Over the past few years, Search Engine Optimization (commonly known as SEO) has become increasingly difficult for companies as Google continuously updates and improves its algorithm. Based on the study of the ‘State of SEO’ in 2019, nearly 97% of marketers said that SEO is important for their business’s growth somehow. Hence, there is so much buzz around the latest update of Google – BERT.
Digital marketing teams need to adapt their SEO strategies once again to remain competitive and on the top. That is why we have come up with this post so that you will have a fair idea about Google BERT and its impact on digital marketing particularly SEO. Let us get started!
The BERT or Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers algorithm leverages Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to better comprehend the context of the search queries. While Bing had been using this algorithm, the leading search engine – Google announced this update a few times back.
John Frigo, an SEO expert said that Google’s new algorithm update will increase the adoption of voice-enabled devices. He further added, ‘think about your search behaviour when typing into your computer or phone and then think about how you search when you are talking to Siri, or talking to your phone, or a smart device’. In a nutshell, this new update is one more step closer to the ultimate goal of the search engine – understanding and leveraging the search intents.
A well-known search analyst – Morgan Hennessey said that she is looking Google BERT as a great step and in the right direction. She added, ‘BERT is going to improve results for voice searches and people using talk to text to search which is crucial as more people every day are searching using artificial intelligence (AI) assistants like Siri and Alexa’.
Another major improvement that BERT will bring is, it will force businesses and companies to publish more relevant and higher quality of content. After the implementation of this update, now Google is looking for the content that is fully explained and answers one particular query or question. It will also challenge the notion of which content is better. To conclude this, we can say that BERT will allow the search engine to present the absolute best answers/results for the search queries.
Frigo suggested, ‘unlike many other algorithm updates and changes, BERT is not something that is necessarily going to have a huge effect on most websites, nor is it something a website could have prepared for’. Businesses who have been publishing a lot of irrelevant content or targeting unrelated keywords, have just started leveraging the benefits of voice-enabled devices, or having a multilingual web presence will be most impacted.
Detailed information has been given here: #Websites Targeting Unrelated Keywords Will ‘Take a Hit’
If you are targeting relevant keywords to your business, enjoy your tea as it will not affect your presence a much. But if your website has confusing or double-meaning keywords, then it is a red flag for you. Frigo said, ‘you may lose some of that traffic, but that traffic was pointless to you in the first place’. It is because BERT allows Google to better understand the search query’s context. Hence, your content must have greater relevance for your targeted keywords.
#Long-Tail Keywords – New Hero in the Town
Now, businesses should start shifting towards creating digital marketing strategies that optimize your SEO for voice searches. Hennessy suggested that ‘SEOs are going to start steering away from targeting the broad-term keywords and implementing a more strategic long-tail keyword strategy that takes natural language into account’. It is because we all search queries or phrase questions much differently while speaking. Hence, you need to understand the users’ intent and capture those ‘long-tail’ keywords.
#Relevant Content Will Ensure the Best Results
Websites cannot simply pump out poorly written content. However, with this update, now Google can better understand the intention behind every query. Hence, it will rank the most relevant businesses on the top and not to those who just target keywords solely for traffic. To put it simply, only the best, to-the-point, and unique content that answers the real queries and questions are going to be getting the higher number of Search Engine Result Page (SERP) appearances along with more organic traffic.
After this update, many businesses ask us – should we be concerned because of BERT? And we say, YES! It concerns every business irrespective of the industry. Google has itself stated that the BERT algorithm update is the biggest and the most crucial step in the last five years. So, do you still think that it is not worth your time?
Lastly, we can only say that BERT will ensure better search results and enhanced user experience. So, be ready for the changes and always strive to make better strategies to keep up with the evolving trends. If you do not know how and where to start, then get in touch with Digital Markitors – the best SEO company in Delhi for comprehensive and result-driven solutions for your business.
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