in 20+ languages/geos.
- Built digital journeys for high-profile global campaigns under brand, AI PC, Intel Evo, Intel vPro, Olympic Games, US CHIPS Act, and eCycleLand for Dell + Animal Crossing.
- Improved global SEM bounce rate by 40% in 2 months and managed 8-figure budget.
- Generated hundreds of millions of visitors and pageviews by leading organic search.
- Created SEO + SEM processes and educated teams on BKMs to improve performance.
- Developed SEO + SEM combined view for efficiency & to cover more unbranded keywords.
- Advised on technical SEO requirements for site updates, feature releases, and migrations.
- Managed global agency partners, stakeholders, contract workers, vendors, & roadmaps.
- Led cross-functional agencies & stakeholders and built scalable processes & tools.
Digital Marketing Manager
Cayuse • May 2019 – May 2021
Led and activated EdTech SaaS marketing campaigns and ABM motions for long sales cycles.
- Generated $1.2M of SaaS pipeline per quarter.
- Established organic search as #1 lead source by volume & closed-won opportunities.
- Conceptualized, redesigned, and developed the new Cayuse.com from concept to launch.
- Built ABM motions in HubSpot & Salesforce Pardot. Completed MAP migration in-house.
- Created and managed Google Ads, display marketing, and LinkedIn Ads campaigns.
Senior Digital Designer
Delmain • Oct 2017 – May 2019
Led the team to generate scalable SEO strategies for over 100 clients.
- Grew organic traffic 30%+ average within 6 months for over fifty accounts.
- Formulated content pruning audit process and resolved advanced technical SEO blockers.
- Managed designers in crafting 15+ conversion and SEO-focused websites.
- Activated paid social (Meta ads on Facebook & Instagram) for 50+ accounts.
Digital Marketing Strategist
Bonfire Marketing • Oct 2016 – Aug 2017
- Reduced Google Ads CPC by $10 for a SaaS client.
- Provided monthly reporting, strategy, and SEO recommendations for multiple accounts.
- Managed display and paid social campaigns for a Fortune 100 company.
Digital Designer
Pendleton Woolen Mills • Feb 2016 – Oct 2016
- Improved Click-To-Open Rate (CTOR) by 20% for product emails.
- Conceptualized and developed a new email design system for mobile friendliness.
- Designed and coded 100+ emails and 40+ web pages.
Digital Marketing Strategist
Delmain • Aug 2014 – Feb 2016
- Increased organic traffic 350%+ for multiple sites via on-page, off-page, & technical SEO.
- Grew organic search traffic for 40+ clients.
- Designed and developed over a dozen search-optimized websites on WordPress.
Marketing Consultant
TipBar Incorporated • Feb 2014 – Jun 2014
- Managed multiple online retail e-commerce sites and began SEO efforts.
- Branded a new product that functioned as an iPad holder and mobile mount.
- Designed and developed a responsive website, created new packaging, and trade show materials.
Marketing Assistant
Coastal Farm & Ranch • Oct 2010 – Dec 2013
- Built hundreds of SEO-optimized product pages for new website.
- Created all advertising and marketing collateral for 12 retail stores in a small marketing department of three.
- Crafted graphic design for web and social media assets. Designed weekly print sale flyers, window posters, banners, and other ephemera.
- Managed vendor relationships to align print requirements and ad placements.
Assistant Manager
Kuhn Cinema • May 2006 – Sep 2011
- Built and managed new website, social media, and email marketing programs.
- Crowd-sourced $35,000 to purchase a digital movie projector to stay open as film movies were discontinued.
- Managed people, trained employees, addressed relational issues, and created weekly staff schedules.
- Created new offerings, provided great customer experiences, and processed complaints.
- Operated a vintage 35mm film movie projector and movie theater sound system.
Mission
- Generate brand awareness, consideration, & leads through search + ask
- SEO: Architect website content structures aligned to stages of buyers’ journeys
- AEO: Research, hypothesize, & test tactics to increase LLM/gen engine visibility
- Educate: Synthesize best practices & share key insights per teammate’s roles
- Build systems and refine processes to accomplish more at scale
- Be a kind person and effective team player who leads with empathy
Education
B. S. Journalism: Advertising
University of Oregon
Frequently asked questions
Jake Braught is a freelance SEO consultant and the founder of Search Garden, an independent SEO consultancy based in Oregon. He has more than 15 years of experience in SEO, search marketing, and AI search strategy, including senior search roles at Intel, Cayuse, and Delmain.
Jake works with organizations of every size, from Fortune 100 companies to startups and local small businesses. Recent work spans higher education, B2B SaaS, e-commerce, professional services, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Search Garden is based in Oregon and works with clients across the United States remotely. Local SEO clients are supported nationwide, not only in the Pacific Northwest.
Search Garden offers SEO audits, SEO strategy consulting, local SEO consulting, SEO content strategy, generative engine optimization (GEO), and SEO website design and development.
Yes. Jake regularly works alongside in-house marketing teams, agencies, and web developers as a strategic partner, either on a defined project or through ongoing monthly consulting.
Jake has more than 15 years of experience in SEO and digital marketing, beginning in 2010. He holds a B.S. in Journalism: Advertising from the University of Oregon.