101 Blog FAQ Questions Answered That New Bloggers Often Ask

Starting a blog can be a big learning curve, especially if you are looking to build your business around blogging. In this post, I answer 101 blog FAQ questions that I most often get asked, from new bloggers.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us your own questions. Note: Some of the answers below may include affiliate links.

Domain Names FAQ

What is a domain name and why do I need one?

A domain name is a web address, a bit like for this site you see it is promarketingonline.com. Think of it as having a postal address. People need to know where to visit you!

So, to have a website/blog on the internet, you need to have your own domain name so that people know where to go to see your website or blog.

How do I choose a domain name? I have spent ages trying to choose a name and can’t find one that is available or that I like. Help!

If you are looking to choose a domain name, some hacks that can be very useful include considering a domain ending such as dot.co rather than dot.com, because dot.co still has a lot of excellent names available.

You can also consider using your own name (such as peterjenkins.com) or make up a new word just like Google, Yahoo, and Spotify.

I would also recommend using thesaurus.com to search for Synonyms for extra ideas for terms that you can use.

If you still need some ideas and help, you can join our Bloggers Facebook Group and we will help suggest some ideas if you post info on what your blog is generally about.

What domain (address) suffix do I need to buy?

I would advise you to try and get a dot.com if you can but, in truth, so many of the best domains have gone.

If you are going to use your name as the domain, then it might still be available. Dot.co is also a great option and because it is a much newer option, there are still some great domain names available for dot.co

You can use your own country’s suffix (address ending) i.e. co.uk for the UK or dot.it for Italy. If you can, I would recommend going for a neutral and global suffix such as dot.com or dot.co

Where do I buy my domain name?

If you need both a domain name and hosting (it’s the box that your blog sits in and from where the world views it, one might say) then I recommend Bluehost, as you get a FREE domain name if you buy the hosting for one year and the hosting starts from only $2.95 a month. Click here to get a free domain and cheap hosting from Bluehost.

If you already have website hosting elsewhere, then you can also buy your domain name from Name.com where domains are available from just a few dollars a year.

How do I connect my domain name to my hosting?

If you buy your hosting and get a free domain with it, such as through Bluehost, they have an auto-installation that makes it very easy and they set up the connection between the domain name and the hosting automatically.

If you buy the domain name separately, i.e. through name.com or another domain name seller, you will need to navigate to the section on the domain site where it says “Nameservers”.

Overall, if you are a new blogger, I would recommend getting a free domain and automatic setup with a Bluehost basic package.

Blog Hosting Questions

What is hosting and why do I need It?

If you have a blog or website, you must have a company that provides the connection between your site and the world wide web. Think of it like a shopping mall.

People go shopping in the mall and to reach them, you must have space in the mall. The mall, in other words, hosts your store. You pay them to rent. Hosting is a bit like that.

It is technically possible to make your own hosting but it is not realistic for the majority of people, and certainly not as a new blogger.

You would need great technical expertise. 99% of bloggers pay for hosting.

Some hosting options that we have personally used and can recommend are Hostgator and Bluehost. You will need hosting, one way or another, unless you use free blogging platforms such as blogger.com.

Personally, though, I would recommend a paid option because it gives you more flexibility for adding plugins (plugins are tools to make your blog more dynamic and are explained later on this page).

Can I host the site for free?

There are free ways to host your site if you are really on a very tight income and need just to get started. I suggest trying:

• Blogger.com
• Wix.com – for free hosting, Wix is one of my favorites.

Be warned though that, with free hosting, there are many drawbacks compared to hosting your own blog. With free hosting, such as on Wix, you will have a website address that includes Wix in the name (unless you buy a custom name through Wix) and there are limitations such as the plugins (add-ons) you can use with the free hosting.

For the sake of $5 or so a month, I would strongly recommend paid web hosting through WordPress.

What is the Best and Most Economical Hosting for Blogs?

As mentioned above, you can use some free platforms to host your blog (such as Wix) but, if you are serious about wanting to build an income from your blog, then I strongly recommend hosting your site through a cheap but paid hosting company such as Bluehost because you will then have:

• the freedom to add whatever plugins and design you need (you will be limited with a free service)
• have a cheap site (Bluehost start from just $2.95 a month)
• and a hosting that, from my own experience, offers good support.

