Because I will not publish comparative rankings that cannot be substantiated by one or more external sources, and because I claimed that SI was ranked #1 among the supply management blogs the first time this blog took #1 in the Alexa rankings (primarily because it was the ranking site most favored by the blog that was ranked #1 on Alexa for quite some time), I have no problems pointing out that, as of Saturday (August 15), Sourcing Innovation slid back to the #2 spot on Alexa (with an Alexa rank of 324,279) while Spend Matters climbed back on top (with an Alexa rank of 317,868). [Get the Updated Facts]

But that’s fine by me. Why?

1. Sourcing Innovation Always Bounces Back
   Every second time the ranking engines “renormalize” their ranking algorithms, my ratings drop. But they always bounce back. And even if SI doesn’t ever make #1 again (on Alexa), that would be okay because I’m confident SI will continue to do what it has done since day one … and that’s grow in visitors, visits, and hits and continue to grow in breadth and reach — and that’s all that really matters.
2. Spend Matters Brought Back the “A” Game
   The last few months have seen not only an increase in the quantity of posts, but in the quality … harkening back to the early days when Spend Matters was breaking new ground. The in-depth coverage of the Staffing Services Providers in particular (in the late Spring) was great and brought you useful information that you can use to help you identify the providers that might be right for you. And as long as Spend Matters posts information that helps you, dear reader, I have no problem nipping at its heels.
3. SI’s goal was to be the #1 niche blog dedicated to Innovation
   SI is about “best practices, education and innovation in sourcing, procurement, and supply management” and bringing you useful information day-in and day-out that can help you become a better sourcing and procurement professional. It was never the intent to make SI a news site, forum, commentary on current events, talk radio, print publication replacement, or analyst alternative. SI, which grew 30% in unique visitors in a single month last quarter, is doing phenomenal against its goal. What more could I want?
4. SI Still Outranks A (Large) Number of (Big) Print Publications in (Daily) Web Traffic
   Sure the print publications have more recipients on the paper-copy and e-mail lists, but when it comes to daily web-traffic day-in and day-out, SI does very well because, unlike these publications which offer very little new content on their web site in any given week, SI brings you new content every single day.
5. SI is Still the #2 Blog in Supply Management
   SI reaches (well) over 10,000 unique visitors every month. This traffic, combined with its steady growth, is why SI has ranked #1, at least temporarily, on each of the five major traffic ranking sites over the past six months.
6. SI is very close to another big milestone.
   One where it will be only the second blog in the Supply Management space to achieve that milestone. SI is only three years old. The best is yet to come.

And SI’s traffic, which is still increasing month-over-month, is extremely impressive for a niche blog in Supply Management, so I’m quite happy with its progress … and the next post will be back to regular programming.

Nine Hundred and Forty Three Thousand Five Hundred and Eighty Four words later (including the words in this post), or Thirteen Hundred and Eighteen posts later (which does not count the dozens of guests posts on other blogs, including e-Sourcing Forum, Supply Excellence, Procurement Leaders, and Deal Architect), and Sourcing Innovation (SI) officially turns three. Although not that long of a time, even in net-time, it is extremely significant in blog-time, especially for a blog that posts every day, twice a day on work-days.

It has been a great year. Growth has continued to the point where not only is Sourcing Innovation undisputedly (at least) the second most trafficked blog in the space any way you want to look at it, with well over 10,000 unique visitors a month (from thousands of organizations), but it’s reach on the search engines is, on average, three times that of any other blog or publication in the space. And, of course, it’s reach and influence is still growing … globally … without any signs of slowing down, especially now that a few of the thought leaders like Kevin Brooks, Norman Katz, and Dick Locke, who have posted regularly on SI since day one, have decided to take on regular contributor roles.

However, I still contend that the best has not been written. Even though this blog has covered the full range of the sourcing and procurement cycles, from spend analysis to contract management through requisition to e-payment and reconciliation, and branched further into enterprise cost management, supply chain risk and fraud management and prevention, and global trade with the help of some guest authors and contributors, and continued to keep green, sustainability, talent management, supply chain finance, and other best practices in the forefront, it’s still only scratched the surface. There is still more to tell, and even though the Sourcing Maniacs made a herculean effort, still many more vendors to cover — and with our understanding of supply chain, and the world in general, increasing by the day, you can never stop learning — and never, ever, stop innovating. And that’s what Sourcing Innovation is all about.

(So if you’d like a piece of this action, at a cost less than your average Google ad-words or trade publication e-mail blast campaign on a per eyeball basis [because, when you get right down to it, it’s impressions that matter], check out the Open Pricing Model and contact us using the contact information in the FAQ. You won’t be disappointed.)

[Of course, this also means that Sourcing Innovation will reach the 1,000,000 word mark next month. This puts Sourcing Innovation in a very exclusive club. To find out how this value can benefit you, again, please contact us.]