Steve Souders in his website has given 15 tips - some very fundamental ones for creating high performance websites, along with demonstrations of what he says. Very Interesting and useful.

The list is here. Visit his website to actually see the demos.

• Rule 1 - Make Fewer HTTP Requests
• Rule 2 - Use a Content Delivery Network
• Rule 3 - Add an Expires Header
• Rule 4 - Gzip Components
• Rule 5 - Put Stylesheets at the Top
• Rule 6 - Put Scripts at the Bottom
• Rule 7 - Avoid CSS Expressions
• Rule 8 - Make JavaScript and CSS External
• Rule 9 - Reduce DNS Lookups
• Rule 10 - Minify JavaScript
• Rule 11 - Avoid Redirects
• Rule 12 - Remove Duplicate Scripts
• Rule 13 - Configure ETags
• Rule 14 - Make AJAX Cacheable
• Rule 15 - Use Iframes Wisely

He even talks about tools that he has used for some of these tasks, ex. JSmin to minify a script, Dojo compressor to obfuscate a script, etc.

Interestingly he also points that most of the optimization for better performing websites seems to be a front end problem more than a back end one. He has learnt this when he was the chief performance Yahoo! and has published a book "High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers " on the same.

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Posted by Cyrus Mistry, Product Lead for Chromebooks for Education

(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog.)

Editors note: As educators in North America begin to prepare for the 2015/16 school year, we thought this would be a good time to pull together the best tips we shared in the last year from schools using Chromebooks. If you’ll be at ISTE 2015 next week in Philly, come see us in the Expo Hall at space #1808. We’ll have a range of Chromebooks to demo and over 50 sessions in our teaching theater. If you won’t be there, you can follow along at #ISTE2015 and @GoogleforEdu for the highlights and news.

Schools across North America are choosing Chromebooks as devices to support teaching and learning. Districts continue to invest in Chromebooks, purchasing more devices as they continue to see success. A few examples: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina now use 83,000 devices, Milwaukee Public Schools now use 38,000 and we’re happy to announce that Arlington Independent School District in Texas recently purchased 17,000 Chromebooks. We gathered tips from experienced districts like these to help school leaders prepare for success in the upcoming school year.

1. Understand teachers’ needs
Success begins with asking teachers what they need and truly listening to their answers. New York City Chief Information Officer Hal Friedlander shared the importance of listening to and understanding the needs of teachers. “We treat schools as customers and engage them as advocates of the technology,” Friedlander says. “The educators who live in the community and teach students every day have the best ideas about what they need in technology, not a guy like me who works at the 30,000-foot view.” It’s a logical place to start, but too often people rush this step.

2. Equip staff with advanced training
Fulfilling teachers’ needs also involves training — preparing them with the tools they need to use technology effectively. Back in November, in the midst of dispatching 32,000 Chromebooks, Chesterfield Public Schools Executive Director of Technology Adam Sedlow shared tips for a successful Chromebook deployment, emphasizing the importance of professional development. Interestingly, the district didn’t require every teacher to attend training — instead they created an optional two-day experience called Camp Chromebook. Because the training was crafted to be fun and engaging, the 300 spots filled up in minutes. Once school started, the trained teachers helped their colleagues who couldn’t attend Camp Chromebook.

3. Plan a phased rollout
Over the past year, school leaders have taught us that planning counts. During a panel at Education on Air, three leaders shared what they’ve learned about successful IT rollouts. A common theme: be thoughtful about planning each phase. Hillsborough Public Schools Director of Technology Joel Handler shared that for his New Jersey district, this meant organizing a pilot phase with outstanding teachers who were respected by their peers as instructional leaders. Valerie Truesdale, Chief of Technology, Personalization & Engagement at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, shared that her district used Chromebooks in middle school because data showed them this age group was the place with most need.

