How to Start a Blog as a University Student (Without Losing Your Mind or Your GPA)

Byfirstclassuni.com

Life straight up sucks sometimes. You’re a university student, drowning in assignments, running on caffeine, and getting minor panic attacks and existential crises sometimes thinking about what will happen when uni is over and you’re pushed out to the real world to find your place in life. Anddddd you gotta get money… Sigh… Anyways, let’s start a blog.

Why? Because 1. It’s a solid distraction from the suckitude of life. 2. You could actually make money from it. And 3. Why not? Anyone can. Bold move, I know. But really, so many blog owners start their blogs after reality (and maybe a small sense of impending doom and poverty) dawns on them at exactly 2:45 pm on a Wednesday afternoon while they’re sitting at a desk in an ugly button-down shirt worrying about how to get the project approved by David and how to budget their measly salary to cover a full month of groceries. Did I spiral a little bit?

I mean it’s true though. That’s usually how it goes. So instead of waiting till you reach that point where David is breathing down your neck tearing your hard work down to nothing, and you’re wondering how to start a passive income hustle that will help you quit that job, you could just start the hustle NOW.

Or…maybe you want a creative outlet, a side hustle to pay for new shoes and a Netflix subscription, or a way to rant about your professors without getting expelled. Whatever your reason, a blog is an awesome thing to own. It’s like your own little baby that you can nurture and grow and watch it flourish into a money-making BOSS.

But let’s be real: university is already a time-consuming, stress-inducing mess. How do you fit blogging into your life without completely flunking out? 

Step 1: Pick a Blog Niche (a.k.a. What Would You Even Write About?)

Before you start throwing words onto the internet, you need to decide what your blog is about. This is called your niche (fancy term for “topic”). Just like you had to pick a degree to study in uni, you’ve got to pick a field to build a niche in. I mean you could just write about anything and everything you want. It’s yours, do what you want! But having one particular topic helps you grow faster and steadily. Some bloggers pick a niche because they’re passionate about it; others pick it because they want to make money (both are valid reasons).

Here are some fun and practical blog niches for students:
Student Life – Study tips, time management, surviving on a budget (because let’s be real, most students are broke). If you’re studying in another country, share your experiences!
Personal Finance – Saving, budgeting, and making money (so you can stop borrowing money for snacks). If you’re that one broke friend, who is never truly broke, then we need you sunbaenim. How do you make your allowance last the whole month? How do you actually stick to a budget? Are you immune to the sweet scents of shopping sites? TEACH US!!!
Freelancing & Side Hustles – Document your journey of making money online while studying. Obviously, you can only do this if you actually DO have experience working side hustles as a student.
Fashion, Beauty, or Lifestyle – Because looking good while broke is an art form. If you’ve mastered that art, share your wisdom with the rest of us, sensei!
Health & Fitness – Flat tummy, six-pack, toned legs? Do you have it all and the secrets to keeping that great bod without signing up for an expensive gym? Show us the way, senpai! Pilates, yoga, let’s know the secrets!
Tech & Productivity – You’re a geek. It’s fine. It’s more than fine, it’s great. Some of us need a YouTube tutorial to figure out how to share a screen on Zoom (I’m not even playing, some of us are that bad with tech). Share tools and hacks to help students stay on top of their work with top tech tools and useful software…in a simple Sesame Street style, ya know?

Pro Tip: Don’t overthink it. Just pick something you’re sort of good at and won’t get bored of after two weeks. And don’t think you have to be a guru. However little you know, there’s ALWAYS someone who knows LESS. That person needs someone to teach them. That someone could be YOU.

Step 2: What It Costs to Start a Blog (Spoiler: It’s Not Free, But It’s Cheap…Kinda)

Okay, let’s talk money. You probably don’t have much of it (…sigh…), but don’t worry—starting a blog isn’t as expensive as you think.

Here’s what you actually need:

Basic Blogging Costs:

  1. Domain Name (YourBlog.com) – About $10–$15 per year (Use Namecheap or GoDaddy). 
  2. Web Hosting (Where Your Blog Lives Online) – Around $3–$10 per month, less than $200 a year (Use Bluehost, SiteGround, or Hostinger).
  3. WordPress (The Free Blogging Platform You’ll Use) – $0 (yes, free!).

You could start on a free platform like Medium, Blogger, wordpress.com, or others like that. But the problem is, once you start growing your blog and are ready to make money from it, you’ll find out that you don’t truly own your blog on these platforms. Meaning you’ll have severe limitations on what you can or can’t do. For instance, you might not be able to join ad programs that would pay you to put ads on your blog or the platform would actually be getting a part of YOUR ad income for themselves. Sounds bad, right? 

