Do Excerpted Links in Blogs Prevent Search Engines from Spidering Your Content?

Short answer: no.

Longer answer: If you use an excerpted link (or any “Click for the rest of the entry” type of link to keep the post on the home page shorter and more concise), you’re not really affecting the ability of search engines to find and index the content in the post, assuming you’re using a typical blog structure.

Most blogs are set up so that a certain number of recent posts are featured on the home page, in addition to every post having a permanent home in the archive. Since the permanent home contains the full text of the post, search engines almost always find and index the content there, so you really don’t have to worry about using excerpted links, and the content they may “hide” on posts on the home page.

One consideration, though, is that your home page is typically spidered much more frequently and content there usually ranks higher in search engines, so if you’re targeting more “newsy” niches (i.e. posting blow by blow updates of the Britney saga or American Idol results), you’d probably want the full text of each post to appear on the home page. If your content is more timeless, using excerpted links is pretty much a non-issue, and one that neither helps nor hinders you.

Do Excerpted Links in Blogs Prevent Search Engines from Spidering Your Content? and related information can be found in FAQ