Googles mission is to make sense of all the information in the world. For a time search engines had a hard time understanding what people really meant when they searched for something. They just looked at the words, not what the words actually meant.
Now we have BERT, which's a big deal for figuring out what people mean when they talk. BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. It helps Google understand what people are looking for in a human way. Google can look at what people search for and understand it like a person would. This is a change, for Google and it is all because of BERT.
For people who make things and people who sell things this means that Search Engine Optimization is not about using the right words. It is about understanding what the person using the internet is really looking for so Search Engine Optimization is really, about aligning with what people want to find.
Key Changes in the BERT Era
What is BERT?
- When we talk about Bidirectional we are talking about BERT. BERT looks at the words that come before a word and the words that come after it to understand what the word really means. This is what Bidirectional is about, for BERT.
- Encoder Representations: This thing takes the language we use and turns it into patterns that the machines can understand. The Encoder Representations do this so the machines can work with the language.
- The Transformers are a type of deep learning model. This model is really good at understanding how the words in a sentence are related to each other. The Transformers model does this by looking at the words and figuring out how they work together to form a sentence. This is what makes the Transformers model useful for things like language translation and text summarization, where the Transformers are used to understand the relationships, between the words.
So basically BERT is a tool that assists Google in figuring out the reason behind a search than just the search itself. BERT helps Google understand the why, behind a search, which's really important. This means Google can do a job of giving people the information they are looking for when they search for something using Google and BERT.
The way we search for things on the internet has changed a lot because of BERT. BERT is a deal when it comes to search.
Before BERT search engines had a time understanding what people were looking for.. Bert changed search by making it smarter. It can figure out what words mean in a sentence.
This means that when you search for something BERT can give you accurate results. BERT is really good at understanding language. So when you ask a question or search for something BERT can give you an answer.
For example if you search for "how to make pizza" BERT can give you a list of recipes and videos that show you how to make pizza. BERT is changing the way we search for things on the internet. BERT is making search better.
People are using BERT to get search results. BERT is the future of search. The way BERT changed search is a change. BERT is making a difference in how we find things on the internet. BERT is changing search, for the better.
- Better Understanding of Conversational Queries
People are now searching for things in a natural way like "How to learn SEO without coding". This means that searches are understood in a subtle way. Searches, like these are getting better at being figured out.
Google is really good at telling the difference between things that have meanings. For example Google knows that "bank account" is not the same as "river bank". Google understands that "bank account" refers to the account you have at Googles or any other bank. On the hand "river bank" is the land beside a river. Google can figure out what you mean by these words. Google is very smart at distinguishing between differences in meaning like the difference, between "bank account" and "river bank".
- Featured Snippets and AI Overviews
BERT helps make summaries more accurate. This means that if your content is easy to understand and well organized it is more likely to show up. BERT makes this happen by making sure that your content is clear and easy to read so people can find it when they need it. BERT does this by looking at your content and figuring out what is important so it can show the parts to people who are searching for something.
Comparison: Search Evolution
What This Means for SEO in 2026
- Write for Humans First: Forget keyword stuffing—focus on clarity, depth, and intent.
- When we are trying to find something out we usually ask questions in a straightforward way. So it makes sense that we should structure our content in a way, to how people naturally ask questions. This means using language to make things easy to understand. Natural language is important because it helps people get the information they need quickly. We should use language to structure our content.
- Answer Specific Problems: When you use BERT it likes content that answers questions in an complete way. This means BERT is looking for content that solves the problem the user is having. So the content should answer the Specific Problems the user is asking about. BERT wants to see that the content is giving answers to these Specific Problems.
- Make Google Understand What You Are About: You need to be really clear about what your company does what you are good, at and what things you want to talk about so Google can find you when people search for those things.
Closing Thought
BERT is not a way that computers work. It is a change in how search engines try to understand people. Google is getting better at knowing what we mean. The best way to do well with search engines is to make content that is real and made for people, not just computers. Google wants content that is made by people and for people so the best thing to do is make content that's authentic and, about people like what BERT is trying to do.
If you want to stay ahead, keep following the Anuradha Vats blog for soulful, open-source insights that blend technical clarity with emotional intelligence.
SEO/SMO/PPC Specialist, Analyst, Consultant
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