- Google’s Recent Algorithm Update: BERT’S Here.
What it Means for Your Business.
First off! It’s A HUGE change in the eyes of the search engine giant. Google’s official statement was this when they rolled out the update late 2019:
“[BERT] represent[s] the biggest leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of Search.”
In reality, the update Bert impacts 10% of all search queries. That’s 1 in 10 searches that will be affected by this new algorithm.
For you fellow geeks out there that need to know what BERT stands for…
Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers
And for the rest of us, It means that Google’s algorithm translates a more humanistic approach to searching. BERT’s designed to understand how humans speak instead of focussing on singular word search terms. It’s looking for NLP ( Natural Language Processing) or natural key phrasing. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
This algorithm targets more conversational searches or searches where words like “for” and “to” matter a lot to the meaning, BERT’s programmed search will be able to understand the meaning of the words in your question. You’ll be able to search by typing in a query that makes more sense to you.
Bert mainly effects informational queries.
Quick Side Bar :
Informational Searches Are: Those searches where a person who’s looking for a solution like “what are the ways that I can dress to impress an investor” rather than
Navigational: Where a searcher knows the exact URL and types it in the *search bar* or
Transactional: Where the search words likely include exact brand and product names (like “LuLu Lemon”) or perhaps even generic (like “cappuccino maker”) or may specifically have terms like “buy,” “purchase,” or “order.”
What does BERT mean for the average business owner who is creating content? What do we do differently to appease BERT?.
Get very specific with your content.
In the past, when you created content (which is the easiest way to rank with informational keywords), SEO professionals told you to create long content.
Why? So that you could put more high volume keywords in one piece of content without keyword stuffing.
Now, the new algorithm doesn’t focus on quantity…it focuses on quality. Good content isn’t about 500 words or 1000 words with the highest volume of ranking singular words.
Good content is unique, helpful, and entertaining to the audience and ideal potential customer that you want to be there.
So! Stop focussing on keyword density.
The crux of it all.
Just answer your searchers’ questions better than the *competition* and you’ll stand out in the crowd.
BERT benefits you the BEST if:
You know your customers inside and out.
You’re creating your content to help your avatar resolve their challenges.
You understand the language of your ideal client.
You know what your market is looking for (because you’ve asked, researched or observed)
If all the above apply to the content you’re already making, you’ll shine above those whose goal is to write 1500 words to fill it with *high volume singular search terms*.
In conclusion, a content creator’s job now is to know the people they’re writing for so that they can offer helpful advice or information regularly. For those of you who are already doing this…soldier on, friends.
The DL Team