Another hosting option I use is Hostgator.

Can I Host My Own Website?

Technically you can yes, The reality though is that unless you are a highly skilled network engineer and have the hardware then it is simply not practical for 99.9% of you. 

By far the easiest way as a small business owner is to use a free or paid hosting service. For new bloggers and small business, owners I suggest Bluehost.

WordPress FAQs

What are plugins?

The best way to describe plugins is a 3rd party program that you can attach to your blog or website to provide you with the chance to add certain functions. You can have plugins, for example, to:

• improve site speed
• provide security for your site
• provide mailing list forms
• back up your site or blog
• provide design features
• include a shopping cart

How do I back up my blog site?

I use a plugin called “Backup Buddy” to back up my blog site. This plugin can be used to set backups as often as you wish, such as daily, weekly or monthly and it takes a copy of everything including the databases, images, content and saves it as one file.

I have re-installed other sites before using this plugin and it has always gone smoothly. It is a paid-for plugin but, in my view, it is essential!

Do you really want to lose everything on your blog if the site were hacked or something accidentally deleted? You can get the Backup Buddy plugin here!

Web Traffic Questions

What is the best way to get free traffic?

There are a few techniques to drive traffic at zero cost. You can start by:

• Build some free links to blogs and sites in your own niche. If you are a gardening expert, search for forums, directories etc. that are specifically related to gardening. The important thing is to keep within the same niche so that these free links match the same niche. Do not, for example, create a link to your gardening blog from a car parts blog.
• Develop a Pinterest account and driving traffic through Pinterest. Pinterest is a free search engine that gives you a wonderful chance to drive heavy traffic with minimal effort (compared to other search engines such as Google).

How can I check my website traffic for free for analysis?

The best free tools by far for this are to use:

• Google Console for webmasters
• Google Analytics

These tools are very easy to install and will provide you with a vast amount of information including on your site traffic (in Google results), links to your site, user behavior, etc.

Mail Lists FAQs

What is the best mailing list software for bloggers?

Without question, Convertkit is the best software that I have used for developing a mail list. This software was created by Nathan Barry. Nathan was a professional blogger who identified the need for software that is specifically designed and created for bloggers and hence how Convertkit was founded.

Convertkit makes it really easy and intuitive for bloggers. Creating forms, email sequences (so that your followers can get freebies such as a 7-day email course) is made really simple.

You can also consider MailChimp and one big advantage of MailChimp is that you can use a free account for 0 -1000 subscribers. In our personal opinion, from using both MailChimp and Convertkit, we would suggest using Convertkit from the beginning, if you are serious about making money from blogging.

Writing Blog Posts FAQs

How long should blog posts be?

There aren’t exact rules but I recommend always aiming for 1800 words. This amount of content will give search engines a clear idea of the purpose and theme of that post, and it is enough content to thoroughly cover a subject in good detail. The emphasis though should also be on quality.

Being a Blogger Questions

What is a blogger and what do they do?

Traditionally, a blog was defined as a conversational website page or post that is updated regularly and written in a personal style. So a blogger could be said to be someone who puts a lot of focus on writing and creating content on their website.

These days bloggers can build a successful and profitable business around their content when it is high-quality and informative. Income such as via affiliates, by selling eBooks, one’s own online courses etc means the chance to monetize blogging.

When Should I start my Blog?

The sooner the better is quite simply the answer as the sooner you get online, the sooner you can start to mold your blog as it is an organic process. Your blog will take time and will build as you add posts and content.

It is worth reading our post on launching your blog as soon as possible at https://www.promarketingonline.com/get-your-blog-live/ and watching the video we made below.

Get more blogging tips and tricks. Just subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

I am worried about having the confidence to put stuff online. Help!

One of the most common issues, with starting a blog, is the worry over putting information online and being open to the thoughts and criticisms of the world.

Perfecting things and when to go live are also questions that are common when I talk with new bloggers.

My advice is that there you do not need to worry about trying to create perfection but to simply use your blog to express yourself and have a voice online.

