Content that works for the reader works for Google too
Internet Live Statistics reveals there to be approximately 5.5 billion daily searches on Google with over 63,000 search queries done per second. As search engine users the way we phrase our search for Google varies from person to person based on the type of language we use and the amount of words we use when finding an answer to our question, particularly based on context and search intent.
You may think what Google’s BERT update and how is it relevant to me and my website?
BERT is the name of the latest update to Google’s search system. It is variously regarded as the most significant change to how it processes search enquiries in a decade. Put simply, it is a highly technical update that attempts to understand language in a more human-like way. The aim is to understand nuances and contexts better and apply this understanding to returning search results that are more relevant to the intent of the search.
The update will also be applied to featured snippets in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and we believe the change will assist voice search given it is going to understand conversational language better and deliver more relevant results. As we wrote in our post about Voice search, business that have how-to content, or in-depth informational content will stand to benefit. If your website is light on content, or without a content strategy, then it is likely to fall behind.
What can we do in terms of SEO? Nothing, SEO’s are unable to optimise for BERT. However, it is not all bad news. Here at HyperWeb we have always encouraged content that is written simply and naturally for the human reader. The BERT update will reward those businesses and clients that we have worked with for the simple reason that content written for the reader in terms of authenticity, naturalness, simplicity and structure will be rewarded by Google. The BERT update will aim to better match as search enquiry to your website where it is relevant.
So why BERT? BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, which is a language processing technique based on neural networking principles. Yes, we said it was highly technical, there are good explanations in other places, here is one:
https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2019/11/google-bert-update/
For all SEO requirements, contact us today and let us help you ensure your readers understand your message.
