Hi, folks, how has your digital marketing world been since Google introduced its newest update? Yes, I’m talking about BERT. Say hi to BERT, it is pleased to meet you, but is your content writing output pleased with the encounter too? Has it already affected your website’s ranking or are you yet to feel the wind of change? No matter what you answered here, you will want to stay on this page and read on. In the lines to follow, you will find:
- more about BERT
- how it might affect your content writing efforts
- whether your content writing agency will do something differently
First things first…
What Is BERT?
It stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. (Yes, I know Bert sounds so much cuter). It is also the new AI-powered update in Google’s ranking algorithm that everybody is talking about.
More About Neuro-Language Processing (NLP)
It’s what makes BERT so effective
Simply put, NLP combines notions from a variety of fields, including computer science, information engineering, and artificial intelligence, in order to fill the gap between humans and technology. This is what programmers use to facilitate the interaction between humans and computers. It is also what BERT is largely based on.
Who Says You Can’t Optimize For It?
And what should be done instead
Google. Google themselves said it. And they have the right to do so. After all, BERT is their creation and they should know best.
However, this doesn’t mean there isn’t anything for you to do.
In my opinion, you can continue to hire freelance writers that produce OK content but have no website optimization background OR you can hire a content writing agency with SEO understanding and experience.
You will definitely feel the difference. Why is search engine knowledge important, you may ask? Because no matter if you are investing in a blog post or a landing page, you need that content to be friendly to the engine and be written with that purpose in mind. But, with these updates, this will be just the starting point. You will need the content to be satisfying the needs of end-users, with the right information in a way that will bring the most value to them without wasting their time.
A (Not-So-New) Era Has Come
The largely anticipated changes in ranking
Remember RankBrain? It was a similar update rolled out by Google in 2015 that was supposed to help the engine analyze and interpret search queries better. It was Google making an important step towards understanding our intent as users properly.
On that note, the zero-click search phenomenon is uprising for that same reason. Google gets us and it does it faster than before.
Personally, when it comes to BERT and all these updates, I am really happy with the introduction of these kinds of changes. Because Google is trying to understand your query better than ever and read between the lines, focusing on language nuances, context, and connecting words. This means that we, as users, find whatever we are looking for much faster than before.
But What Does It Mean For Us, As Writers?
Meaningful, relevant content, as always.
Simply that we will have to become even more precise in answering the search queries that people input in Google and by getting better at that, we master the skills to not just write for the engine but for the human on the other side of the screen too.
It’s just about double down the effort to produce the content people want to see, read, and use. As writers, we will have to attend even more to semantics and topical density instead of focusing on exact match keyword combinations. The content writers need to produce words that don’t just glide on the surface but are specialized in their respective fields.
That’s pretty much all I got for now, folks. The update is just too new to have some solid results so we should all stay tuned to see what the future holds for BERT. Meanwhile, don’t be shy to ask your content writing agency for advice. After all, content does remain king.