I personally used a free wordpress.com site for my first blog, and honestly, it was nothing compared to a paid platform. I use Hostinger now for this blog. Compared to other hosting platforms like Bluehost or SiteGround, Hostinger is absolutely great. It’s cheaper, and easier to set up (I suck at tech but I was able to set up this site ALL BY MYSELF using Hostinger).  

Optional (But Nice to Have):

  • A Premium WordPress Theme – $30–$60 or more on Etsy (if you want a fancier look).
  • Email Marketing Service – $0–$20 (you can start completely free with ConvertKit or MailerLite).
  • Canva Pro (for graphics & Pinterest images) – $12.99/month in the U.S. (or use the free version).

The Cheapest Way to Start: Use WordPress + a cheap host (like Hostinger) + a free theme. You can start a blog for under $50 a year.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I spent around $260 on this site (firstclassuni.com) in the beginning and set the whole thing up myself.

  • Hostinger: $107.76 for TWO YEARS of hosting. I opted out of some features that I didn’t think were absolutely necessary for beginners. (Call me a cheapskate, but I tried to keep my costs to a minimum).
  • Domain Name: $0. That’s right. Hostinger offers you a whole year of FREE domain registration, so you don’t have to worry about paying for a domain name for your first year. And in the second year, the domain name will cost less than $20. (Mine cost $17 for the second year)
  • Theme: $149 for life(meaning I don’t have to pay anything else and the theme is mine for life. I could use it on other blogs I created as well). I wanted a somewhat fancy-looking theme for my blog (at least I hope it looks kinda fancy). WordPress offers a lot of nice themes for free, but none of them really caught my eye, so I invested in a theme from Etsy. You’ll also find much cheaper website themes on Etsy ($60 and even less), but I had a specific look in mind for my blog so I went with this theme. 
  • Canva: Less than $10. I got graphics and picked out my colour scheme for the blog using Canva. You could totally use the free version of Canva, but I used the paid version, Canva Pro, because it just had MUCH BETTER graphics and features.
  • Set-Up: $0. Completely free! It was soooo easy to figure everything out with Hostinger. And whatever I had some trouble with, I just searched a tutorial on YouTube and read blogs to figure out how to do it (that could be your blog helping some other tech-illiterate out of you get started today).

Step 3: Actually Creating the Blog (Let’s Get Nerdy for a Sec)

1. Buy a Domain Name

Go to Namecheap.com or Google Domains, search for your dream blog name (YourBlogName.com), and buy it. Or use Hostinger to get it for free! Keep it short, simple, and easy to remember.

🚫 Avoid:
 ❌ Names with numbers or hyphens (No one remembers www.uni-life-456.com).
❌ Overly complicated names (If people can’t spell it, they won’t visit).

When I was first starting firstclassuni, I had a list of over ten potential names. I chose this one on a couple of criteria:

  • Length: Not too long (or people won’t remember it), not too short (or you won’t be able to get keywords in and get noticed by Google). 
  • Keywords: So I was targeting college students from the start. Hello you (in Joe Goldberg’s voice). I wanted my site name to have something in it that made people—and search engines—think of college students. University is too long, college doesn’t really roll off the tongue nicely, doesn’t have that casual vibe that the site has as well, so I settled with uni! Firstclassuni.
  • Spelling: Firstclassstudent Vs firstclassuni. Which one would be easier to type into Google? With the first option, you have three S’s in a row. Meaning if someone accidentally types in only two S’s or four, Google might tell them the site doesn’t exist and that means the site wouldn’t get found. Make sure your name is easy to spell when you’re typing in a hurry (which most of us usually are).

Those are just some of the things to consider when choosing a domain name. ChatGPT was a HUGE help to me throughout the whole process, so don’t be afraid to ask AI for help or come back here and drop a question in the comments. I’m happy to help!

2. Get Web Hosting & Install WordPress

  • Pick a host – Bluehost, SiteGround, or Hostinger. You already know which one I ended up choosing. But I actually was going to go with Bluehost at first. I know a lot of bloggers who recommended Bluehost, so I was going to go with them. I was literally on the checkout page for Bluehost and they just wouldn’t let me pay. I can’t remember the exact error message, but it wouldn’t debit my card. So I did some research on other hosting platforms, found Hostinger, and I’m so glad I went with them. The interface is far better than Bluehost in my opinion. Also, if you’re outside the US or UK, you can search for local hosting platforms in your own country. They’ll be a lot cheaper than Bluehost or Hostinger, but I can’t account for how easy they’ll be to use or if the security and customer support will be up to standard.
  • Buy a hosting plan – Choose the cheapest one (you can upgrade later). I paid for the Business Web Hosting plan on Hostinger because I had been considering creating a second blog or an e-commerce site and wanted access to more features. I quickly found out that one blog was enough to handle, so that thought got shelved. If I had to start over, I may just go for the cheaper Premium plan. It has everything a new blogger needs.
  • Install WordPress – Your host will have a 1-click install (it’s literally easier than setting up a TikTok account). Just download and click install. No coding or anything else required. But again, YouTube tutorials and blogs will always be there to help if you need them.

