Google released an algorithm update back in October of 2019 called BERT. It is said to be one of the biggest updates since Google released Rankbrain back in October 2015! Spelled out, BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. To put that in simple terms, that basically means that Google is using AI and machine learning to better understand how users are searching. They then use this information to serve more relevant search results by using natural language processing.

Instead of focusing on keywords alone, Google will now put more weight on a user’s goals and intent. User intent is now playing a role in how a website shows up in the search results based on machine learning that more closely resembles the human language. This creates a much better experience for you and everyone using Google.

How does the BERT update affect your site? 

Now that we understand what BERT is and how it affects users searching on Google, it is important to understand how this update affects your website and its content. BERT affects 1 in 10 search queries, which means this will eventually affect your site too. Searches are becoming “smarter” and Google is now understanding terms within searches more clearly. For example, Google can now take into account prepositions within searches which, we know, give a lot of meaning. Take a look at the example below:

As you can see Google now understands the “to” used within the search query. It understands that the search is asking for information on tourists traveling TO the USA from Brazil, not vice versa as it was doing in the past. Within the BERT update, Google also made changes to the featured snippets being shown in the search results. This change is similar to the changes in search but now Google understands the searches more intelligently and puts more emphasis on important longtail keyword phrases. The BERT update is making the search results more relevant to each search and is using AI and natural language processing to do so. 

How to continue to improve metrics and traffic with BERT

Did your site take a hit when the BERT update was put in place? Losing traffic from the update seems like a cause for concern, but it’s actually a good thing. This means that your site isn’t showing up as much in irrelevant places and you won’t be getting traffic that finds your site and then bounces. By optimizing your site for long-tailed (specific) keywords and content, the update will eventually help to improve your site’s overall engagement metrics and also bring in more relevant traffic.

In order to work with and continue to improve metrics and traffic now that the BERT update is in place, we need to focus more on WHAT your user needs. It’s important to talk about the information on your site in a specific way that is both useful and unique to the users. Keeping in mind what your competitors are up to as well. Your content should answer a searcher’s question as quickly as possible as well as provide valuable information to your users. It’s also helpful to focus on long-tail keywords which goes along with being more specific when writing content.

There are 3 different types of search queries used:

• Informational: it’s in the name, this person is looking for information. They are looking for an answer to a question.
• Navigational: used when a search is done to find a specific site or page. For example, someone might search for Spotify or Facebook directly in Google instead of typing in the URL.
• Transactional: this relates to queries made with the intent to make a purchase on a site.

The BERT update has the most impact on information queries and keywords. The information stage is at the top of the funnel which makes this a crucial update for both websites and users. With BERT in place, your site should contain well-written content that is specific to what users are searching for. 

Contact Ecreative to optimize your website for user intent

Our digital marketing experts and copywriters can help you create targeted, user-focused content for your website. Contact us to get in touch with a Digital Marketing Specialist in order to adapt your content with the BERT algorithm update in mind.