strangeloop cyber Monday tips

Recently I got a series of emails with tips from strangeloop regarding web site optimization before cyber Monday. Each tip has the core basic about WPO, and also introduces their Site Optimizer. Here I want to summarize the email series and their optimizer.

In my mind, WPO always starts with measurement (testing) to understand the performance problem, then find tools, solutions to solve the problem, then measure again. This is an iteration process, and focus on top 3 issues in each iteration will make your WPO more efficient. I blogged my understanding of core practices or Fundamentals of WPO 2 month ago. From  strangeloop tips, another key word I find very suitable is "simplify". What we are trying to achieve is to simplify the web site, less http request and less data.

Let's look at the tips from strangeloop.
http://www.strangeloopnetworks.com/cyber-monday-2-weeks/

1. Test your site, using tools (webpagetest.org)
2. Make sure your site follows core best practices
   
   • Text compression: The easiest way to reduce your page sizes 
   • Keep-alives: Control your TCP connections
3. Identify and fix your sluggish third-party content
   
   • Audit your 3rd-party content
   • Use the latest version of your widgets
   • load asynchronously wherever possible

Then let's look at how Site Optimizer works
http://www.strangeloopnetworks.com/products/overview/how-it-works/

1. Simplify the page
2. Recognize different browsers
3. Preload relevant page elements
4. Optimize for repeat visits and flows
5. Start loading fasterOptimize third-party content