Garth O'Brien

Current

• Program Manager - SEO at Microsoft
• Board of Trustees Member at Country Village Day School
• Search Engine Optimization SEO / SEM at Independent Contractor

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Education

• Seattle University School of Law
• University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law
• Western Washington University

• Juanita High School

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1 more...

Recommended

15 people have recommended Garth

Connections

452 connections

Industry

Internet

Garth O'Brien’s Summary

I am an experienced Operations Manager, SEO, SEM and Social Media Manager with a proven ability to develop & implement integral strategies that support operations & business objectives. I have over 7 years of experience in search, online marketing, operational management, market research & customer relations.
Since 2006, I have worked at GMI accomplishing the level of Senior Operations Manager reporting directly to the CTO & CMO. I managed the off-shore CS team, developed initiatives to better recruit, engage and retain a global online community of 6 mil members & continually developed ways to improve the user experience. I was responsible for approving $8 mil annually of incentive payments. I also managed a global affiliate program & owned delivery of internal administration tools.
I am recognized as an operational expert in online communities, delivering needs while optimizing opportunities for new revenue. This includes developing & integrating tools to facilitate community recruitment & engagement. I also am a capable facilitator of cross-functional collaboration motivating various stakeholders to resolve blockers & to deliver release quality products.
Since 2002, I have managed SEO, SEM & online marketing opportunities for various businesses. I developed & drove the corporate product roadmap for implementation of social media solutions such as Twitter, YouTube & Facebook. I championed corporate blogs & introduced new content-rich supporting websites. I also managed online advertising campaigns for lead generation & community growth. While at GMI, I was solely responsible for optimizing 20+ portals generating an average 40%+ lift in traffic & greatly boosting top ten Google search results.
My interests are to improve business operations or product management, through data analysis, developing tools, & working cross-functionally. I would also enjoy expanding upon my search & online marketing skills, build online communities & improve the user experience.

Garth O'Brien’s Specialties:

- Internet Marketing
- Online Community Management
- Online Fraud Detection & Prevention
- Product Management
- Program Management
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Social Media Marketing (SMO)
- Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Garth O'Brien’s Experience

• Program Manager - SEO

  Microsoft

  (Public Company; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

  September 2009 — Present (3 months)

  Responsible for monitoring and reporting channel performance globally for MSN.com and MSNBC.com. Implement best SEO practices and optimize pages based upon revenue priority. Evaluate seasonal keyword search patterns to establish content generation project roadmap. Advise editorial staff about necessary SEO page revisions. Collaboratively work with development to enhance internal SEO tools and CMS platforms. Manage partner content providers and provide SEO guidance.

• Board of Trustees Member

  Country Village Day School

  (Education Management industry)

  May 2009 — Present (7 months)

• Search Engine Optimization SEO / SEM

  Independent Contractor

  (Marketing and Advertising industry)

  March 2003 — Present (6 years 9 months)

  Executes paid search initiatives, including campaign implementation, optimization, growth, and budget management to support products and service goals. Controls bid management, reporting, and budgeting for all search marketing efforts. Remains current with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices and developing trends. Works closely with the Client to help drive enhanced natural search visibility. Understands organizational challenges, devises imaginative and intuitive solutions, and is familiar of leading trends in usability, online marketing and traditional advertising. Manages multiple projects by prioritizing appropriately and multitasking.

Garth O'Brien’s Education

• Seattle University School of Law

  J.D. , Law , 1997 — 1999

• University of the Pacific - McGeorge School of Law

  Law 1996 — 1997

  Transferred from McGeorge to Seattle University School of Law after the first year.

• Western Washington University

  B.A. , Political Science , 1992 — 1996

  Activities and Societies:

  Track & Field
  Cross Country
  KUGS 89.3 FM Deejay

• Juanita High School

  1989 — 1992

Additional Information

Garth O'Brien’s Honors:

"Rising Star Attorney" of Washington Law & Politics Magazine 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2007.
"Seattle's Top Lawyers" of Seattle Magazine 2005