4. Encourage risk-taking and innovation
Throughout the year, leaders echoed the importance of encouraging staff to take risks. Joel Handler put it well “if you aren’t failing, then you aren’t taking enough risks.” Outside experts agree. Laszlo Bock, Google’s head of HR, cited the need for risk-taking and failure as one of his four “work rules for school” – lessons included in his recent book "Work Rules." Laszlo shared that “failure actually isn’t failure, it’s the single best learning opportunity we have." Changing culture isn’t always easy, but many educators are doing it well. Ryan Bretag, Chief Innovation Officer at Glenbrook High School District 225 in Illinois, shared a few practical tips on how to create the conditions for change in schools.

What tips did we miss? Share your tips for success with Chromebooks by using #GoogleEdu. If you’re looking for support in preparing to deploy Chromebooks, check out our Google for Education trainer directory. Although Chromebooks are easy to set up and use, we know that many people like to engage a trainer to get started. On our site, you’ll find a range of organizations that make it their full-time job to support schools with edtech.

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Posted by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO

Editors note: Today, we hear from Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO and author of “Change by Design.” As a leader of the global design and innovation firm, with clients like IKEA, Joie De Vivre Hotels and NBC’s Today Show, Tim focuses on finding pathways to creativity. Watch an extended interview with Tim from our interactive event #Atmosphere15 here.

I remember the first time I walked into a bookstore and noticed the books facing forward with handwritten reviews dangling underneath. It made deciding which book to buy much easier compared to scanning rows of book spines. That’s creativity to me: looking beyond what’s conventional and finding a different and better way. For me, life’s much more enjoyable and rewarding when I keep wondering how things could be different from the way they are now. Here are some ways that I keep my mind open to creative breakthroughs.

1. Challenge assumptions. Ask why things happen the way they do and why the world works the way it does. Unless we’re curious, it’s very hard to come up with new ideas.


2. Think of the creative process as starting with a question rather than an answer. Rather than the standard creative assertion, “I’ve got an idea,” the key is to start with a really interesting question. Go home, go back to the office and allow yourself to wonder. When you have interesting questions, you’ll get to interesting solutions.


3. Reframe problems by asking different questions. If the obvious question is “How do I solve this thing that’s bugging me?” reframe it to ask “Why do I do that thing at all?” or “Is there a better way to approach that thing in the first place?” The key is to ask the right questions with enough room to inspire new ideas. If you ask too narrow a question, you get an obvious answer.
   
   For example, instead of asking “How do we make this chair more comfortable?” we can ask more broadly, “How do we sit in different ways in order to have a better conversation?” We might not even need the chair at all. The idea is to frame the question so that it gives you enough space to go to interesting places.


4. Show creative confidence. We all have a natural ability to spur creative ideas. The important next step is to find the courage to act on those ideas. People get hung up on the idea of failure, but failure is an essential mode for learning what works and what doesn’t.


5. Use a creative mindset, whatever your role. We live in a world where change is happening everywhere and nothing stays the same for long, so we need to bring creativity to everything we do. On a personal level, it’s rewarding to figure out how things could be different, and professionally, it keeps us competitive. It doesn’t matter what role you play in an organization — there’s always room for improvement in the way we do things.


6. Be observant. Most of us have powerful devices at our fingertips that allow us to easily and extensively observe the way people work and live. Take photos all the time, and share those pictures at work, because observing how people do things now is the start of figuring out how to do things differently.

To hear more from Tim, watch his full recorded session at our #Atmosphere event. And to see more about creating a culture of innovation, visit the Google Apps Insights page.

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Posted by John Allen and David Harrington, Google for Education team

(Cross-posted on the Google for Education Blog.)

Editors note: Schools across Florida are seeing great success with Google for Education. Today we’re featuring tips from School District of Lee County, Okeechobee County School District and Escambia County School District. To learn more, watch this recent webinar with Lee County. And if you’ll be at FETC from January 12-15, visit us in the Expo Hall at #2221.

