Ethical, transparent and respected, the awards are judged by esteemed industry experts who follow a robust two-step judging process that includes pre-scoring to establish a shortlist and judge discussion to determine winners and, in some cases, silver awards.
None of our award judges can take part in the competition, and any conflicts of interest must be declared.
The US Agency Awards have been accredited ‘Outstanding’ by the Independent Awards Standards Council – Awards Trust Mark.
To apply to become a judge, fill out the form at the bottom of this page.
Jim Hedger | Creative Partner | Digital Alwayys Media
Jim Hedger is a long-time SEO living in Toronto, Canada. Jim was among the original generations of SEOs. He started working with websites in 1999 and joined one of the first SEO agencies, StepForth, in 2000. He became known as one of the earliest regular columnists writing for Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Journal, and SiteProNews and on several early SEO forums. He is also known for his now 18 year old SEO podcast Webcology, and was one of the leading characters at the legendary WebmasterRadio.
João Filipe Pereira | Marketing Director | Busbud
João Filipe Pereira is the Marketing Director at Busbud, where he leads global organic marketing growth strategy. With over a decade of SEO, product and marketing experience, João has held senior roles at top brands including Eventbrite, TripAdvisor, EF Education First, and Hostelworld. He is the author of SEO As A Distribution Game, and a recognized speaker at international industry events. João is known for combining SEO, product thinking, and content strategy to drive measurable business impact at scale.
Jessica Tee Orika-Owunna | Content Writer | Contentsquare
Jessica Tochi Orika-Owunna is a content marketing strategist and senior writer with 8 years of experience. She specializes in bottom-of-funnel and product-led content for growth-stage PLG companies. Her work has driven measurable revenue impact and helped brands like Hotjar, Contentsquare, Softr, and Vena Solutions increase signups and enable sales. Jessica is also the founder of SaaS Content Brand, a consultancy that helps product-led companies turn internal user and SME insights into content that converts. She actively mentors entry-level marketers via ADPList and contributes to communities like the Freelance Coalition for Developing Countries.
Melinda Stuart | Enterprise Go-to-Market, Data Analytics and Experience | Optus
Melinda is an accomplished marketer with extensive experience in both agency and client-side roles. Over the past decade, she has transitioned to the client side, bringing a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. As an advisor to numerous startups, particularly within the technology space, playing a pivotal role in guiding their growth and success. With a strong track record in global and APAC markets, she has successfully shaped go-to-market strategies across various new territories and verticals. Melinda is passionate about collaborating with driven entrepreneurs, helping them bring their visions to life.
Michael Emiliani | Paid Marketing Manager | Thrasio
Mike is a seasoned digital marketing expert with a decade of experience in PPC and digital media. His passion lies in developing and growing businesses through comprehensive, integrated digital media campaigns. His ability to draw on knowledge and experiences from a wide range of challenges from his time in-house, agency-side and as a consultant has given him a unique depth and breadth to solving complex problems in PPC and broadly digital marketing. Mike has shared insights as a contributing writer and speaker at events. His extensive knowledge has also earned her the distinction of being a featured subject matter expert at Endicott College in Massachusetts, a contributor to industry blogs and recipient of the 2018 Interactive Marketing Award.
Stephen Kenwright | Non-executive director and consultant | Stephen Kenwright Ltd
Stephen founded SEARCH-FIRST creative agency Rise at Seven in 2019, growing it to employ 110 people across 4 offices and reaching revenues of more than £7m, before exiting in 2022. He previously held senior roles at digital transformation consultancy Kin + Carta PLC and the UK's largest automotive retailer Pendragon PLC. He founded SearchLeeds, a conference that hosted more than 2,000 marketers at the first direct arena in its most recent iteration.
Ethan Lazuk | SEO Director | InvenTel
Ethan Lazuk is an SEO director based in Orlando, Florida. Prior, he co-owned Ethan Lazuk Consulting, LLC, along with his lovely wife, Dania Lazuk. Ethan has worked for 10+ years in digital marketing, including as a senior strategist and an SEO manager. He also publishes weekly SEO and AI news recaps called Hamsterdam, a place to showcase authoritative and innovative voices in the SEO industry, where all are welcome. Outside of SEO life, Ethan enjoys riding his 50cc scooter around downtown Orlando and going on walks or hikes with Dania and their rescue dog, Wuffiyah.
Olesia Korobka | SEO entrepreneur | Fajela
Olesia Korobka is SEO entrepreneur from Ukraine. She runs a few businesses most related to SEO and a small localization service. When not doing SEO, Olesia usually studies hows and whys of SEO, testing and researching. And now also helping other SEOs from Ukraine to adapt during the ongoing war.
