An SEO glossary of terms every marketer should know in 2026
A practical, current glossary covering the essential SEO terminology every marketer should be comfortable with, from foundational concepts to 2026-specific terms.
6 min read
2023 was a busy year for Google's core ranking systems, with several broad core updates alongside category-specific changes to reviews and helpful content evaluation. Tracking these chronologically helps separate a genuine core update effect from an unrelated technical issue on your own site.
The confirmed core updates of 2023
Google confirmed core updates in March, August, October (with a following unnamed update shortly after) and November 2023. Each rollout followed Google's now-standard pattern: an announcement, a multi-day or multi-week rollout window, and a period of ranking volatility before results settled.
- March 2023 core update: broad, global rollout with significant volatility across many categories.
- August 2023 core update: another broad update, following the established pattern of periodic core refreshes.
- October 2023: two updates in close succession, including a core update and a separate spam update.
- November 2023 core update and reviews update: the reviews system was formally renamed and broadened this same period.
What these updates appeared to reward
Across the year, sites with clear topical authority, genuine expertise signals and low reliance on thin or repurposed content tended to hold steady or improve, while sites leaning on aggregation, thin affiliate content or unoriginal reporting saw more volatility. This is consistent with the broader, multi-year direction Google has taken since the original Helpful Content Update.
No single 2023 core update introduced a dramatically new concept — each one refined the same standard: original, expert, genuinely useful content over aggregated or templated alternatives.
How to build your own update timeline
Keep a simple spreadsheet logging every confirmed core update's start and end date alongside your own site's organic traffic for that period. Over a year or two, this becomes genuinely useful for distinguishing a core-update-related shift from a technical issue, seasonal pattern or a change you made yourself around the same time.
- Log the official rollout start and completion dates from Google's own announcements.
- Note any site changes you made in the same window, to avoid misattributing cause.
- Compare category and page-level traffic, not just the site-wide total, since core updates often affect specific content types more than others.
Where to track confirmed updates going forward
Google's Search Status Dashboard is the official source for confirmed update dates, and Search Engine Land's algorithm update library maintains a well-organised historical archive worth bookmarking.
Frequently asked questions
How many core updates did Google run in 2023?
Google confirmed at least four distinct core update rollouts in 2023 (March, August, October and November), alongside separate spam and reviews-related updates in the same year.
Do all core updates affect every website?
No — a broad core update can leave many sites completely unaffected while causing significant movement for others, depending on the specific quality signals being refined in that particular rollout.
Is it worth reacting immediately to a core update rollout?
Generally no. Google recommends waiting until a rollout fully completes before making major changes, since rankings can fluctuate throughout the rollout window itself before settling.
If you saw unexplained traffic movement in 2023 and never got to the bottom of why, talk to our team — we can help map it against the confirmed update timeline.
The takeaway
Keep a private log of your own traffic against every confirmed core update date — this is the single most useful habit for understanding which of your own changes actually mattered.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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