Google’s most significant update since RankBrain is here. So what does Google’s Bert update change, and why should you care?
Bert will impact 1 in 10 search queries.
While it isn’t sending Panda Update sized shock waves through the SEO world, there’s a good chance that Bert will impact your website. Here’s how.
What Is The Google Bert Update?
Bert stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. Google’s Bert update changes utilize neural networking techniques to improve natural language processing.
In plain terms, it means that Google is more adept at understanding conversational language and can better grasp the context of a search query.
Google’s Bert update example shows the impact of the update:
https://blog.google/products/search/search-language-understanding-bert
Before Bert, the top search result focused on US citizens traveling to Brazil without a visa. But look closely at the search query – the user is searching for information about traveling to the US from Brazil.
The result after the Bert update is much more relevant to the intent of the search query.
How Do These Changes Impact Your SEO Strategy?
Google’s Bert update changes don’t focus on web pages; they change how the search engine judges context by looking at all the words used in a search query.
With Google’s improved understanding of context and conversational searches, sloppy content is likely to suffer in ranking, and optimizing content for voice search should be an increasing priority.
As Google is getting better at judging the context of your content, the Bert update also signifies that keyword density is a diminishing ranking factor.
How To Take Advantage of Google’s Bert Update Changes?
Every major Google ranking algorithm upgrade presents an opportunity to improve your ranking and get a step up on your competitors.
The Bert upgrade mainly impacts top-of-the-funnel informational keywords. When you create top-of-the-funnel content, traditional thinking was to produce long-form content.
While plenty of long content ranks well, Google’s algorithm doesn’t focus on the length of your content – it’s the quality of the content that really matters to search ranking. You need to focus on producing content that is super helpful, unique, and engaging.
Great content that ranks well doesn’t need to be 5,000 words long and cover 25 different topics. Great content gets to the point, answering a search query quickly and providing more value than competing web pages – that’s why content clusters and pillar content are so important in today’s SEO best practices.
If you want to improve your ranking, you need to get really specific with your content.
Identify the questions your potential customers are using to search for information about your products and services, and make sure you answer those questions better than your competitors. Make use of images and utilize video to support your answer and craft a better experience for users to boost your ranking and grow your organic traffic.
The Takeaway
Google’s Bert update changes are the latest in the evolution of the search engine’s algorithm. Your SEO strategy needs to evolve too.
Google hasn’t been hiding where it is headed, prioritizing search intent and quality content for a long time. Keyword stuffing and other short-term strategies have become less effective with every passing algorithm update.
It’s still possible to achieve SEO goals quickly, but sustainable SEO success requires a robust strategy that focuses on search intent and quality content.