Steve Kuncewicz | Partner and Head Of Creative, Digital & Marketing | Glaisyers ETL
Steve is a Partner and Head of Creative, Digital and Marketing at Glaisyers ETL in Manchester. He specialises in intellectual property, media social media and privacy law and is listed as a "recommended lawyer" in the Legal 500, and was a oo-founder pf the Bulletproof Agency Network. He is a regular media spokesperson, and has given interviews to the local and national press through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London. Steve is also the Manchester Publicity Association’s Honorary Solicitor.
Jaime Hill | Ecommerce Director | ex Oak Furnitureland, Hurtigruten & Monsoon Accessorize
Jaime has over two decades of experience as a Marketing & Ecommerce professional with a successful track record leading teams and developing strategy to transform organisations’ digital capability and channels to market. She has had success in roles at brands including Avis, Barclays, Dairy Crest and Oak Furnitureland, and across a wide range of B2B and B2C vertical markets. Most recently, Jaime was Interim Head of Ecommerce & Trading at Monsoon. A graduate of the Institute of Digital Marketing and qualified Executive Business Coach, Jaime's professional passion is for making life easier for the customer at every touch point.
Alex Natthaphon Kanjarnavoranun | Foundmatic UK | Consultant in SEO, Digital marketing, and Digital transformation
Alex Natthaphon is a highly experienced SEO expert, digital marketing specialist, and management role in marketing. TechNation UK has endorsed him as the highest-tier Exceptional Leader of UK Global Talent Visa in the Digital Technology category. He has achieved multiple successful career paths in different industries, including Finance, E-commerce, Travel, Education, Automotive, and more. Alex was VP of Digital Campaign Planning & Execution Manager at SCB bank, focusing on digital banking automation and transformation. He is a founder of ABACTODAY, an ed-tech and e-learning platform for students. He was head of SEO and digital marketing at multiple Unicorn startups in Southeast Asia. He has led and provided digital marketing consultants internationally; for instance in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, US, and UK. Not only online marketing, but he was also AVP Head of Omni-channel Marketing which focused on digital transformation at one of the biggest department stores in Thailand and UK.
Dudi Nakdimon | Organic Growth Lead | Payoneer
Dudi Nakdimon is an SEO Consultant with 10+ years of expertise on online marketing and digital experience. In the past 6 years he was the Head of SEO at Ladbrokes Coral. As part of his job at LCG, Dudi was responsible for building an in-house team of SEO - SEO managers, content writers and technical specialists, while collaborating with SEO agencies. His experience working for a large corporation with various departments has taught Dudi that the best to achieve SEO results is by educating colleagues throughout organizations on the importance of SEO, working close mainly with Product, Dev, Creative, Legal and Compliance departments.
Valentina Frascino | Global Consumer Engagement & Brand Strategy Manager | Sol de Janeiro
Born and raised in São Paulo and currently based in New York City, Valentina has cultivated her marketing and branding expertise across a diverse range of sectors. She began her career at the world’s third-largest television network, later transitioning to agency roles where she led initiatives for multinational clients. Now working on the client side, Valentina operates within the highly competitive beauty industry, where she manages go-to-market strategies and develops innovative approaches to engage and inspire consumers through impactful campaigns and supporting live experiences.
Sharon Peredo Sahid | Digital Marketing Consultant |
A marketer, strategist, and SEO enthusiast with expertise in website optimization. Sharon has worked across diverse markets and niches, enhancing customer experiences, acquisition funnels, and conversion rates. Passionate about helping brands elevate their visibility, positioning, and USPs across search engines and LLMs, she’s also deeply curious about AI-driven strategies and experimentation frameworks.
Simon Howland | | principle Consultant
Simon is an independent consultant, qualified scuba diver, sailor and aspiring badminton player. When not at sea or on a court he works with ambitious companies wanting to understand, shape and accelerate their online performance. With 20+ years experience across multiple industries and sectors, he has developed a fresh and unique approach to delivering impressive commercial results focussed on the things that really matter, avoiding wasting time and budgets by developing better working practices across people, technology and strategy. Not afraid to make tough decisions backed by data and experience, and with an extensive network of digital professionals to call on, he is well positioned to help even the most ambitious clients succeed.
Sunny Bal | Digital Marketing and Social Media | ARUP
Sunny Bal is a dynamic Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategist with a knack for driving global campaigns that captivate audiences and boost brand visibility. With rich experience from roles at Arup and HDR, Sunny excels in crafting innovative content strategies and leading high-performing teams to success. A proud alumnus of California State University, Fresno, Sunny holds a BSc in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing. Known for blending creativity with data-driven insights, Sunny's work has garnered significant recognition in the industry. When not strategizing the next big campaign, Sunny enjoys mentoring children through Solidarity Sports, sharing both patience and positivity.
