HoboStudent is aimed at giving advice, guides, and information to students who are struggling to get by, especially during these times of recession. Basically, the blog’s motto says it all: “Where the broke students go.” Getting by college life is difficult, but the difficulty level rises a few notches when you don’t have the money you need for this. HoboStudent seems to have a mission to inform and aid students how to get through college without much money. The blog has topics like Obtaining Beer with Little to No Money and The Secret to a Free Haircut.
What you’ll like about HoboStudent
HoboStudent has a web design that is very easy to use. With the categories lined horizontally along the heading of the page and other links lined along the right margin, the webpage is easy to navigate. Also, the blog posts are easy to spot and easy to access with large link buttons. Another good feature of HoboStudent is the use of pictures. Including pictures for each blog entry is important if you want to grab the attention of your visitors. The layout of the page is very organized and easy to understand as well.
What’s not so great about this blog
At first sight, it would seem as though HoboStudent has a good concept, albeit rather pessimistic. If I personally planned and conceptualized this site, I would try to have a more optimistic approach to helping less fortunate students get by in college. Instead of teaching students how to get by with no money, why not focus on helping students get out of their financial struggles? When you actually take the time to read some of the posts on this blog, it makes you wonder whether the authors are genuinely trying to help or they are just trying to get some laughs from their readers. From the site name alone, HoboStudent, it’s already hard to take the blog seriously, and the blog entries only prove my point.
Student Bloggers is a blog that has the main objective of building connections between blogs, bloggers, and blog readers. The blogger behind this site is a college student; his target audience includes college students and bloggers. Some of the typical types of blog posts that you will find on Student Bloggers are student stories and featured blogs of the day.
A rather unique perspective
The best thing that Student Blogges has is its unique perspective. Yes, there are numerous other sites out there that seek to link blogs together, but what makes Student Bloggers unique is that it takes an unbiased approach to its aim. Other sites with a similar concept normally link together blogs from a single college or university, or link together blogs about prestigious universities. Student Bloggers, on the other hand, links together practically any student blog, as long as it conforms with the three rules posted on the blog’s “About” page.
Room for improvement
Although Student Bloggers has a good concept, the execution of this concept can be improved. First, the web design and layout needs a revamp. The site looks like a typical blog, with no personality to catch the attention and interest of the visitors. Furthermore, the website lacks color. Although some of the blogs have pictures, the blog site itself doesn’t have much decoration. The layout should also be improved for more convenient navigation and to make it easier on the eyes. Looking through webpages can be a pain on the eyes–both literally and figuratively — and when you have a cluttered layout it only makes it harder for your visitors. Finally, I suggest that Student Blogger increases the number of articles on its page. Most of the blog posts are just “featured blogs of the day,” but there isn’t much original content being produced by the Student Blogger authors.
School Is Hard is a blog that originally had the objective of helping students get through the trials and tribulations of college. As the blog founder matured, however, he took on a broader perspective. Making a strong declaration of his feelings against the modern education system, School Is Hard founder Patrick promotes “knowledge, creativity, and grades.” Although the author is no longer primarily concerned with helping college students specifically, there are still many college student-help articles on the site, like
New Ways to Improve Study Skills. Today, however, the topics are more varied, including articles like why young people should get hired despite a lack of experience, as well as topics like Comedy Central’s open mic challenge.
The good
There is a lot to like about School Is Hard, including its very mantra on knowledge, creativity, and grades. With over 100 articles focused on helping students, the site makes for a good resource. The blog also tackles important issues relating to the recession and its effects, such as unemployment and debt troubles. The integration of video posts also makes for a diverse collection of content.
The bad and the ugly
The bad side of having such diversity in content is that the site also diversifies its audience. In some cases, this can be a good thing, but a relatively small blog like School Is Hard may have some trouble if it does not have a niche audience that will keep returning to the site. Another problem with the website is that it is rather sloppily designed. For example, the entire right margin is full of links that are indistinguishable from each other and from the normal font on the page. In effect, the blog looks cluttered, difficult to navigate, and painful on the eyes. If the author can set his focus and tidy up the School Is Hard design, then there’s lots of potential for growth.
Pimp Dorm is a website that was created by a group of students. The main idea of the blog is to offer ideas, information, and advice for college students who want to improve their dorm room. Whether dorm improvement has to do with decor and cleanliness or throwing parties, Pimp Dorm has loads of information for the college student. Aside from providing some advice for pimping your dorm, the blog also has articles on college life in general.
What’s pimpin’ at Pimp Dorm
One of the best aspects of the Pimp Dorm blog is its design. Bright and bold colors come together in a contemporary design that fits in with the whole “pimp” theme. The blog layout is rather generic, with the main navigation links running down the left margin, while the popular links and ads run down the right margin. Although the layout is generic, it works well and makes it easy for visitors to navigate the site. Another interesting thing about this blog is that it has a “Dorm Video” section where you can find videos about dorm life. There is also a “Dorm Pranks” section for some funny videos of dorm-based practical jokes. Finally, the site also promotes some products for sale, which is a good fit for its theme. These unique features are great for capturing the attention of visitors and for giving visitors a reason to come back to the site.
What needs pimpin’ at Pimp Dorm
My main concern with Pimp Dorm is the lack of articles. While the articles like “Maximizing Your Dorm Room?s Space” are quite useful and relevant to the target audience, there aren’t very many articles to go through. Even a blog with the best design and an amazing concept will be worth little without a good amount of content to keep visitors busy. In time, perhaps this blog will continue to develop, adding more content, more videos, more products, and, ultimately, more reasons to keep the traffic coming.
My U Search is a website that has two main purposes. It serves as an “honest” and “objective” college search tool for students. The tool is meant to gather information about the visiting student, then suggest a number of colleges and universities based on the given information. The second purpose of the site is to provide a blog full of articles for helping students get through college life and all of the ups and downs it presents. A typical type of topic that you can find on this blog is Top 10 Tips for Your College Move-in Day.
What My U Search is doing right
My U Search is a great website and blog. Not only does it have a specific purpose and mission, but it also provides useful content to its target audience. From topics on choosing your majors to tips on getting good grades, it’s easy to see why students would find My U Search to be helpful. The blog and the website as a whole are well-designed, with categories, recommended links, and other links lined down the left margin and ads along the right margin. The header also allows visitors to easily navigate around the website, giving links to access the forum, blog, college search and match system, and other links within the site.
What My U Search is doing wrong
Truthfully, there isn’t much to complain about this blog. If anything, I would suggest a little more eye-catching design along the header of the page. Right now, all that can be seen along the header is the MyUSearch.com logo. There is a lot of room for more pictures or some other easy design upgrade. Overall, however, My U Search is a well-designed blog with loads of articles and information for students and anyone else who wants to be in the know about college life.
