As this is the first installment of Vela Advertising Views a short introduction is in order. Hi, I am Tony Vela. I have been creating advertising and graphic design for about 35 years. Starting in New York City and now in Warwick, NY as Vela Advertising.

With this blog, I plan to help clients, current and potential, by sharing my experiences and insights on the graphic design and advertising fields. I’ll also keep you updated on news about Vela Advertising. Hopefully, you’ll learn some things that help you make smarter decisions for your business. Or perhaps you’ll just be a little entertained reading my ramblings. Either way, I am glad you have decided to read this first installment and hope you’ll continue to read, and participate. I’ll be honest as I post in this blog. I’ll let you know what I think and probably remind you often that I don’t know everything. I’ll give you my best recommendations, and they will change as I learn.

The success of this blog rests partially on you. Please add your comments, advice, corrections, etc. You can also email me with questions, or to request I discuss something you’re interested in.

Hopefully, you’ll learn some things that help you make smarter decisions for your business. Or perhaps you’ll just be a little entertained reading my ramblings.

So, back to the topic: Why a blog? A blog on a business website is a good way to keep the site fresh. It’s an easy place for a client to add the latest news about their business and offer advice to customers. Both of these are good for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

This blog uses WordPress in it’s own subdirectory of my main site. I believe this is the best setup for a small business. Many small clients have heard the siren call that promises a WordPress site allows anyone to update and maintain their own site. However that’s true for the novice to manage a blog, trying to manage a whole website usually finds the novice crashing into the rocks.

Sure WordPress can manage an entire complex site. But that’s like saying if I had the tools, I could build and maintain a rocket ship.

So for today, I advise clients to allow a professional web designer/developer to do the heavy lifting when it comes to managing their site. Sure WordPress can manage an entire complex site. But that’s like saying if I had the tools, I could build and maintain a rocket ship. Just having the tools doesn’t make someone a rocket scientist. If you want to invest the time and training into learning how to deal with all the things that make up a website (images, HTML, CSS, etc.) then you can become proficient enough to manage your business website. But, as a business person you probably have better and more important things to do with your time.

A blog on a business site is a good mix of client and professional site management. The client can post stories and images on the blog as frequently as they like. Then from time to time they can talk to their website professional about adding important blog topics to the main site content. For example, an architect has a website and posts in his blog info and photos about a new project. The architect can post all through the process, whenever there is something his audience may find informative and interesting. When the project is complete, the architect talks to his website professional to have the project added to his portfolio of projects in his main site. This keeps the high quality of the entire site intact.

Thanks for reading. Please, let me know what you think.