With an unusual path, my career in digital marketing began in 2018, 2 years after completing my Degree in Philosophy. After a course in digital marketing with an internship, I ended up working at the agency where I interned. With 5 years of experience and dozens of clients, I worked as a PPC manager and content manager. 3 years on I decided to focus exclusively on paid campaigns. Throughout this time I developed experience in lead gen in the B2B market and later in brand development, traffic increase, and purchase generation in the B2C market. I am currently responsible for the PPC department at MintySquare, where I develop marketing strategies for several fashion brands and campaigns that aim to increase brand awareness and generate purchases.
Rejoice Ojiaku | SEO Manager | Nelson Bostock UNLIMITED
Rejoice Ojiaku is an SEO Specialist & Content Strategist, as well as the Co-Founder of B-DigitalUK – a platform for showcasing and empowering black talent in the UK digital marketing scene. Her expertise lies in SEO, Diversity and inclusion, all bolstered by strong personal branding both online and offline.
Owain Lloyd- Williams | SEO Consultant | Son of Jack
Owain Lloyd-Williams has been in the SEO and digital marketing space for around 12 years, and has vast experience overseeing organic digital strategies for leading global brands in an agency, in-house and consulting capacity. As an independent consultant, he’s either found leading stakeholder management and SEO strategy for large enterprise companies or deep down the rabbit holes of international SEO, content and technical SEO. He also has a niche specialism in China SEO.
Lucasz Rogala | SEO/SXO Visioner & Strategist |
During his 13-year adventure in the SEO industry, he learned all the "shades" of activities carried out for clients. Knowledge of how to work in-house and in an agency allows him to provide high-quality and non-standard tactics for clients. Currently, he is developing his boutique SEO and Content agency, VerticalSEO, and is responsible for technical SEO for Warner Bros. Discovery in Poland. In the past, he planned and implemented SEO activities for the largest brands in Poland, and also supported them in their activities abroad. He prefers content SEO for breakfast, technical SEO for lunch, and linkbuilding for dinner. This allows him to maintain a good work-life fit. ;)
Jessica Dee | Head of Paid Search | Taskrabbit
Jessica brings over 14 years of PPC expertise and has held leadership roles as a director of marketing in automotive for a decade. With a remarkable academic background of five college degrees and prior experience at Amazon Music managing global marketing efforts, she actively mentors for Women in PPC and contributes as a member of Google Ads' advisory panel to provide valuable feedback on various Google products and services. Jessica prides herself on innovation and strategic marketing tactics to yield the best results for clients cross-vertical and cross-channel.
Alex Alexakis | Founder | PixelChefs.com |
Alex is the Founder of PixelChefs.com, an award-winning SEO-focused web design firm in business since 2009. He specializes in the latest digital design infused with SEO strategy, Alex and his team work with companies such as CabinetSelect.com, Westgate Resorts, DrinkAGame.com, and many others across the globe. In the past, Alex worked in user interface design (UI) and served as Digital Marketing Manager for one of the world’s largest hospitality companies. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ringling College and is a frequent speaker at search conferences and contributor to digital marketing publications. Until recently, Alex participated in and was the Founder of the largest SEO Meetup group in Florida. When Alex is not working, he is either chasing his kids around, thinking about work, or both. Find Alex on Twitter @Pixelchefs.
David Keene | CMO | Wipro
David Keene is a seasoned marketing leader with over 30 years of experience in the B2B technology sector. Currently serving as Chief Marketing Officer for Europe at Wipro, David has held senior roles across sales, product, and marketing at leading technology firms, including Google, Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle. Throughout his career, he has driven accelerated growth, built new brands, and enhanced sales effectiveness in areas such as cloud computing, SaaS, AI, and digital innovation. Recognised as one of the Top 100 Global B2B CMOs, David is dedicated to helping organisations achieve their strategic revenue and growth goals while navigating the challenges of adapting to the AI era.
Kristine Schachinger | SEO & Online Marketing Consultant |
Kristine Schachinger is a leading technical SEO with over two decades experience working with digital media. Kristine began her career as a front-end developer and website designer. She has helped a wide range of clients from small and medium sized businesses to Reba McEntire, AOL, Superpages.com, and USA.gov. As her digital media experience expanded Kristine incorporated accessibility, marketing, and user experience into her work which naturally drew her to learn and practice search engine optimization in order to help her clients gain greater website visibility. She is now a well known and respected in her field as a regular speaker at industry conferences in the US and around the world. She is also a Subject Matter Expert with columns in Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, the SEM Post, Search Engine Watch, and State of Digital.
