You Can Use the More Tag on WordPress

Sometime ago I wrote the article “Post Excerpts on the Homepage?” where I argued that displaying only post excerpts instead of full posts on the Homepage could have some benefits. It would increase the number of page views, make it easier for readers to scan through the different posts and make sure that your blog is not facing any duplicated content penalties.
Unfortunately many readers prefer to have full posts on the homepage so that they can read the content right there, without needing to click around. A simple solution to accommodate both sides is to use the “more” tag on WordPress.
When you insert the “more” tag on a post WordPress will display only the content that is placed before the tag, adding a “Read more” link to the post. Using this feature it becomes possible to display fully only the latest posts while making the rest display post excerpts.
Suppose you decided to use four posts on your Homepage. In that case you will place the “more” tag on all your posts excerpt for the latest four. Once you a write a new post you will edit the one that just slipped out of the Homepage and add a “more” tag to it.
This solution will make sure that you are not incurring any duplicated content penalties. Google usually takes from four to seven days to index new content, and by that time you will already have placed the “more” tag on your post.
Additionally it will also improve the usability. While readers visiting the Homepage are looking to read the content the ones that hit “Previous Entries” are usually looking for a particular post, so displaying only excerpts from the second page onwards might make it easier for them to scan through the posts.