Bert stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers.
Bert is a brand new algorithm that improves your search results in a more contextual manner instead of just being built on keywords alone.
In simpler terms the update allows google to better comprehend the specific context and nuances of everyday languages. Thus the end user can type in
their queries in a more conversational manner e.g., can you get a home loan after the age of 60?
Through advanced self learning Google can now understand words like stand when they can mean things like going to a food stand, taking a stand or standing up. Another example when searching for a bank account or searching for a bank on a river without context might bring up the same types of search queries, but with Google’s new algorithm they can understand exactly what you are trying to search based off of that specific intent. The update started rolling towards the end of 2019 and now affects 10% of search queries. But unlike past updates, you cannot optimize for the update.
What can you do?
1. Write user-specific content
The one thing you can do is write useful content that directly matches your specific user intent and what is relevant to what they are searching for. If your content is not relevant. It will not rank.
2. Instead of over optimizing content for SEO, pay more attention to grammar, header formatting, connecting your question to answers and keeping your sentences short and simple.
Bert has the potential to affect all aspects of SEO and content. But overall it will essentially help it understand our own human language.