Google's Goalposts Moved Last Thursday:
Will law firms to lose out?
Google announced an update last Thursday October 24, 2019 – a big one in fact: “one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of search”.
It changes Google's interpretation of the words people put into their queries, and on your website.
This means your website may be presented differently in search results pages. And that could alter the sorts of enquiries you receive.
The BERT update
This name is an acronym of Google's own obscure jargon – it's not really worth worrying about.
The new algorithm is intended to help Google understand and respond to the people's intentions more helpfully. Many words in the English language have several meanings. Some words mean the same as other words and can can be swapped in and out. And other words that sound the same (and may also have the same spelling) can have different meanings.
So Google is working to improve it's quality of interpretation in these cases.
More sophisticated matching
BERT works with data where the sequence of several elements is important. It won't affect the simple and straightforward. So it is less relevant in situations where the search is for a well-known single product.
But Google expects it will change the results presented for more tentative search questions.
Professional firms at risk?
Searcher intention is a useful construct when searchers know what they are searching for.
But with professional services, potential new clients often don’t know what they need. That is one of the reasons why they are searching – to understand their situation and their needs better. And to understand what help is relevant and available.
So if BERT is adding re-interpretation to uncertain expressions...
will this impact the results shown for your website? And therefore alter the enquiries produced from these websites?
One fast way to check
The more explanation you give, the more likely searchers will find your site through BERT. And they will be more likely to engage with your message and enquire with you.
The original messages written for your website may not have aimed to explain as much as Google now expects.
To prepare for a rewording project to align better, get a quick clue on how much explanation you give.
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