Speed is the key.

Speed is Key

With most digital activities now occurring on mobile devices, access speed has become a critical issue. Because these are intuitive devices, expectations for content to appear instantly are growing ever higher.

Companies like Google and Facebook are working to improve pages and apps to minimize load times.

The speed of the digital world is spreading to the real world, creating heightened expectations.

Online and offline are beginning to merge seamlessly. For example, tapping the Uber app on your phone brings an actual Uber-registered vehicle right to your doorstep.

Google is further accelerating the mobile web with AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), a new way to code mobile pages. Recently, it has also started factoring display speed into search rankings. This means the faster a site loads, the higher it is likely to rank in results. Google also states that faster-loading ads are significantly more effective.

Facebook's Instant Articles load even faster because publishers upload content directly to Facebook, eliminating the need to visit their own sites.

Speed is increasingly important for brands

In the offline world, speed is also growing in importance.

• According to Uber, the amount of time people are willing to wait for a taxi has decreased by 30% over the past year.

• Using Amazon Prime Now, items can be delivered within an hour in some areas.