{"id":53349,"date":"2019-12-03T13:36:45","date_gmt":"2019-12-03T08:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/?p=53349"},"modified":"2020-01-08T16:59:37","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T11:29:37","slug":"bert-the-curious-update-of-google","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/bert-the-curious-update-of-google\/","title":{"rendered":"BERT – The Curious Update of Google"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even the founders of Google never ever imagined that Google would become a search behemoth after 20 years. There is a lot of elements that make Google a search engine market piece; one of the main, Google understands search intent\u00a0and provides\u00a0point-to-point information\u00a0for each\u00a0user.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The secret ingredient behind Google\u2019s success is its algorithm. Google is continually\u00a0updating its algorithm over the last two decades to serve relevant and high-quality results. In a series of updates, Google came up with the new one named \u201cBERT<\/strong>\u201d.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Generally, the search company does not announce any of its updates, however, this time they are kind enough to announce its largest update in almost 5 years.\u00a0BERT is one of the biggest advances in the history of search that will impact 10% of all search queries worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

What exactly is BERT Algorithm?<\/b><\/h2>\n

The technical definition of BERT is:<\/span><\/p>\n

BERT, is simply an acronym for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, is a neural network-based technique for natural language processing (NLP) that helps Google to understand context on the word-by-word\u00a0basis and then to deliver the better search results.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me explain this in\u00a0layman’s terms,<\/span><\/p>\n

BERT is a machine learning algorithm that helps Google to better understand what is the context, like the way humans depict a sentence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the launch of this update, Google was picking a sequence of important keywords from a search phrase and then put a result on the basis of those keywords. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>By applying BERT, it will be easier to interpret conversational queries wherein prepositions like \u201cfor\u201d and \u201cto\u201d <\/span>will matter a lot in the query.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Google Search is better able to solve the word riddle rather than searching a sequence of keywords.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As per <\/b>Google<\/b><\/a>:<\/b><\/p>\n

“These improvements are oriented around improving language understanding, particularly for more natural language\/conversational queries, as BERT is able to help Search better understand the nuance and context of words in Searches and better match those queries with helpful results.<\/em><\/p>\n

Particularly for longer, more conversational queries, or searches where prepositions like \u201cfor\u201d and \u201cto\u201d matter a lot to the meaning, Search will be able to understand the context of the words in your query. You can search in a way that feels natural for you.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does Google BERT Algorithm do?<\/b>
\n<\/span><\/h2>\n

The following examples will help you to see the impact of BERT algorithm on search results-<\/span><\/p>\n

Example 1)<\/b> in the phrase \u201c2019 brazil traveler to usa need a visa\u201d, the word<\/span> \u201cto\u201d and its relationship to the other words are important to understand the true meaning of the query.<\/span>
\n<\/span>Previously, Google wouldn\u2019t understand the importance of prepositions and their connection, and returned results about \u2018U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil\u2019 whereas this is about \u201cBrazilian traveling to the U.S\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Google said, \u201cWith BERT, the search is able to grasp this connotation and very well know that this common word \u201cto\u201d is a pivotal part of this query, and we can provide a much more apt result for this query.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2019<\/p>\n

Example 2) <\/b>Here is one more example- with the help of BERT, Google can understand the subtle nuances of language like the way humans do for \u201cCan you get medicine for someone pharmacy.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Understanding<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

BERT understands that \u201cfor someone\u201d actually matters a lot here and fathoms that whether I am (searcher) allowed to pick up a prescription for someone else, whereas previously Google showed the results related to \u201cfilling prescriptions\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

How will Google BERT affect SEO and Businesses?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t panic over BERT! Just because Google updates have hit so many websites in the past. This new algorithm is not created to penalize websites due to any issue, rather, to provide better user experience and a clear understanding of searcher\u2019s intent.<\/span><\/p>\n

As per search algorithm expert Dawn Anderson (@<\/span>dawnieando\u00a0<\/span><\/a>on Twitter), <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>it won\u2019t help websites that are poorly written.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, the impact of Google BERT on SEO<\/a> will definitely be noticed in the near future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Google,\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBERT will help Search better understand one in 10 searches in the U.S. in English, and we\u2019ll bring this to more languages and locales over time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Basically, the BERT update affects longer search queries to provide the appropriate answers for conversational search queries that are entered or typed by the user in the form of a question or a group of words into the search bar.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, based on what Google Search team have said about it, this algorithm\u00a0update may affect two types of searches\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. BERT targets \u201clong-tail search terms\u201d that may contain longer word counts\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Google said BERT will be more focusing on \u2018Conversational search queries\u2019<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, if you see a sudden drop\u00a0in the traffic or ranking to your website, it\u2019s quite possible that this algorithm update is the cause behind it.<\/span><\/p>\n

    If you are worried about the drop in your organic traffic with the BERT update, you can create a list of specific pages that have lost the traffic because BERT will most likely impact content pages like blogs for long-term queries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    How will you protect your website from the Google BERT update?<\/b><\/h2>\n

    As Google always states that \u201cContent is the supreme ruler of the search landscape.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    After the release of this new algorithm, you need to focus on a few points to get high traffic and better rankings-<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Research the conversational queries related to your business and check the search results<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Optimize your website on the basis of search results with appropriate keywords<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Keep optimizing content not just for keywords, but for searchers to generate a better connection with them<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Focus more on long-term search phrases to get tons of organic traffic<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Write more highly-researched, more in-depth, long-form content that allows detailed exploration of a specific topic<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Believe me, if your website has all the qualities to satisfy the user intent, it will not only rewarded with higher rankings but also with better leads.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n

      I would like to conclude by saying that you don\u2019t have to worry about BERT so much. Keep an eye too closely monitor your website traffic and rankings for few weeks, if you see any changes in your organic traffic and rankings, check the webpage content and make sure the webpage you are trying to rank for\u00a0matches\u00a0the\u00a0searcher intent.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Understanding the intent of the user is not only help in getting traffic but also increase the website\u2019s relevance to related search terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \u201cYou\u00a0have\u00a0no\u00a0choice\u00a0how\u00a0to\u00a0lose,\u00a0but\u00a0you\u00a0have\u00a0a\u00a0choice\u00a0of\u00a0how\u00a0to win\u00a0again.<\/strong><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Even the founders of Google never ever imagined that Google would become a search behemoth after 20 years. There is a lot of elements that make Google a search engine market piece; one of the main, Google understands search intent\u00a0and provides\u00a0point-to-point information\u00a0for each\u00a0user.\u00a0 The secret ingredient behind Google\u2019s success is its algorithm. Google is continually\u00a0updating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2},"categories":[1964],"tags":[398,4827,4826,4828,4825,404],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53349"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53412,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53349\/revisions\/53412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tothenew.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}