News has broken that Google has released a new AI named Bert. Bert stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, and he is bringing some changes to search engine optimization. What exactly are these changes, and how will they affect local businesses? Below we delve deeper into what we know.
What is Bert?
Bert is an AI designed to understand better the relationship between words searched. An example would be, “How many grapes are on a vine?” Instead of pulling up a list of results based on individual words, BERT strives to understand the concept asked. BERT will help give the user more quality results. Google believes this is one of the biggest game-changers ever in search engine optimization.
Effects on Local Businesses
Google estimates that Bert will affect 1 in 10 English-language searches. The estimation will include all types of searches, including local. The change should have a positive impact. Short phrase searches like, “closest bakery,” shouldn’t be affected by Bert. Instead, Bert will only help to get more organic impressions to previously overlooked content.
Most SEOs expect the outcome of BERT to push SEO rankings higher. If a website’s rankings are being negatively affected, we can find which pages are getting fewer views. Then the site can be updated accordingly.
Although Bert will affect the SEO game, there’s no way to optimize a business website for Bert. Quality content using natural language is the best way to make sure a site ranks well. Bert will make certain that users find the best results for their queries. Let Search Marketing Resource help with your digital marketing SEO campaign by using best industry practices for the BERT and other Google updates. Request a proposal today!