Not too long ago, you could write for the web while reusing nearly the same keywords over and over, even if it didn’t make much sense or came across as confusing.
In the early days of search engines, they were very easy to trick; often, a website’s success depended far more on the crafty shortcut to taking a page from somewhere else, rather than offering anything of significance.
But a lot has changed. With the rollout of Google’s BERT, content is written less as a set of formulas or quick hacks, and more to understand context, recognise intent and deliver value to the user.
And if you’ve ever been advised to “write for the algorithm”, it could be time to rethink. Because BERT isn’t just reading content, it is trying to understand what it is reading. And that big shift has opened up writing to be not only smarter but also more human.
BERT, short for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, is a machine learning model made by Google. Instead of a model that reads a sentence word by word in one direction, the BERT model reads it in both directions at once, which gives it a better understanding of the overall meaning of a sentence.
So when a person searches “Can you get a visa without a job offer?”, the BERT algorithm understands that the searcher is NOT looking for a job, but asking whether it is possible to get a visa without a job offer. This kind of nuanced reading was not possible for search engines before.
For content creators, this means you are not just writing for keywords anymore – you are writing for intent. This is good.
Keyword stuffing is a thing of the past. Content must simply come across as being written by a human who understands their audience.
If your blog, website, or landing page reads like a robot wrote it for another robot, Google is likely to skip over it. And worse, so will the readers.
BERT rewards clarity, empathy, and relevance. It’s almost like having a very well-read editor judging every word you type, but without their input.
The best performing content NOW reads a conversation, not a sales pitch.
What BERT values most is context. Words take on different meanings based on what surrounds them, which is why clear, well-explained content now ranks higher than keyword-stuffed pages. Keywords still matter, but they need to appear naturally; it’s not about frequency, but relevance and flow.
This shift is enormous for brands and marketers. Optimisation has to give way to understanding at the heart of your content strategy. Whether it is developing thought leadership, product descriptions, or article updates on your company blog, your writing must take into consideration a real person, not a search crawler.
Leading content writing services in Bangalore, for instance, are now investing heavily in training writers to think like search users: empathetic, curious, and nuanced.
They’re writing with real-world questions in mind, not checklists. The best content is no longer the lowest common denominator, but content that is rich, specific and useful.
For example, we have a user looking for “the best laptops for editing videos.” They are not looking for a broad history of laptops, and probably not a spec-laden list of gamer laptops.
They are likely looking for what any video editor needs – a straightforward, helpful list of options with reasons for video editors – battery life, GPU performance, high-quality display, etc. And perhaps some budget considerations.
This is intent-matching content. You’re not interpreting what the user wants; you’re responding to what they want with accuracy. Writing this way involves:
Also Read: Creating Truly Helpful Content: How to Stay on Google’s Good Side
If you want your content to survive and thrive in the world shaped by BERT, here are a few practical guidelines:
Ask yourself: What is this person trying to learn, solve, or decide? Write from that place.
Use a natural tone that sounds like one human helping another. If it feels stiff when read aloud, revise it.
Break up long paragraphs, use bullet points or subheadings, and avoid meandering tangents. Help your reader scan, stay, and return.
Instead of obsessing over individual phrases, focus on comprehensive topic coverage. This keeps you relevant even if specific search patterns change.
People rarely search for perfect grammar. Think of how users type into search bars, casually, even messily. Reflect that tone and rhythm in your content.
Intelligent content teams are already moving quickly. A leading content marketing agency in Delhi is likely to focus less on SEO tricks and more on editorial depth, long-form strategy, and voice alignment.
Agencies like this recognise that content built to serve, rather than deceive, earns search ranking and customer trust. Writers and businesses must unlearn. BERT is not a trend; it is the new normal.
SEO often feels like man versus machine, but BERT is more of a reunion; the better machines understand us, the more human our writing can become. If you’ve been adding fluff just to hit keywords, stop.
Write as if your reader is right in front of you, because thanks to BERT, they are. So don’t write for the algorithm. Write for the question, the moment, and most of all, write like a human.
At RepIndia, we think that content should do more than scratch an algorithmic itch – it should connect. Given the reality that attention is short, and relevance is increasingly important, we produce stories that feel real, answer real queries, and get people to relate personally to your organisation.
It is not about outranking the competition; it’s about creating work that builds trust, brings value, and inspires.
Let us work with you on content that matters, that does not just perform for the sake of performance, but for the people who matter most, your audience.
Write a Message