The state of Florida is leading the way for digital instruction. A recent state mandate requires that K-12 students have access to digital learning resources. The shift from paper-based to digital content is prompting students to research and publish their work online while encouraging teachers to innovate in the classroom. We recently asked instructional technology administrators in Florida who use Google Apps for Education, Google Classroom and Chromebooks to share their recommendations for introducing new technologies and tools in the classroom. Here are their top five tips:

1. Create an IT support community 

Providing IT support across campuses can be a drain on resources, so instead of hiring a huge IT team, ask tech-savvy teachers to serve as resources for technology questions. They need not be experts, but rather can act as liaisons to direct teachers and students to the right channels and communicate with the IT team about any overarching challenges.

The School District of Lee County (case study) uses this model to streamline IT support and strengthen its community. “The small group of teachers act as on-the-ground support,” says Dwayne Alton, director of IT support. “They facilitate conversations and figure out what tech matches the students’ and teachers’ needs.”

2. Encourage teachers to share their success stories 

Tech-savvy teachers often find innovative ways to incorporate new technologies in the classroom, and can be great advocates for helping other teachers identify new ways of teaching. Ask teachers to share the unique ways they’re using new tools. For example, Scott Rust, a high school english teacher at Escambia County School District, keeps students attentive and on task when he’s taking attendance by having them fill out five questions in Google Forms. “All of my students participated in the assignment, were engaged and well behaved,” Rust says. “It was amazing to start class on such a positive note — and as a side benefit, all of the students’ answers from Google Forms downloaded into a single spreadsheet.”

7th grade students at Caloosa Middle school in Lee County collaborating in Google Docs

3. Make professional development flexible 

Some teachers will be excited to have new teaching tools, but others may prefer to use the whiteboard or pen and paper. Provide teachers with a variety of opportunities to learn how to use technology to improve their teaching, boost productivity and make learning more interactive.

Okeechobee County School District hosts C@mp IT, a two-day professional development summit with workshops about how to use devices in the classroom. If your schools don’t have the resources or time for a summer summit, consider after-school training sessions or online video training.

4. Consider how technology can improve state-wide testing 

Technology can ease some of the hassle of student testing. When Okeechobee County School District used laptops and PCs for the Florida Standards Assessment testing, the IT team had to prep the devices and make sure no applications ran in the background. Chromebooks streamlined the testing process, as the IT team only had to switch the devices to kiosk mode.

Similarly, Escambia County School District uses Chromebooks for testing to reduce the administrative burden. Says Jim Branton, coordinator of technology services at Escambia County School District: “The ability to test a grade level all at the same time without scavenging computers from all over campus into makeshift labs made scheduling and administering the tests significantly easier than years past.”

Introducing new technology reduces the amount of time spent on testing, some schools have found. “In our two 1:1 middle schools, it would take two weeks to get all the students through testing. Now with Chromebooks, it should take less than a week,” says Shawna May, director of information technology at Okeechobee County School District. “That’s less time taken away from instructional class time.”

5. Share a resource hub with how-to resources 

Some teachers spend a good chunk of class time teaching students how to use technology most effectively in their studies, rather than teaching them class material. Create a resource hub so teachers have an easy place to find resources, including video tutorials and how-to documents, that they can use to teach students how to use devices and digital learning tools. “Teachers can send students a 3-minute video about how to turn in a Google Doc using Google Classroom, so they don’t have to use valuable class time showing students how to use the tools,” suggests Michelle Branham, coordinator of instructional technology at Okeechobee County School District.

We’ve heard great stories from many of you about how you’re using technology to do amazing things in your schools, so were going across the U.S. to see for ourselves! Check out the map below to see where we’ve been. We’d love to hear what’s happening in your state, so please share your story on Twitter or Google+ and tag us (@GoogleForEdu) or include the #GoogleEdu hashtag.

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Originally posted on Android Developer blog

Posted by Lily Sheringham, Developer Marketing at Google Play

Editor’s note: This is another post in our series featuring tips from developers finding success on Google Play. We recently spoke to games developer Kongregate, to find out how they use Store Listing Experiments successfully. - Ed.

