PixelFive is a web design and development company in Santa Barbara, California. We make modern web sites backed by Content Management Systems that adhere to best web practices and standards.
Our Services: Website Design & Development, Content Management Systems, Expression Engine, Joomla, OpenX ad server, Static Websites, Site Maintenance, Consulting, Training and Web Hosting.
Our Latest Work »
Noozhawk.com News Grid
Services: Design & development (in development)
A new way to display and navigate the home page of Noozhawk. Uses Jquery to optimally display the news grid in every browser size
Technology: Expression Engine CMS, OpenX Ad Server, JQuery.
Santa Barbara Surfer
Services: website design & development, CMS training.
Technology: Expression Engine CMS, OpenX Ad Server, SlideshowPro with Director, google analytics, PHP, Coppermine.
Santa Barbara Solstice Parade
Services: website design & development, mobile development, CMS training, maintenance, website support, technical support
Technology: Expression Engine CMS, OpenX Ad Server, SlideshowPro with Director, google analytics, Constant Contact, PHP
Web Design Blog
What is Canonicalization?
Canonicalization is the process of converting a link like http://example.com into http://www.example.com. The idea is that google may consider the previous URLS as two independent pages and may apply a duplicate content penalty.
The way we have been fixing this is by adding the following code to the htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com$
RewriteRule ^/?$ "http\:\/\/www\.example\.com" [R=301,L]
Works instantly.
Lightweight option to Jquery
Yesterday, our good friend Jim Breen of "Seeing is Web Design", stopped by to chat about how awesome we think Jquery is. After singing its praises, we noticed that we tend to actually use a small percentage of its total awesomeness. That is, we make carousels, sliders, tool tips and the accordions and really not much else. So, wouldn't it be nice if there was a javascript library that actually did only these things? Well, there is such a thing and it's called Jquery Tools (it's made by the same folks that built the amazing Flowplayer video player)
We used extensively on the design of Noozhawk's new Real Estate Home page and on the Real Estate listings page. Check it out!
The text of your links matter
A simple Search Engine Optimization concept:
Which link is better?
a. Click here to learn Jquery OR b. Learn Jquery
If you picked "b" you're right. The idea is that in addition to simply having a link, we now have some information of what the site actually does
This is particularly useful when other sites are linking to yours. For example, a useful link to the PixelFive site would be Santa Barbara Web Design Firm, rather than Click here to go to PixelFive. You get the idea...
Things to do every Monday
Here are a few tips from Taylor Reaume, a great Santa Barbara SEO consultant.
- Write 1 Post To Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
- Write 1 500 word Blog Post
- Post 1 Craigslist Ad About Your Company
- Write 1 Comment on a Relevant Blog in Your Industry
- Make 1 forum post on a relevant forum in your industry
Pretty simple and helpful don't you think?
Is Your Web Designer Following the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
He/she better! Read all about here. We do :).