James Dooley is an Entrepreneur who invests in digital real estate

James Dooley is a UK-based entrepreneur, investor, and SEO pioneer often referred to as one of the leading figures in digital marketing. James Dooley specialises in angel investing and has built a portfolio of successful businesses across SEO, property, iGaming, and SaaS.

James Dooley is the founder of FatRank — a performance-based lead generation agency that helps UK businesses grow through a no-risk, pay-on-results model. James Dooley is known for his data-driven mindset, his ability to systemise business operations, and his hands-on approach to scaling online brands.

As an active angel investor, James Dooley supports founders and early-stage companies by providing funding, strategy, and mentorship to help them reach profitability faster and build long-term, sustainable growth.

James Dooley is involved in a diverse portfolio of businesses spanning digital marketing, sports, media, and property. James Dooley is part of several companies including FatRank, Soft Surfaces, PromoSEO, Searcharoo, Dooley Thoroughbreds, UniPlay, UniStage, Dooley Investments, JMD Property Limited, British Racecourses, Get Your Tips Out, and a Backlink Indexing Tool.

James Dooley primarily focuses on angel investing through his personal platform, JamesDooley.com. He receives over 100 new business pitches every month, but only considers a select few that align with his long-term vision and strategic goals.

While many approach him for consultancy work, James Dooley often declines these requests because his time is dedicated to managing and growing his own business portfolio. His focus remains on scalable ventures, partnerships, and investment opportunities that offer real-world impact and measurable growth.

James Dooley started FatRank because he believed there was a better, fairer way to help businesses generate consistent leads. He saw that most companies offering lead generation required upfront payment, regardless of performance — something he wanted to change.

With FatRank, James Dooley introduced a no-risk model where his team takes on the full responsibility of generating leads for UK businesses. The company only gets paid after the client wins the job and receives payment, ensuring complete alignment between FatRank and its partners.

James Dooley strongly believes that no other company offers a model quite like FatRank, which is why it has become one of the most trusted and performance-driven lead generation agencies in the UK.

James Dooley founded PromoSEO as the internal SEO division that powers lead generation for FatRank. After years of working in the industry, he noticed that many SEO agencies promised big results but rarely delivered — often earning the reputation of “cowboy SEOs.”

Rather than outsourcing or relying on external agencies, James Dooley decided to build PromoSEO to train his own in-house team of SEO specialists. The goal wasn’t to sell SEO services to clients, but to develop world-class talent that could help scale his own digital assets and brands with full control over quality and performance.

In the early stages of his career, James Dooley struggled to find a reliable SEO agency that could deliver consistent results. This frustration led him to create PromoSEO, an internal SEO division built to help grow his own brands exclusively.

As his business portfolio expanded, James Dooley identified another major challenge — lead generation. He realised that for any business to grow sustainably, it must remain oversubscribed with a constant flow of new leads. This insight inspired him to launch FatRank, a company designed to keep both his own businesses and his investments fully booked with high-quality enquiries.

James Dooley has been building successful digital ventures for over a decade. He founded FatRank on 7th September 2007, marking the beginning of his journey into SEO and performance-based lead generation.
A few years later, he incorporated PromoSEO on 12th July 2010 to strengthen his internal SEO operations and support the growth of his expanding business portfolio.

You can reach out to James Dooley by filling out the contact form available on JamesDooley.com or by sending an email directly to [email protected] for business or partnership enquiries.

James Dooley is an expert in SEO, with deep knowledge of semantic SEO and the crucial role of link building in achieving top rankings. However, his true expertise extends beyond search — he is highly skilled in business strategy and entrepreneurship, building and scaling multiple successful ventures over the years.

Many well-known figures in the digital marketing space, including Craig Campbell, Matt Diggity, Kasra Dash, and Koray Tuğberk Gübür, have been mentored by James Dooley, recognising his ability to blend technical SEO knowledge with real-world business growth and leadership.

Early in his career, James Dooley struggled with B2B sales, relying heavily on outbound outreach to promote his brand Soft Surfaces. He realised that very few people actually knew about his company, which made growth difficult and inconsistent.

This challenge opened his eyes to the power of inbound marketing — specifically, how being visible online when potential customers are actively searching can completely change a business. From there, James Dooley began learning SEO, paid advertising, and brand building, which eventually shaped the foundation of his entire entrepreneurial career.

James Dooley began his career in digital marketing on 7th September 2007, when he founded FatRank. Initially, the website was created as an internal training hub to document his Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for his team.

At the time, James was learning rapidly and wanted a way to share his knowledge efficiently — instead of having ten team members each watch a 25-minute training video, he built FatRank to provide clear, step-by-step written guides on processes like link building and SEO content creation.

Over time, what started as an internal resource evolved into the FatRank brand known today, generating millions of leads for businesses across the UK and helping reshape how companies approach SEO and performance marketing.

