About me

Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this website are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.

Want to network with me? Cool - here's my LinkedIn Page.

My name is Keijo Kortelainen (aka. 2K) and I am the author at the Head of SEO blog. I have been doing SEO (and SEM and analytics) since the days AltaVista and HotBot ruled the web. I wear a white hat (as I like to tell my kids what I do for living), but like most folks who have been in this industry since the beginning, I pretty much know every trick on the book, regardless of color. I have been involved in a lot of stuff over the decases, but if you want to bore yourself with a quick timeline of my star moments here it comes.

The early years (aka.I was a SEO rockstar)

I created my first web site in 1996, and stepped into world of SEO the following year. AFAIK I'm one of the first people who got serious with SEO in Finland and Europe. Needless to say pretty much everything I touched became succesfull, and I got featured on national radio, magazines etc.

In the early 2000s I entered the US markets and became known as 2K of the 'original SEOMoz gang' (but I was very active in other SEO publications too). I did guest posts for the Moz for few years. Those were some really magical years, and apparently the readers loved it too as there is a post-memorial titled What ever happened to GMan, Egol and 2K.

Like most SEOs I was a hired gun moving from one customer project to another customer project (in addition of doing my own stuff).

The midlife years (aka.growing up)

Then I stopped being 2K. I stopped producing new public SEO content, I stopped writing on SEO forums, I pretty much vanished from publicity.

Behind the scenes I was a busy. My business had been booming like crazy, and I was simply focusing on reaping the rewards and coming up new ways to monetize it all. Success attracts success, and I did spent a lot of time figuring out whether I should grab one of those "I want to buy you and your business" offers, or if I should join some of the startups that asked me to join. Eventually I decided to fly solo, as it was best fit for my life back then.

This was also the time when personal life forced me to explore who I was and who I wanted to become. For a decade my life was moving from one crisis to another (from personal health issues to health issues of those I loved). It was very rough at times, but I walked through it all to best of my abilities. All of it made me the best version of myself yet. That is what life is all about - growth.

Present day (and why is 2K making a comeback into SEO-blogosphere)?

Though all the above has served me well for the past 20+ years, it is no longer a good match with my present life. Thus for the past two years I have been in the slow process of driving down my own business (apart of some "just for fun" projects) and looking for a company where I could spent the next 10-20 years doing advanced SEO, SEM and analytics wizardry.

When I started looking around for jobs it was kind of shocking that most of the 'old school SEO/SEM/analytics folks' knew who I was right of the bat, but the younger generation (and BTW, they are way more plenty than those of old school) had no clue whatsoever of who I was and what I had done. Now I know what old rockstars feel like, LOL. But anyway, this kind of sparked the realization that if I really want to secure my spot on the job markets (and pick where I want to work), then I must showcase publically every now and then. Hence this blog.

My past 3 years include acting as Digital Marketing Manager at Kiwa, and as Head of SEO at VertaaEnsin (part of Compare Group Europe). Alas, I am right now open for new opportunities.

What else can I say that life is all good once again, and I very much enjoy looking at the Helsinki skyline and seaview from my window.

P.S. What's with those size 47 bunny slippers

Hook up with me on LinkedIn, and I'll share the story with you some day ;)