What is the More Tag you ask?

The More Tag (only available for posts) is a tag that gets inserted into your blog post content to truncate blog entries so that only the first part of posts is shown on your main blog page and archive pages. When you insert the More Tag, a link will be placed directly after your excerpt, pointing the reader to the full content of the article.

You can find the More Tag button in the first row of the WordPress
visual editor toolbar:

And in the WordPress HTML editor toolbar:

Here is what it looks like when it is inserted into your posts content
in both the visual editor and the HTML editor:

And here is what it looks like on a main bog page:

Why is the More Tag so important?

I know you may be reading this, wondering why the More tag is so important to a blog’s success. The More Tag is the magical tool that makes your blog page display just the first little bit of several different blog posts – like our main blog page www.bourncreative.com/blog.

You can tell when a blogger forgets to use the More Tag because their main blog page is about a mile long and shows several of their articles in their entirety.

There is one big problem that arises from displaying your entire blog post
on your main blog page:

Your readers will never see a "Read More" link, which means that pretty much all of your readers (except a few) will never click-through to the individual page for that post.

Not such a big deal right? After all, the entire article is right there for them to read. Why would they need to click-through?

WRONG! That is a very big deal.

You see, the ability to leave a comment and read the comments left by others are only available on the actual individual web page for that blog post. Also, in many blog themes, your readers will never see the similar posts, the categories and tags, or the social sharing and bookmarking links on the main blog page.

It’s a fact that if you display the entire blog post on your main blog page, many of your readers may not even realize they can leave a comment or click-through to the main page for the post by clicking the post headline!

The More Tag not only makes your blog easier to use and your content easier to scan, but it also makes it easier for your readers to comment, view similar posts, and share the content you worked so hard to create for them. Oh, and frankly blogs that use the more tag are also much more visually appealing!

The More Tag can also help you keep your readers on your website longer by cutting down on the amount of scrolling the visitor has to do, and making it easier for them to interact with you and your content.

So remember, every time you publish a new post to your blog,
make sure you insert the More Tag.

Jennifer will be presenting “Blogging Your Way to Celebrity Status and Google’s #1 Spot”

No longer is blogging a fad, a trend, or a hip form of journaling for the Internet obsessed. Blogging for business is here to stay. With its ease of use, simple format, and undeniably staggering results, blogging has taken the business world by storm as a critical component in the online marketing success of entrepreneurs, business start-ups, and global corporations alike. Blogging, a component of social media marketing, thrives off the very things that we as women excel at naturally – interaction, communication, sharing, expression, and community. That is why blogging for business is a perfect fit for the female entrepreneur.

In this keynote presentation you will learn Jennifer’s best blogging tips
and insights into her blogging strategy, as well as:

• What is a blog and how do I get one
• How your blog can get you more clients than you ever imagined
• Why blogging is a perfect fit for women entrepreneurs
• The three most common mistakes new bloggers make
• Five simple strategies to get the results you want from your blog

eWomenNetwork Folsom, California June Dinner Meeting:

Register Online to learn how to Blog Your Way to Celebrity Status and Google’s #1 Spot by Clicking Here Now!

Register by phone by calling (916) 521-2540 or emailing Stephanie Sherwood, eWomenNetwork Executive Managing Director, South Placer County Chapter and Folsom Chapter.

Jennifer, a member of the Keynote Speakers Collaborative, is the owner of the award-winning online marketing agency Bourn Creative, based in Sacramento, California. Jennifer helps business owners build powerful brands, increase visibility, and leverage the Internet – the most critical tool of today’s marketing landscape. Through the strategic use of social media marketing, blogging, content marketing, and website marketing, Jennifer regularly helps her clients turn their big ideas into reality. Known for her vibrant, passionate, and energetic approach to business, Jennifer acts as strategist, consultant, and “get it done” specialist for smart, savvy entrepreneurs and business owners who are committed to taking their business to the next level.

Updating your website content for your readers and the search engines is one of the most important things you need to be doing on your website. One of the easiest ways to consistently provide fresh and focused content is through blogging.

You can read our blog post Blogging for Business: 3 Reasons Your Small Business Needs a Blog to learn more about how blogging helps business.

When it comes to blogging, linking new posts to old blog posts is a key strategy to keep all of your content relevant and help your readers easily find more on the subject you are writing about.

As your blog grows, especially if you are blogging three or more times per week, trying to remember or find what you have written about in the past can be incredibly time consuming. And, trying to remember what pages and what other blog posts you have linked to is almost impossible.

Unfortunately, this information is extremely important.

For example, say you post a few posts to your blog and link back to a page on your website. But then, down the road you rename or delete that page. Guess what? Those blog posts now contain broken links, which are bad for the user and bad for your search engine optimization results.

The best way to organize and track your posts and links is to use a spreadsheet, such as excel, to organize your blog content with the following columns:

• Category:
  Your blog posts on your spreadsheet should be grouped by article or post category, such as Web Design, Email Marketing, Graphic Design, etc. Organizing your spreadsheet by category will allow you to see how many articles or posts you’ve written on each subject, what areas you haven’t covered, and what areas you could elaborate on.
• Post Date:
  This is important when trying to decide what to blog about. You can look at your post dates within each category and see what you haven’t written about lately. Delivering a new post in category you haven’t written about in a while with links to the old posts will help your content remain relevant.
• Title:
  Unique and well written headlines are the difference between a user clicking your link and reading your post or skipping over it. Tracking your titles in your spreadsheet will make it easy to see what headlines you have used in the past to avoid duplication.
• URL:
  This is simply the web address of the post and an efficient spot to grab the code when creating links for new posts.
• Linked To/Linked From:
  Keeping track of what your posts are linked to and linked from is important for many reasons. If you delete or rename an old post or web page and break a link, your readers will receive a website error. This is bad for both the user and search engines. Linking other pages on your site to your blog is also a great way to for your readers to get more content of what they are looking for.

