“Google BERT Update Understands Even Better The User’s Search Intent”
Google BERT Update, the massive change in Google’s algorithm for five years, affecting one in ten search queries. With this update, Google aims to enhance the interpretation of complex search queries and display and display only relevant search results. Google has greatly improved with this update.
What Does BERT Mean?
The ‘BERT’ stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers and refers to an algorithm model that is rooted in neural networks with the help of Natural Language Processing (NLP).
In a simple term; Google uses BERT to have a clear understanding of the context of the search query and more accurately justify the meaning of every word search. This is set on mathematical models which are known as Transformers. These analyses the word associated with all the other words in the sentence. This is specifically useful when interpreting the meaning of preposition and position of individual words within a search query.
Why BERT Update Is So Important For Google?
As per Google, approximately 15 percent of all search queries are new – that means they are being searched for the very first time. Another factor is the increasing length of search queries – today, 70% of searches can be considered long tail. Nowadays, users turn to Google with fully-formulated questions, and expect precise answers in a fraction of a second – BERT now makes up an essential part of the technology that makes this possible.
From the past decade’s works on neural networks that can correctly respond to new search queries and enhance the interpretation of content:
- Hummingbird: In the year of 2013, Hummingbird was incorporated in the Google Algorithm. This update made it convenient for entire search queries, rather than just searching for the one on one words within the same query.
- RankBrain: In the year of 2015, RankBrain became part of Google’s algorithm and was considered to be the third-most important google ranking factor. This made it possible to process search terms with various implications, or generally complex inquiries that go beyond the ordinary long-tail search.
- Panda: This google algorithm was rewarding with quantity over the quality. The Panda salient update affected strategies where low – quality content was published to the content farms with the link to the business website attached to the keyword recurring throughout the article.
- Penguin: This update was focussed primarily on the way to evaluate the algorithm. The authority of links as well as the sincerity of their implementation in the website content was crucial. However, this meant that if another website posted a link to yours in a spammy or manipulative way, it will negatively affect your search rankings. This meant that webmasters and SEO-focussed businesses required to make use of a disavow tool to inform Google what inbound links they approve.
How Does The BERT Algorithm Affect SEO?
It is very important to understand that BERT analyzes search queries, not the content available on a page. Now Google gets better at understanding natural language evoke the actual meaning and context behind its many search queries, it will also get better at finding the pages that best suits those queries.
The main objective of creating content geared towards the actual question your audience is asking and expecting the valid answers. As far as concerned about featured snippets, marking up pages with FAQ, How-to and Q&A schema is recommended for increasing your page longevity.
On-Page SEO
An SEO expert can breathe a collective sigh of relief because the Google BERT update is not designed to penalize websites only improves the way the search engine understands and interprets search queries. Websites that have a lot of informative ‘how-to’ guides and other in-depth content designed to benefit users are going to get the most from Google BERT. This means businesses that aren’t implementing a thorough content strategy are likely to fall behind the curve.
However, because the search algorithm is better at understanding nuances in language, it means websites with higher-quality written content are going to be more discoverable. The BERT update follows Google’s long-running trend of the trend of trying to improve the ability of its search algorithm to accurately serve conversational search queries.
Now Its time to Amend your SEO strategy
Usually, there are three types of queries user may ask while performing a search:
- Informational based
- Navigational based
- Transactional based
Does Google BERT Affect Content Marketing?
Yes, Google asserted that content plays an even more important role, therefore one should focus their full attention on representing relevant content for the user.
Content Marketing implies creating relevant, valuable and consistent content to attract and sustain a clearly defined audience. Google featured snippet seems to endorse that. As Google understands better natural language, focusing on longer tail keywords and on featured snippets, it is clearly showing the big opportunities for content writers to serve their readers with content written more genuinely that answers a searchers’ question as fast as possible and provides much value.
What is Google BERT Targeting?
The analysis report of Google, BERT will affect 10% of all queries. That’s a tremendous percentage, but it might not have caused a visible splash by SEO community standards. That is most likely because the update focuses on longer, more conversational queries, whereas these longer queries are queries that SEO’s don’t target as much.
By applying the BERT models to both rankings and featured snippets in search, google pretends to be able to do a much better job, helping users find useful information. In fact, when it comes to ranking results, BERT will help search better understand in 10 searches and we’ll bring this to more languages.
Identify and Optimize for the Users’ Search Intent
Search or keyword intent is the reason why a user conducts a particular search. What and Why they are searching? Are they really trying to figure out the answer to a question or do they just want to reach a specific website?
In this era there is a use of mobile and voice search increasing day by day, where people prefer fast and contextual answers to their questions, that is the reason Google tries to become more and more able to determine the search intent of the user.
About the Author
Umesh Ahirrao is the Founder & Managing Director at Osumare, a leading Digital Marketing Company in India. In a very short period of time, Osumare has become one of the leading companies in its segment. The company was recently awarded as ‘Best Digital Marketing Company in India’ at the huge platform of India Icon Awards 2019. Umesh is a highly qualified person with titles like BE (IT), MBA in Marketing and Ph.D. in CSR. Umesh has been leading the company since its inception.
Umesh has a contribution in vivid initiatives like providing Free Consultation to budding entrepreneurs and job preference to women encouraging women empowerment program. Also, he provides free internship training programs to the children of farmers with a vision to build their career helping them in securing their future in return.
