What is BERT and how does it work in Google algorithms?

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BERT, the latest innovation in Google's search algorithm, represents a significant shift in the field, according to its creators. BERT, which stands for "Bidirectional Encoder Representation from Transformers," has two key components to its operation:

"Bidirectional" means that BERT analyzes search phrases in both directions, considering words to the left and right of each keyword. This allows all words in the query to be related, rather than treating them individually.
"Transformer" refers to a system that helps BERT understand words as links, pronouns, and prepositions, which are crucial elements for interpreting the meaning of a search.
By applying these AI and meaning assignment algorithms, BERT can understand the intent behind a natural language query, capturing the way humans typically express themselves. Importantly, BERT does not replace Google’s current algorithm (RankBrain), but rather complements its function, improving the understanding of user queries. Therefore, RankBrain remains relevant, generating search results lists based on user behavior.

How does BERT influence SERPs and Google searches?
Essentially, BERT represents another important step in Google's quest to fulfill its mission: to provide accurate and fast answers to users. This implies that its algorithms must be able to understand both the content of the pages and the users' queries.

BERT is estimated to affect about 1 in 10 searches performed. The key difference is that more attention is now paid to the overall intent of the search rather than focusing so much on individual keywords.

To illustrate how BERT works, Google uses the example of the query “Brazilian tourist to US needs visa.” Previously, Google would ignore the preposition “a” in this query, leading to it being misunderstood as an American person wanting to travel to Brazil. With BERT, the search engine correctly understands the meaning of the preposition “a” and deduces that the searcher is most likely a Brazilian tourist. Therefore, the results are tailored to someone in Brazil who wants to travel to the United States.

Although not directly linked, it is relevant to consider the role that BERT will play in zero-click searches, one of Google's major developments in recent years. For many queries, the SERP displays a featured snippet that attempts to directly answer the user's question on the search results page. As BERT improves its understanding of queries, these snippets will be selected more accurately, resulting in an increase in the percentage of zero-click searches.

How to improve your SEO strategy taking BERT into account?
As Google refines its ability to understand user queries and website content, traditional australia school email database SEO tactics are becoming obsolete. Rather than simply “doing SEO,” Google encourages webmasters to focus on improving user experience and content quality. Here are key considerations for optimizing your website:What is Google Bert and how does it work?

Less crucial keywords: In the past, SEO focused on selecting and repeating keywords verbatim, but this is changing. BERT is moving toward “humanizing” content, focusing on creating content that answers users’ questions rather than worrying about exact keywords.
Benefit for ambiguous and long-tail searches: BERT has the ability to properly interpret in context all elements of a search query, even ambiguous searches that used to generate irrelevant results.
Quality over length: The practice of creating long articles, often over 5,000 words, is being overtaken by the quality of the content rather than its length. BERT focuses on delivering concise and appropriate answers to users’ questions.
Importance of Voice Search: Voice searches are becoming increasingly popular due to virtual assistants, and BERT has improved Google’s ability to understand these natural, conversational searches. Optimizing your website for voice search is essential.
Optimize for position zero: Zero-click searches are on the rise, so you need to prepare your site to feature structured data and optimized content to appear in the featured snippet.
Conclusion
BERT, the latest innovation, takes query understanding to a new level, prioritizing intent over keywords. This influences SERPs and the growing importance of voice search and optimization for position zero.

Ultimately, SEO is no longer just about keywords, but about delivering high-quality content that answers users’ questions. In this changing environment, keeping up with Google updates and adapting SEO strategies is essential for online success.