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Google updated its algorithm yet again in 2018 with BERT. At first, it wasn’t well known how BERT would affect SEO and Google’s search rankings. However, now that BERT has been in place, the update and its effects on SEO are better understood. So, now that we have a better idea of what BERT does and how it affects search results, how does it affect SEO strategies?

What Does BERT Do?

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What BERT did was allow Google to understand the text better. Instead of looking at specific keywords, BERT helps Google to understand the entire meaning behind the sentence. Prior to BERT, Google might have had trouble with words like “to” and “for”, which don’t necessarily have much meaning on their own. By understanding what overall searches mean instead of just individual words, Google can better understand what users really mean when they make a search query.

Can You Optimize for BERT?

The short answer is no. You can’t optimize for BERT. The best way to create content for BERT is to just make high-quality content. BERT may have affected some SERP rankings, but the intent behind BERT wasn’t to punish anyone for not properly optimizing for the latest update. The idea was to better match users with the content that matches their search query.

If your site ranked highly for a particular search but it wasn’t exactly what the user was looking for, then they would click off your site more quickly, increasing your bounce rate and then lowering your ranking for that particular search. If BERT lowered your ranking for a particular search, it’s the same end result.

It also means that the users directed towards your site will be higher quality visitors who are more likely to become customers.

The Importance of Relevance

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Paying attention to relevance is more important than ever before. Many of the websites that were hurt by BERT were those who were focusing on keywords at the expense of relevance. Keywords are important, but they’re not nearly as important anymore as your content. Producing high-quality content is the best way to establish relevance in your subject.

The focus should be first on the content quality, not on the keywords. Your content should drive your keywords and what you are relevant for, rather than focusing on the keywords first. The keywords will need to match the content. Thanks to BERT that now helps Google understand better what the content is overall, you can’t rank for keywords that aren’t relevant to your content, even if they are included on the web page.

What this means is that Google will provide only the most relevant search results to users. If your content doesn’t match that, keywords or not, it won’t be at the top of the SERP. This does actually end up benefiting businesses. If users are only seeing the most relevant, high-quality content, then on the flip side of that, websites will only receive the highest-quality, most relevant visitors.

Your site would still rank for the searches that were most relevant to its content, which would, in turn, only drive relevant traffic to your website. This means a lower bounce rate and a higher conversion rate.

Need some help growing your web presence and strengthening your brand? You’ve come to the right place.

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