If you really think about it – what do you really have to lose? I bet the answer when you really consider this question, is – very little to lose, right?!

You can develop and grow as you write your blog and this can be something that your readers share with you. Take them on a journey! On your journey!

Make sure to read the post we did on How to overcome the fear of starting a blog!

What is the difference between a blog and a website?

They are really the same thing but some would argue that a blog really is a website that focuses very heavily on content.

A website is a much more generic term and can include, for example, a business with pages that never change and are always static.

We have recently written a big post on what is blogging, what do bloggers do and how do bloggers make money. You can check it out here!

How does a blogger make money?

How do you make money blogging, I find I am asked almost on a daily basis these days! Another common question I am asked is how much do bloggers make? Well, let me answer these two questions and expand further.

What should my blog be about?

This is a commonly asked question and it is understandable that you want to blog about something that won’t be a flash in the pan, meaning it won’t go out of date.

The key though is to choose something that you are passionate about and that you can blog about long-term.

What topic do you really enjoy talking about? What is your passion?

If you are going to blog every week and write let’s say 1000 words every week then what topic will you still enjoy writing about 6 months later?

Your blog niche, in other words, needs to be something that there is enough to write about the longer term.

The best blog niches also answer questions about people’s problems.

What problems do people need answers to? How to lose weight? How to grow things in the garden? How to travel cheaply?

If you can think of something you love to write about and that also helps to solve other people’s problems, then you are onto a good niche!

Blogging for Free

What are the best FREE WordPress themes?

There are literally hundreds of free templates available online.

You can choose from a number of sites although ThemeGrill I find quite good for free templates.

Two themes I personally have used and really like are the Sydney free theme and the Allegiant theme. You can read more about those 2 themes here!

Do be warned though that:

• Free templates tend to be more limited in what you can do versus a paid template. (You might want to read the thread on the common beginner blogger mistakes regards going for free themes).
• Make sure that the theme is responsive, meaning that it is designed to look and show correctly on all devices (iPhones, iPads, laptops and so on).

Where can I get free blogging training?

You can do these courses for free:

How do I start a business blog? How do you start your own blog for free?

The process I would recommend following to get started is to:

1. Choose a blogging niche.
2. Then choose a domain name.
3. Buy hosting.
4. Choose a WordPress template
5. Start writing!

Pinterest Marketing Questions

How Can I Save Time Scheduling Pins?

So – for a start, it is worth making it clear that Pinterest wants you to be active on your Pinterest account daily and to also produce one new piece of content on your website at least once a week.

But checking Pinterest every day can be distracting and time-consuming – so – I am sure you would prefer a tool that can help you focus your time.

It is essential to use a tool that Pinterest accepts as a trusted partner and Tailwind is the best tool out there at this time. Other tools have come and gone (such as Broadbooster) so I recommend sticking with trusted tools.

You can learn more about using Tailwind and scheduling Pins here.

How Can I make Pinterest images easily?

You can so easily now make very jazzy images for Pinterest and then resize them to the recommended 600 x 900 pixels size, which presently works best for Pinterest boards and pins.

You can use the free tool Canva. We tell you how to make Pinterest images with Canva in this tutorial.

How Do I Add Rich Pins?

Enabling your pinned images to be Rich Pin connected is extremely easy once you know how to do it! We have created this post for you on how to quickly add rich pins.

What is the Promarketing Pinterest Page?

Some of you do ask us from time to time and we would love it if you do start to follow us on Pinterest. Just click on the banner below.

Search Engines & SEO Questions

What Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

We have written a post specifically on answering the question is what SEO is and you can find it here. You can also watch this video below:

Get more blogging tips and tricks. Just subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

What is User Intent (UI) and why is it important?

By understanding the concept of user intent, you can make many better-informed decisions when it comes to which keywords to target for blog posts.

We did a recent blog post looking in detail about user content (click on the banner below to read it in full ) and in essence, the most effective keyword terms to target are the ones that Google identifies as answering the search inquiries typed in searches by users.

How Can I Improve the SEO on my Website

To start learning about how to improve the SEO on your site we have created this FREE 5-Day SEO eCourse. Just complete the form below to get started now!