Knowledgebase
The difference between Hits & Visitors
If want to know the difference between "Hits" & "Visitors" then read on.
Have you ever seen the "hit counter" at the bottom of a web site?
Or the claim of "We get 80,000 hits a month?"
What does it all mean and is it accurate?
In a word, no. The difference between a "hit" and a "visitor" will shock you.
A "hit" is not a visitor but a hit on the web server.
What is a hit on the web server?
A graphic, java applet, the html file, etc. So, if a site has 79 small graphics on their page -- including the html file every visitor to the site registers as 80 hits on the server!
So, 80,000 hits translates to just a 1,000 visitors. Big difference, isn't it?
The problem with counters is they are set up to measure "page views" not unique visitors. You should be more concerned with unique visitors.
For example, if you visit a web site and you see a counter, press the "Reload/refresh" button. Does the counter increase by one? If so, the counter is worthless.
Do you see what the webmaster can do? Just sit there all day and hit reload and increase the hit count. But why do that? Counters can be set at any starting value.
Just start it at 3,123,984 and show your friends what a great site you have. Or do you? We suggest that don't have a counter on your site but use your Web Statistics which provide actual accurate visitor statistics.
The statistics software we provide you with in your control panel will actually tell you how many "hits" and "unique visitors" you have had.
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