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The New Google BERT said to impact 1 out of 10 searches, This could affect your web traffic by 10%

Google just launched its biggest update yet – BERT – to deliver better and more REAL results for Googlers. The change is another effort made by the search engine giant to show the best possible answer to searches on Google. So what does this mean? Will BERT affect my website and/or business? And what the heck is BERT? Let’s find out…

What does BERT mean for my business

Key Takeaways

When Will It Take Effect?

This update is said to have started rolling out earlier this week, and should be in full effect Now!

What is BERT Used For?

Google said BERT helps better understand the prior less important words in searches and better match those queries with more relevant results. These words include “for” and “to” which were treated with less priority in the past.

Will BERT Impact My Site?

Hard to say. The Google’s core algorithm has always been a mystery, however, keeping track of your website’s ranking and analytics are just a few ways to determine if your site becomes a victim of the BERT. The best defense to have for any ongoing Google updates is to monitor your site regularly. Compare how you stand against your competitors, listen to your customers and make sure your site’s content caters to their needs. Use SEO tools and analyze your webs data for opportunities to improve.

Why We Care

We’re always trying to stay up-to-date when it comes to these types of updates because it means Google is trying to improve its quality as do we. This update has impacted 10% of ALL queries and who’s to say it can’t go higher? We will be monitoring our data to see if our sites have been impacted by this update & suggest you do the same.

How Can I Protect My Site From BERT?

People prefer content that’s engaging and delivers a solution to their problems. Google has realized people are searching more in terms of conversational queries, that being said, your website needs to provide the best possible content in a way that matches Google’s preferences and of that person. Having someone on your team who is actively optimizing your website and understands these types of updates is a tremendous advantage!

Before its launch, Google says BERT went through rigorous testing to ensure that the changes are actually more helpful for searchers.

Here’s an example directly from Google

New BERT query example from Google

Did you notice the difference in search results? BERT placed more emphasis on the words “to” and “need”

Whenever Google announces a change in its search algorithm, the entire web sits up and takes notice. Companies have lived and died by Google’s search rank changes; which gives more reason to have a strong SEO strategy in place.

Looking Ahead

“We’re also applying BERT to make Search better for people across the world. A powerful characteristic of these systems is that they can take learnings from one language and apply them to others. So we can take models that learn from improvements in English (a language where the vast majority of web content exists) and apply them to other languages. This helps us better return relevant results in the many languages that Search is offered in.”

Pandu Nayak
Google Fellow and Vice President, Search

With this new change, Google is aiming to improve the way it delivers its results to be more relevant and natural. They also mentioned “Improving Search in More Languages”. This is something we will be looking at more closely as we have designed a page that’s live now (for one of our parters) in Spanish; should be interesting to see how it performs.

Google is a company that strives for improvement and that means these updates are a never ending tale. Delivering the best and correct information is key to a successful SEO campaign; but it no easy task when these kinds of updates are constantly pushed out. As mentioned above, having someone on your team who is: Actively improving your site’s performance, On the lookout for these types of updates, & Implements the best strategy for your business is a great advantage to have.

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