So, whether you decide to do it yourself, or hire your virtual assistant to do it for you, dedicate time now to get you blog organized before it gets even bigger. Trust me, it will only get harder.

If you would like help building and organizing your blog, contact Bourn Creative CEO Brian Bourn at brian@bourncreative.com to schedule a consultation!

Whether you want a completely custom site designed and coded from scratch, or you want to customize a wordpress theme (template), WordPress, provides all the benefits and flexibility of a standard website combined with the ultimate functionality and benefits of a blog.

Here are some of the reasons WordPress is a great choice for your next website project

1. Open Source Software
   WordPress is Open Source Software, which means it is available to use on any type of website or blog for free.
2. Easy To Use
   You don’t have to know a tons of HTML or be super web savvy to be able to update your content with WordPress. The administration area/dashboard for WordPress sites are fairly simple and easy to navigate. And, because most hosting providers offer simple one-click installs of WordPress sites, getting setup is easy too.
3. Themes Galore
   There are a ton of different themes available for WordPress that you can choose from. Some themes are available for free, some charge a nominal fee. I currently own a developer’s license for the StudioPress Themes, Woo Themes and the Thesis Theme. When working with Bourn Creative, you are welcome to use any of those themes, or you can search online and find a another theme. If you select a premium theme, additional licensing fees may be incurred.
4. SEO Options
   WordPress naturally provides good search engine optimization (SEO) right away with very few tweaks needed. WordPress provides such strong seo benefits for free that Google’s Matt Cutts recommends WordPress in this video: Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners.
5. Plugins Rule
   From linking your blog to facebbok and Twitter, to rss subscriptions, to SEO, photo galleries, to stats and tracking features, to social bookmarking, etc. WordPress plugins give you the ability to do pretty much anything you want and to do it quickly.
6. Community Support
   WordPress has a huge community backing the development of the software and there is a huge amount of information and support available. This means that whenever you face any problems, you get answers to your questions in the available WordPress forums and communities.

Quick SEO Tip #1

Find blogs that your target market frequents, read their posts and leave genuine keyword rich comments about their post. First, be sure to keep you comment on topic. Second, make sure you also include a tip, strategy, or insight direct from you, to help position yourself as an expert. Third, add your signature with your name, business name, tagline and website address.

Because search engines view blog comments as content and search engines love and look for fresh content, blog comments are often featured highly in search engine results and can help with the search engine optimization of your website by seriously improving your ranking.

Your comment will always be tied to that blog post, and you will benefit from their keywords and optimization of writer’s original post and all of the other comments! Likewise, if you have a blog, make sure you reply to comments left on your posts. Your reply should also use keywords and long-tail key phrases when appropriate, increasing the optimization of your post as a whole.

Recommendation: Subscribe via RSS to get alerted to new blog posts on your favorite blogs. Personally, I use iGoogle and have my RSS feeds populate my Google home page. That way I only have to check one place for all the latest posts. If you read a blog post, commit to leave a comment about the post and with an added tip. Include your name, biz name and website in your signature.

Quick SEO Tip #2

Some of my favorite resources for learning about search engine optimization are:

• www.SEOBook.com for great tips on search engine optimization
• www.webpronews.com for news on all thing web related
• www.stompernet.com for all you need to know to stomp the search engines
• www.hubspot.com experts on website marketing and tracking

Quick SEO Tip #3

Did you know this shocking fact about Google? Incredibly, sites can actually have different positions in Google depending on who is searching for them!

“Several things can account for differences in search engine position results,” says my SEO guru Ed Taylor. “One factor is the Google server (data center) that is accessed. Google has many data centers around the world and they often have slightly different rankings.” Another factor affecting the results you see in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is the location of your PC. According to Ed, this is especially evident on searches that Google deems of a local nature (i.e. a dentist). In the case of local searches, very often the Google Map setting will appear with a group of listings specific to the local area. Ranking differences can also result from the searcher’s computer settings. Computers that are logged into a Google account often display different ranking results that than those that are not. These results are influenced by the Web sites the searcher has visited in the past.

Recommendation: The best way to view core Google indexes — the rankings uninfluenced by your browsing history and location — is to log out of your Google account, clear out your browser’s cookies and cache, and then perform a search on your keyword. Source: Ed Taylor, www.edtaylor.com

Quick SEO Tip #4

Post your content everywhere you can and always link it back to your site with keyword-rich text HTML links. Take advantage of posting photos on Flickr, get a page for your business on Facebook. Grab a Twitter account for your business. Post in depth information about you, your business and your expertise on Linked In. You also could setup a profile on Fastpitch, Plaxo, ZoomInfo, and other profile sharing sites. You may not be as active on the second tier networks, but your profile will posted with links back to your website and your top tier networks. For example, I will be launching a duplicate copy of my portfolio on Flickr very soon! Also, make sure you setup and populate your Google Profile – It will not only get high ranking in the results, but you can add all different types of content, including links to your articles, blog posts, and more!

Recommendation: Take advantage of every FREE opportunity you can to drive traffic and add links back to your website. The more places that help people find you, the better.