Once you have developed a set of keywords for your search engine optimization (SEO) project, it is now time for the rubber to hit the pavement. That is, time for you to put those keywords into action, says Cara Crosetti, Los Angeles-based account director and web specialist with Wickware Communications Inc. of Toronto.

“Once you’ve done your [keyword] research, you can follow it through all your digital channels,” Crosetti says. “That’s why you don’t want to skip the research.”

The time spent on research enables you to incorporate your keywords into your full marketing strategy more effectively.

Crosetti offers the following strategies to help you turn your SEO keyword research into action:

> Infiltrate your marketing materials
If you already issue press releases about new products and services you offer or on positive results from client surveys, find a way to include a few of your keywords into that press release.

The same holds true if you produce and post white papers. Include some of your keywords in your document, so you can also place those words in a heading.

For example, if “estate planning” is one of your keywords, mention estate planning in your press release or white paper and it will come up in a search of estate planning.

Be careful, however, to avoid stuffing keywords that are not relevant to your document.

> Match your meta tag
If you’ve ever done a keyword search on Google, you have already been introduced to meta tags.

A meta tag is the short, one- or two-sentence description that appears below a URL on a Google search results page. The meta tag matches the words a user has searched with the keywords contained on the webpage.

Your meta-tag is one of the most important components of your website. When creating the meta tag for your website, be sure to include one or two of your most highly ranked keywords.

> Use keywords on social media
Be sure to include your keywords in your activities on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media channels.

Being strategic in your communications is an important part of being successful with SEO, Crosetti says. So, try to keep a personal tone in your communications and not formulaic.

In order to avoid seeming like a robot, try to focus your tweets, for example, around specific areas that will allow you to include the keywords that you think will be helpful for your business.

This is the fourth instalment in an occasional series on using SEO to build your business.

Next: Vital strategies to SEO success.