Meet Ryan Davis, newly appointed president of Philly.com

When 72 million people are looking at your product every month, you might agree that producing it is a challenging enterprise.

And, in the view of Ryan Davis, an "exciting" one.

Davis, newly appointed president of Philly.com, the Web site of Philadelphia Media Holdings, publisher of the Daily News and Inquirer, said that he is looking forward to the challenge.

"I'm very excited," he said. "The Web site is growing by leaps and bounds, and there are so many opportunities to keep it growing."

The growth is reflected in the figures. Page views soared 67 percent in September, to 72 million, compared with 43 million in September '08.

"The challenge is to find out which parts of the site we want to grow," he said. "A key is to find the right priorities."

He pointed to the new design of Philly.com's sports site - "something we can all be proud of," he said.

Davis, 32, has been serving the company as the director of strategic operations since early this year. He helped design the new sports site.

He has developed and co-implemented the reorganization of the 70-person Philly.com operation, and coordinates a new Philly.com advisory board, consisting of some high-powered business leaders.

In announcing Davis' appointment, Brian Tierney, CEO of Philadelphia Media Holdings, said that Davis will lead all online initiatives and will be responsible for all digital operations, including strategy, content, new product development, revenue generation, business development, finance and technology.

He will be part of Philly.com's three-person management team, including Wendy Warren as vice president and editor, and Dan Sarko as vice president of advertising.

"Ryan has immense passion and vision for the future of Philly.com," Tierney said. "I am thrilled to have him at the helm working closely with Dan and Wendy. Their combined leadership will help us achieve continued growth."

Davis and his wife, Victoria, had their first child, Caroline, 11 weeks ago. He grew up in the Allentown area and graduated from the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism in 2000. He worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun and the St. Petersburg Times before joining McKinsey & Co., a Philly-based management consulting firm.

In 2007, he earned an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.