With Store Listing Experiments in the Google Play Developer Console, you can conduct A/B tests on the content of your store listing pages. Test versions of the text and graphics to see which ones perform best, based on install data.

Kongregate increases installs by 45 percent with Store Listing Experiments

Founded in 2006 by brother and sister Jim and Emily Greer, Kongregate is a leading mobile games publisher specializing in free to play games. Kongregate used Store Listing Experiments to test new content for the Global Assault listing page on Google Play. By testing with different audience sizes, they found a new icon that drove 92 percent more installs, while variant screenshots achieved an impressive 14 percent improvement. By picking the icons, screenshots, and text descriptions that were the most sticky with users, Kongregate saw installs increase by 45 percent on the improved page.

Kongregate’s Mike Gordon, VP of Publishing; Peter Eykemans, Senior Producer; and Tammy Levy, Director of Product for Mobile Games, talk about how to successfully optimise mobile game listings with Store Listing Experiments.

Kongregate’s tips for success with Store Listing Experiments

Jeff Gurian, Sr. Director of Marketing at Kongregate also shares his do’s and don’ts on how to use experiments to convert more of your visitors, thereby increasing installs. Check them out below:

Do’s	Don’ts
Do start by testing your game’s icon. Icons can have the greatest impact (positive or negative) on installs — so test early!	Don’t test too many variables at once. It makes it harder to determine what drove results. The more variables you test, the more installs (and time) you’ll need to identify a winner.
Do have a question or objective in mind when designing an experiment. For example, does artwork visualizing gameplay drive more installs than artwork that doesn’t?	Don’t test artwork only. Also test screenshot ordering, videos, and text to find what combinations increase installs.
Do run experiments long enough to achieve statistical significance. How long it takes to get a result can vary due to changes in traffic sources, location of users, and other factors during testing.	Don’t target too small an audience with your experiment variants. The more users you expose to your variants, the more data you collect, the faster you get results!
Do pay attention to the banner, which tells you if your experiment is still “in progress.” When it has collected enough data, the banner will clearly tell you which variant won or if it was a tie.	Don’t interpret a test where the control attribute performs better than variants as a waste. You can still learn valuable lessons from what “didn’t work.” Iterate and try again!

Learn more about how Kongregate optimized their Play Store listing with Store Listing Experiments. Learn more about Google Play products and best practices to help you grow your business globally.

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Making Money Adsense is one of the easiest online businesses you can imagine. You simply put content on your website, a visitor clicks on it and you have made money. It sounds easy! But is it really? Well, many of us know that people earn staggering amounts of money just by placing Google Adsense ads on their sites.

You know they are already interested in the subject because theyve landed on your web site.

Making money with Google Adsense requires you to drive traffic. In fact that is the key. Placing Adsense on your web site is pretty easy. If you go to the Google Adsense web site, they will show you how. You simply copy and paste a specific code to your web site and you are set to go. It has been discovered that you can make more money with adsense ads which blend in with the color scheme of the website. This is because people are more apt to click on them because they dont appear like ads, but instead, like a natural part of your website. If you choose to not go with the same color scheme as your website, you at least want to choose ads which are complimentary.

Once you have your ads set up, it is now time to drive traffic to your web site. You wont make money if you dont see traffic. There are so many ways to receive traffic, online and off-line methods. One way is to place classified ads in your local newspapers. You will want to stay away from placing classifieds in large, untargeted newspapers. They have a ton of classified ads, and they are easy to get overlooked. With smaller publications, your ad is more likely to be seen and to responded to. Another great way to generate traffic to your Adsense sites is to pass flyers, or door knockers. You can also use a car decal.

Many people with offline businesses place these decals on the cars. Article marketing, online classifieds and social networks are another way to drive traffic to your Adsense sites.

These are a few ways to make money with Google Adsense. Again, it is one of the easiest ways to our money because you are not asking anyone to purchase anything, you are simply providing information and allowing your readers to learn more with a simple click. If you are interested in learning more about Google Adsense, you can find some great books online.

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