BERT algorithm stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers! When you thought that internet search was perfect and couldn’t get any better, Google started designing and releasing its most significant and brightest algorithm in the last five years. This algorithm, known as BERT, is based on artificial intelligence that helps Google robots understand the semantic structure of the words in a searched phrase (query) more accurately.
So please take a deep breath and don’t worry about this algorithm’s scary and overly technical name. In this article, we want to focus on the points that can determine the fate of your site’s SEO shortly. In the article “An Ultimate Guide to SEO (Search Engine Optimization)” we introduce the Google BERT algorithm. In this article on the smart strategy blog, we will dive deep into this algorithm.
What is the Google BERT algorithm, and what is its purpose?
At its simplest, Bert is a model of everyday spoken language that helps Google’s algorithms understand even the most minor parts of spoken language, such as prepositions, as well as a human.
When you start typing in Google, we ask you what kind of language most of the suggested terms use.
So if you think about it, it makes sense:
Since humans search in Gool and mostly search for a phrase with their colloquial language, if Google robots pay attention to the human and natural dimension of speech instead of focusing on the machine structure, the final result will be more ideal.
Of course, Google has primarily replaced natural language with machine language by publishing the Rank Brain algorithm. Still, the Bert algorithm can provide more accurate and relevant results to the user as a complement to Rank Brain. How does it work? You maybe ask.
It is understanding the complex language structure by BERT when artificial intelligence works wonders!
In addition, another issue that has become better with the new Google algorithm is understanding the position of words in sentences. Again, let’s take an example.
When you ask “Ways to immigrate to Canada,” Google does not look at each word of this sentence as a separate unit but recognizes the meaning of each word based on their relationship. In this example, if we change the preposition “to” to “of,” the importance of the sentence changes altogether.
Before the BERT update: Google did not understand the difference between the preposition “to” and “from” and only showed results related to Canadian immigration.
After the BERT update: Google notices the difference in the meaning of these two suffixes, and by searching for each, it shows results related to the same type.
It is interesting to know that these fascinating inventions are not new. However, Google artificial intelligence researchers introduced them in 2018 in an authoritative educational article about Google artificial intelligence and its impact on understanding human language in general.
According to the information in this article, the BERT update can make machines (such as algorithms, computers, etc.) analyze conversational language more quickly and easily. As a result, the percentage of misinterpretation of human language is significantly reduced. In practice, this process is called NLP or Natural Language Processing, which can be referred to as the core of Bert’s algorithm.
In short, we can say:
Algorithms can understand our language precisely the way we use it.
For example, Google’s search algorithms can analyze user queries more accurately with a better understanding of our language.
As a result, we have:
A better understanding of human language + more accuracy in user query analysis = more accurate results for the user’s search goal
What kind of query does the BERT algorithm affect more?
BERT algorithm focuses more on long and dialog-oriented queries. However, because long keywords are usually not the first target of SEOs, BERT’s changes are not yet fully evident for many sites.
Meanwhile, according to Google, this update changes 10% of search results. That means one must have used Google’s new BERT language model out of every ten results. So if we want to extend this update to all queries, it cannot be accurate.
The impact of the BERT Algorithm on SEO and optimization methods for it
The first question many people ask themselves with this update’s release is whether Bert impacts SEO. In response, we must say:
Since SEO is the site optimization process for search engines, any changes that search engines make to their algorithms will affect the optimization process.
So the main question is not whether the new Google update affects SEO, but the more important question is knowing what optimization methods are for Google BERT ranking.
Speaking of Google, we have to point out the fact that there is nothing you can consider “optimizing for Google BERT.”
Mr. Danny Sullivan, one of Google’s leading figures on the Twitter social network, says about this:
“There is no optimization method for BERT. The new update has only made our algorithms smarter, which means we can better understand the content written for the user.”
So we conclude that we must first understand the user’s needs and start creating content based on that.
If you look a little more carefully, you will find that this algorithm emphasizes the user’s search goal above all, and the only reason for its release is to improve the search experience.
conclusion
Understanding the user’s search intent and optimizing for it is the key to success in the Google BERT algorithm.
One of the things that the BERT algorithm does well is to predict the user’s search intent with a low error rate. This means that if you mistype one of the words in a phrase, but the rest of the words have the same meaning, Google will correctly understand what you mean, and you will see in the results the same thing that was in your mind!
So we can conclude that the primary goal of the BERT algorithm is to understand the purpose of the user search intent better and more accurately.
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