3. Choose a Blog Theme & Customize It

  • Use free themes like Astra or Kadence. If you bought a theme from Etsy, you’ll just have to upload it to your WordPress and click install. 
  • Go to Appearance → Themes in WordPress and install one. Your purchased theme will show here too once you’ve uploaded it. Just click install and you’re ready to start customizing.
  • Customize it with your blog name, colors, and fonts (make it cute, but also readable).
  • Go to Canva to get any cool graphics and elements to make your blog more personal. 

Step 4: Write Your First Blog Post (Without Overthinking It)

This is where most students freeze up because they feel like their first post has to be perfect. Newsflash: It won’t be. And that’s fine.

Easy Blog Post Ideas to Get Started:

  • “Why I Started This Blog” – Introduce yourself and your blog’s purpose.
  • “How I Survive University Without Losing My Mind” – Share personal tips!
  • “My Favorite Study Hacks for Acing Exams” – People love study tips.
  • “How I’m Trying to Make Money as a Student” – Document your journey.

Pro Tip: Your first 10 posts should be helpful, interesting, or relatable (no one cares about your “Day in My Life” yet).

Go to Pinterest and search your niche to get ideas for posts. Or go to ChatGPT and have it come up with a list of ten to twenty articles for your blog. Pick out the best ideas and start writing!

Step 5: How to Make Time for Blogging (a.k.a. Not Failing Uni While Writing Posts)

Balancing university and blogging is like juggling fire—doable, but dangerous if you’re not careful. Here’s how to keep both under control:

✔ Batch Content – Write multiple blog posts when you have free time (like after exams, NOT during finals week).
✔ Use a Content Calendar – Plan your posts in advance (Google Calendar works, or use Notion, Trello, or just your notes app).
✔ Write During Your “Dead Time” – Blog while commuting, in between classes, or when procrastinating actual studying. One of my favourite bloggers started her blog as a university student. She said she used to wake up at 5 am to work on her blog before getting ready for class and then she would get back in the evening and get some more work done on the blog.
✔ Set Realistic Goals – Aim for 1 or 2 posts per week (not daily—this isn’t your full-time job…yet). But if you think you can handle daily blogs, that’s up to you. Figure out what works and please avoid burnout.
✔ Use AI Tools for Help – Grammarly for proofreading, ChatGPT for brainstorming, and Canva for graphics. Pic platforms like Pexels, Pixabay, and more are great for sourcing high-quality copyright-free images for your blog. But I think if you’re a starving uni student, you need a tool that has all you need in one place and at a cheap price. That tool is Canva Pro. 

Whether you need cool Pinterest templates to start pinning your blog posts (which is a great way to get traffic to your blog, by the way), cool designs for your blog, or random images for your posts, Canva literally has it all. And instead of having a set price for users all over the world, Canva sets different prices for different countries to make sure their software is affordable-ish for penniless and desperate students (that’s you) all over the world.

Step 6: How to Grow Your Blog (Because You Want Readers, Right?)

So, you have a blog… now what? Time to get people to actually read it! (Because you might be too shy to share your posts with your friends, and that’s okay.)

Best Ways to Promote Your Blog:

  • Pinterest – Yes, it’s a search engine! Create eye-catching pins and link them to your blog. Pinterest is how most of the top bloggers in the world get a solid 50% of all their traffic.
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Write blog posts that answer Google searches.
  • Instagram, YouTube & TikTok – If your audience is there, share snippets of your content! Make videos about the content you’ve written and link your blog in the comments or in your bio.
  • Facebook Groups – Join student, study, or blogging groups and share your posts. (You could do it anonymously if you feel a little insecure).

Note: All of this is entirely optional. If you don’t have the time to blog AND post on social media, just focus on blogging and maybe pick one social platform (I suggest Pinterest) and share your blogs there.

Should You Start a Blog as a Student? (YES, DUH.)

Blogging is fun, creative, and can even make you money (eventually). Sure, it takes time, but if you plan well, you can balance it with university life. Plus, having a blog looks great on your resume, teaches you valuable skills, and might even help you build a brand before you graduate. And it could save you from ever even meeting David (a.k.a working a 9-to-5)

So, what are you waiting for? Start your blog today, and who knows? Maybe in a year, you’ll be that student making $$$ online while your classmates still struggle with their essays.

Need help choosing a blog name? Drop your ideas in the comments!

Wishing you peace and funds,

Dee

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