A visitor counter tracks visitors on a web page, providing information on their location and how they found the site. Hit counters can be visible or invisible, and caution should be taken when choosing a free counter as some may contain malicious code.
A visitor counter is a piece of code embedded in a web page that tracks visitors. Visit counters range in complexity from simple versions that simply tell the web master that someone has visited, to complex ones that track a user’s progress through a website and provide supplemental information, such as where a visitor has come from. Visitor counters are installed on most web pages so that owners can see how popular the site is and how users reach the site. A hit counter can also be used to see how surfable a site is and to determine which areas of the site are the most popular.
Most visit counters will tell the web master what each visitor’s IP address is. Using the IP address, the web master can see where in the world a visitor is from and, in some cases, may be able to identify which service provider the visitor is using. Also, a hit counter usually provides information about the site or search that brought the visitor to the site. All this information is available in an administrative area in the form of statistics that the webmaster can view. As a general rule, this information is not displayed on the site, for security reasons.
On a site, a hit counter can take on different formats. Many hit counters are completely invisible. Visitors don’t know that the hit counter is there, even if the hit counter follows them. Other visit counters take on a more visible form. Many websites, for example, keep a running total of visitors to the main site, as this is a topic of interest to some people. In other cases, a more complex visit counter might display visits overlaid on a map, so visitors can see where other visitors are coming from. Some sites also keep an up-to-date list of recent referrals, showing how people found the site.
Many people with personal websites want to get a hit counter so they can see how popular the site is. A number of companies create free visitor counters for just this purpose. A search for “free hit counter” in your favorite search engine will yield a list of possibilities. However, use caution. First, determine if you want a visitor counter to be visible or invisible. If visible, find out what kind of displays the company offers you, as you may not find them visually appealing. Some of these companies also embed malicious code or cookies in their hit counter code, so read their terms of service carefully to determine how any collected data will be used.
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