Pixel-relish completely redesigned the SLODOG website in early 2004. We transformed the site's look, content, and flow of information -- even its logo type -- to take it from basically a bulletin board to a full fledged website offering amusement and information to dog owners near and far interested in fun, responsible dog ownership.

Key to this site's success are...

Quick load times.
Much of San Luis Obispo County, wherein the dog club gathers, is confined to dial-up service, so quick load times were a must with this site. To this end, we kept the navigation clean and simple, used recurring graphic elements on most pages, and placed most of the photos -- which are a major draw for club members to revisit the site -- aside in "film strip" pages so they wouldn't interfere with main page load times. We made sure to write some informative, at times amusing (hopefully) captions for the film strip pages to entertain viewers while the photos load, and we broke the pages with numerous photos into a series of pages to break up the overall load time.

Intuitive navigation.
We arranged the dog activities/diciplines across the top of each page in a simple yet fun and inviting manner. We complimented that navigation with a "Calendar & Events" column down the right edge. The "Calendar & Events" not only helps new visitors get a feel for SLODOG activities, it also gives SLODOG members quick access to upcoming event information.

Search engine compatibility.
SLODOG did not list search engine relevancy as a top priority for its site. However, in fleshing out the content of each page to bring balance and continuity to the site, Pixel Relish brought to their attention that they don't need every visitor to join their club to benefit from what they have to say. SLODOG could spread its dogma (every pun intended) of fun, responsible dog ownership far beyond the local sphere with a website that ranks well with search engines.

So Pixel Relish fleshed out the information supplied by SLODOG and crafted it for search engines as well as readability. We then placed the text into a layout search engines would favor. Word choice as well as interlinking with national sites invites the search engine spiders in.

Note: We haven't yet formally submitted the site to search engines, so it doesn't yet get the ranking it will.

Capturing the beauty of the terrain for which the club is named.
Pixel Relish felt the site should embody the terrain for which the dog club is named: SLODOG is an acronym for Santa Lucia Open Dog Obedience Group; the Santa Lucia Mountains run along California's central coast and are home to some of the most beautiful country in the state. (Those car ads you see where a person is driving through gorgeous open country that's dotted with giant oak trees -- there's a good chance that ad was shot up here.) We felt it a must to include the landscape in the website.

See also...
We've also done a hand-out for SLODOG. See the "for Print" section of our portfolio.

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