BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. This is a deep learning algorithm for natural language processing (NLP) created by Google. The point of this algorithm was to improve Google search.
The idea was to create a more natural feeling search experience. Basically, BERT enabled Google search to categorise search results based on their intent. The algorithm used a unique approach of using bidirectional encoding—which is just a fancy way of saying it looks at a text both ways, right to left and left to right.
Normal algorithms only look at the text in one direction. With bidirectional encoding, it became possible to gather better context. To cut a long story short, BERT enabled Google search to understand the intent of content much better than before.
As such, it also became able to better match the intent of content and search queries. This was huge news for SEO specialists as it introduced a new method for ranking.
In this article, we will teach you how to do that by listing tips that enable you to optimize content for BERT.
How To Create BERT-Optimized Content
Given below are five tips for optimising content for BERT. This is by no means an exhaustive list; however, it will get you started on the right track.
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Use Long Tail and LSI Keywords
The most obvious thing to do after learning about BERT and how it works is to use long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords have a very specific intent. Thus, they have low volume but high impressions.
With BERT, you will be rewarded for catering to these keywords. Write content to target those keywords and satisfy their search intent. This will help your content see the top of the SERPs for those keywords.
Now, you might be wondering, “Doesn’t going after long tail keywords affect my chances of showing up for more general results?”
You see, with BERT, what will happen is that your content will show up for all searches whose intent matches your content.
This brings us to LSI keywords. LSI stands for latent semantic index. These are keywords that are conceptually related to your keyword. For example, the terms money, finance, banking, loan, credit, and debit are all conceptually related to each other.
When we say “use LSI keywords,” we only mean that your content should cover conceptually related topics that come together to create a comprehensive post. Such content has a much farther reach than content optimized for select keywords only.
Note: You can also leverage the random word generator to optimize for SEO.
2. Aim to Answer Specific Questions
Specificity is important for BERT. That’s why you need long-tail and LSI keywords. However, that is not the end of it. You also need to incorporate specific questions into your content.
BERT works best with informational intent. Most of the problems in search results with respect to intent occur with questions. The WEBFX article on BERT highlights this with a great example.
They showed that a query for “What do pandas eat other than bamboo?” has extremely bad results. That’s because, before the BERT update, Google search would ignore words like “other than,” thereby completely ignoring the search intent. So, it was a futile effort for SEO content writers to answer such specific questions.
With the BERT update, this is no longer the case. So, you can create content that answers really specific questions like this and still get a lot of traffic.
3. Use Conversational and Natural Language
Another thing that the BERT update added was the emphasis on content that is for humans rather than bots. SEO had become too engrossed with creating content that would rank high but would not provide tangible or useful information.
There was (and still is) an unhealthy amount of focus on using keywords and buzzwords to get traffic. The problem with such content was that it was hard to read and really difficult to understand. Some of the keywords SEO content writers had to adjust were so weird and grammatically incorrect that they would actively impede reading comprehension.
With BERT, the focus on such content has lessened. There is now more emphasis on content that humans can read and understand. So, use natural language in your content. Write in a conversational manner. Keep the readability under grade 8.
This way, you will also improve the dwell time and bounce rate of your content pages.
4. Use Internal and External Links that Expand on the Topic
Since BERT is so focused on context, it really helps if you can provide resources that expand upon it. For example, you are writing an article about car maintenance. That is a big topic and covers a lot of sub-topics.
Naturally, your article may address one or two such sub-topics. However, you can include links to other articles that cover related topics. These links can be internal (if your site has the resources) or they can be external.
The point is that if you include links that expand upon the knowledge provided in your article, BERT will rank it higher because it has more context. More context means that it is easier to understand, and therefore, more people will actually engage with it.
5. Keep the Content Updated
Updated content is the king of all content. People naturally want the latest information. They don’t care about old or outdated information unless they are some kind of internet historian.
So, what you have to do is keep monitoring your content and make sure that all the information provided is valid and applicable. The moment you see something that has become obsolete, you have to replace it.
This is a tiring thing to do, but the good thing is that you don’t have to do it for all of your content. There is a thing known as evergreen posts. These posts cover topics that are expected to not change for a long time.
Only monitor such posts for updating. Otherwise, it is almost always better to create a new post to address new information.
Conclusion
So, there you have it: how to optimise your content for BERT. BERT is a deep-learning algorithm, so it will continue to evolve and get better at identifying intent. So, it is a good idea to start optimising for it even if you are late because it is going nowhere.