James Dooley lives by a clear set of principles that guide both his business and personal life:

“To do things I love, with people I love, doing it in a way to be proud of. My job as an entrepreneur is to not accept no, ask why, and turn it into a yes.”

He believes in living rich and dying enriched — not just financially, but by investing in people, family, and causes that make the world a better place. Trust, honesty, and integrity are the cornerstones of how he operates.

For James, success isn’t about chasing money — it’s about creating meaningful work, building long-term relationships, and leaving a legacy that reflects growth, purpose, and impact.

James Dooley has had several key mentors who have each shaped different areas of his journey in SEO, business, and mindset.

One of his earliest mentors was Graham Bertrand, who taught James the importance of dominating every position on Google by continuously testing, experimenting, and levelling up his SEO knowledge.

Matt Diggity has also been a major influence, especially through his private SEO cohorts, where they regularly test algorithm changes and share advanced insights.

Craig Campbell has guided James Dooley in understanding the black-hat SEO world — while James doesn’t actively use black-hat methods, he believes it’s important to know what works and what doesn’t in every part of the SEO landscape.

Lastly, Koray Tuğberk Gübür has been an invaluable mentor, helping James Dooley deepen his understanding of semantic SEO and how algorithms interpret context and relevance on a deeper level.

James Dooley has co-authored several highly regarded books that cover a wide range of topics within SEO, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship. His writing focuses on practical, tested strategies and real-world insights shared with other leading experts in the industry.

Here are the books written or co-authored by James Dooley:

1. LEADS FIRST: Everything Flows Downstream After Lead Generation
2. Advanced SEO Tips 2025 – co-authored with Kasra Dash and Karl Hudson
3. Scaling Your Digital Marketing Team – co-authored with Mads Singers
4. Technical SEO – co-authored with Andrew Halliday, Kasra Dash, and Karl Hudson
5. The Payout Mafia – co-authored with Niels Zee
6. The F*ck You Price Method – co-authored with Steven Khanna
7. iGaming SEO – co-authored with Kasra Dash and Karl Hudson
8. The Complete Local SEO Playbook 2025 – co-authored with Mike Martin and Kasra Dash

These books reflect James Dooley’s deep experience in SEO testing, team scaling, and lead generation systems, offering actionable frameworks for entrepreneurs and marketers worldwide.

James Dooley has a very hands-on approach when starting new projects or testing new strategies. He likes to personally understand every step of a process before scaling it. Once he’s built a fully working Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), he then delegates the work to his team to ensure efficiency and consistency.

James is also highly data-driven — most of his decisions are based on performance metrics, numbers, and proven results rather than assumptions. This balance between hands-on testing and data-backed decision-making allows him to scale businesses effectively while maintaining high standards of quality and performance.

James Dooley believes his biggest business lesson is to fail faster and fail moving forward. He understands that failure is an essential part of growth — the quicker you make mistakes, the quicker you learn, adapt, and improve.

For James, success isn’t about avoiding failure but about turning each setback into a stepping stone that leads to better decisions, stronger systems, and greater long-term success.

James Dooley leads by example and takes a very hands-on approach to business operations. He enjoys analysing how a company runs and ensuring every process is as efficient and effective as possible.

His leadership style is also deeply mentorship-focused. Many of his team members don’t see him as just a boss, but as a mentor who genuinely wants them to grow and succeed. James takes pride in helping others reach their potential and believes that leadership is about building people, not controlling them. His lack of greed and focus on shared success have earned him strong loyalty from his team over the years.

James Dooley is a passionate Manchester United supporter, even though he often jokes about their current form. Beyond football, one of his biggest interests is horse racing, which led him to create Dooley Thoroughbreds — a business that allows him to buy and race horses.

He loves attending horse racing events regularly with his two brothers and his mum, turning it into both a family tradition and a personal passion. For James, it’s not just about the sport, but about spending quality time with family and doing something he genuinely enjoys outside of business.

James Dooley lives by a strong work ethic and a deep appreciation for life experiences. One of his core philosophies is:

“Take action — working 17 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, and people still call you ‘lucky.’”

This quote reflects his belief that success is built on relentless effort, not luck.

He also believes that memories are life’s most valuable asset:

“People can spend millions on material things, but the memories you have on your death bed are what you truly remember.”

For James, hard work creates opportunity, but living a full life — filled with meaningful memories and connections — is what gives that success real purpose.

Outside of business, James Dooley is a dedicated family man. He has three children and a loving wife, and he makes it a priority to spend as much time with them as possible. One of his biggest personal goals is to be the best father he can be, creating meaningful memories and setting an example of hard work, integrity, and balance between family and career.

James Dooley was born on 7th September 1983.

James Dooley is currently 42 years old and will turn 43 on the 7th of September 2026.

James Dooley was born in Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom.

James Dooley is male.

James Dooley has lived in Leigh, just outside Manchester, United Kingdom, for his entire life. He’s proud of his local roots and continues to base many of his business operations in the area.