Michele Tommasi | Senior Paid Media Manager |
I am a Senior Paid Media Manager at Tempcover with nearly a decade of experience in paid and performance marketing. My journey has been marked by a relentless commitment to add value and provide the most profitable outcome for all. I have collaborated with a wealth of prominent national and global brands across a range of sectors. From SaaS, insurance and automotive to construction, travel and e-commerce, I've thrived in both B2C and B2B industries and have an extensive cross-sector knowledge, winning awards such as “Local Campaign Of The Year”, “Best Local Campaign (PPC)” and “YouTube Ads Leaderboard”. At heart, I am passionate about inspiring, leading and helping people to achieve their personal and professional goals, whatever they might be.
Dan Saunders | |
Matthew Craine | Marketing strategist and fractional CMO | mattcraine.com
Matt is a seasoned marketing strategist and fractional CMO with over 15 years of experience helping startups and female-owned small businesses grow through smart, search-driven strategies and clear brand positioning. He has worked with companies across the fashion, tech, healthcare, retail, and service industries. He's also the former co-founder of Becoming 3D, a 3D printing and manufacturing solutions start-up that was acquired in 2018. In the early 2000s, Matt served as VP of Online Media & Search at Catalogs.com. And in the 1990s, he got his start working online at CBS Sports, where he developed cutting-edge fantasy sports games and created the long-running “Start ’em & Sit ’em” fantasy football feature. Matt draws on deep, hands-on experience across tech, retail, nonprofit, and media to deliver engaging, actionable talks on SEO, growth marketing, and brand strategy.
Richard Gregory | Co-founder | AgencyNXD
Richard is co-founder of AgencyNXD as well as an advisor and NXD to multiple tech firms and agencies, including Adzooma, Fluid Digitial and Ruler Analytics. Heralding from “Silicon Ramsbottom” he is an ardent supporter of the digital and tech industry in the North of England. Previously, Richard was the managing director of digital agency Latitude, director of Tech North and co-founder of SAScon.
Grant Simmons | Marketing Consultant | Simmonet Marketing, LLC
Grant is a Senior SEO Strategist with over 30 years in marketing with an emphasis on digital channels and focus on collaborative SEO consulting, analytics, content, and performance-based successes for Fortune 500 enterprises, local, multi-location, national, and international companies and organizations. Grant’s experience spans real estate, healthcare, addiction, e-commerce, senior care, technology, travel, and employment verticals, often sharing his experience and insights in vertical-industry podcasts, webinars, and publications, and as a speaker at SEO & marketing conferences worldwide, including; Pubcon, LRTCon, Chiang Mai SEO, Brighton SEO. SMX, and more.
Lukasz Zelezny | Director, Co-Owner - SEO Expert and Consultant | SEO.London | Linked In | X Profile |
Lukasz Zelezny, UK Search Awards judge, Top10 UK Social Media influencer and former director of organic performance at uSwitch / Zoopla. Currently is working as an independent SEO Consultant helping in organic traffic acquisition, technical SEO and content marketing. Lukasz started his career in 2005 and has since been responsible for the organic performance of a number of companies including HomeAway, Thomson Reuters, The Digital Property Group, Fleetway Travel, uSwitch, Zoopla. Each year Lukasz is speaking at many SEO and social media conferences. He was a speaker at ClickZ Shanghai China, ClickZ Jakarta Indonesia, SiMGA Malta, SES London as well as Marketing Festival in Brno, Brighton SEO in Brighton and UnGagged in London. Every year he is actively participating in 10 to 20 events as an SEO/Social Media keynote speaker. Additionally, he organizes workshops and meetups where he is sharing tips around SEO, Social Media and Analytics.
Lisa Williams -Scott | Associate Director of Digital Engagement | Oregon Health & Science University
Lisa Williams is a 25-year veteran of digital marketing and the author of "When Everybody Clicks: Sustainable Digital Marketing". She has been featured in Kiplinger Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Boston Globe and The Oregonian. Lisa is on the SEMpdx (Search Engine Marketing Professionals of Portland Oregon) Advisory Board. She founded and leads a Portland Oregon LeanIn Circle and volunteers at Emerging Leaders to mentor diverse, aspiring professionals to serve in technology and health care. She speaks at regional, national and international conferences on the topics of digital strategy, marketing integration, team development and leadership.
Bill Hartzer | SEO Consultant |
Bill Hartzer is an independent SEO Consultant. He relies on his 20 years of direct SEO experience to provide technical SEO audits of websites, as well as technical link audits and link cleanups of websites. Mr. Hartzer is known worldwide for his research on the topic of search engine optimization and the New gTLD domain names, as well as Dot Brand domain names. He provides research and marketing of white papers and case studies related to the New gTLDs, as well as consulting related to domain migrations.
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