Brent D. Payne Brent D. Payne Brent D. Payne

SEO Expert
SEO Mentor
SEO Speaker

Brent D. Payne is an accomplished SEO strategist and digital marketing expert, best known for founding Loud Interactive in 2011.

With an approach deeply rooted in both technical acumen and creative problem-solving, Brent has earned a reputation for his results-oriented methodology. He is a sought-after speaker at search industry conferences and a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 leaders looking to develop impactful digital strategies. As CEO of Loud Interactive, Brent continues to push the boundaries of enterprise SEO, guiding teams and organizations through the ever-evolving search landscape with forward-thinking tactics and proven methodologies.

Brent D. Payne is an SEO visionary

Always drawn to the e-commerce space, Brent's solutions have helped e-commerce companies not only optimize the 20% of their site driving 80% of their revenue but to optimize 100% of their site to provide a much healthier, holistic, fully optimized picture to search engines. These methods have resulted in 40% year over year over year gains for Loud's clients at massive scale.

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SEO Expert

SEO at scale demands more than human effort — and Brent understands this. He has redefined SEO scalability at Loud Interactive, where his AI-powered SEO engine generates high-performance, search-optimized content with greater accuracy, consistency, and speed than 600+ writers combined. This has set a new precedent for SEO-driven growth. His vision at Loud is clear — AI isn’t replacing strategy; it’s amplifying it.

SEO Mentor

Brent is a respected lecturer and mentor dedicated to shaping the next generation of digital strategists. He has been a Techstars Mentor for more than 20 locations. His mentorship has met with wild praises from the Managing Director to the founders.

SEO Speaker

For over a decade now, Brent has been a leading voice to reckon with in the SEO, AI, and reputation management domains. As a keynote speaker at SMX, SES, PubCon, and AMA, he has been instrumental in shaping how businesses and brands approach search, reputation, and visibility. Beyond industry events, Brent has delivered guest lectures at Chicago Booth, NYU, and Northwestern.

Timeline

Brent D. Payne cut his teeth on digital marketing in his early 20s. At the time he worked at a computer RAM manufacturer, Viking Components and worked with value added resellers to sell RAM for computers and flash cards for digital cameras. He had a vision for the future with the internet as he does now have vision of the future with AI. With nearly 15 years at Loud Interactive's helm, Payne has seen the landscape of SEO, social media, and online reputation management change and grow. One to continually embrace the latest strategies and tactics, Payne sees today's greatest opportunity to garner digital traffic is to embrace the opportunities presented by AI.

1996

Viking Components, Inc.

eBusiness Channel Account Manager

Built Viking’s online division by leveraging SEO, viral marketing, and early social media
Drove Amazon to become Viking’s #1 client — accounting for ~40% of the total revenue

2004

Targus

eBusiness Sales & Marketing Manager

Managed end-to-end sales, marketing and merchandising for Targus’ U.S. website
Expanded the firm’s digital reach by building partnerships with Amazon, Best Buy, Newegg, and Buy.com

2008

Tribune Interactive

Search Engine Optimization Manager

Developed winning SEO strategies for over 70 Tribune web domains

2009

Tribune Company

Director of SEO

Optimized 40+ Tribune broadcast sites, including KTLA, WGN, and WPIX
Redefined Tribune’s digital model and made search results its #1 audience driver

2010

435 Digital

SEO & Social Media Director

Collaborated directly with Bill Adee to build Tribune’s in-house SEO agency
Expanded the firm’s services beyond internal properties

2011

Loud Interactive

CEO

Founded and scaled Loud Interactive — one of Chicago’s leading SEO firms
Helped Fortune 500 brands, universities, and media giants dominate search results

A self-made leader and expert, Brent built his career from the ground up. He was raised in Oregon and spent his early career in California, before establishing himself in Chicago.

Family remains at the heart of his world. Brent, his wife and his five kids - two sons & three daughters, share a life rooted in love and strength. He is also deeply committed to giving back to his community, frequently volunteers at local school initiatives, and uses his platform to support causes like ALS.

Client Testimonials

Brent successfully led an engaging and informative discussion with a room full of journalists at Society of Professional Journalists conference, who to this day apply the SEO best practices in their newsrooms thanks to Brent’s knowledge and infinite wisdom

Steve Shuster, Award Winning Journalist

I worked with David on several marketing projects related to Targus product sites. He was very persuasive in successfully negotiating great deals with few sofwtare vendors when we acquiredservices related to our projects. He very easy going and at the same time passionate about his work.

Prashant Urkuday, Rand Technology