Site Hit Counter, How to...

R

Richard In Va.

Anyone know what's the best (cheapest) way to put a site hit counter on a
webpage.
The website has not been published yet and may become a sub-domain to
another site local to our town.

I've done some google search for "free hit counter" and most (seem) to want
me to register with an email address and provide the URL. Leads me to
believe a hit counter wont work unless the site is published to the web.
Don't really know how hit counters work... can this done via a local script
or something?

Maybe some basic information and a few pointers would be most appreciated.

Thanks!

Richard in Va
+++++++++++
 
R

Richard In Va.

Steve,

Have no clue, we're hoping our local Chamber of Commerce will host the site.
If not, then we're considering our options.
The Chamber site doesn't have a hit counter, at least one visible to the
web.

We are talking about setting up our own server... Just looking for some
"heads-up".

Thanks!
Richard in Va.
+++++++++++++++++
 
P

P@tty Ayers

Richard In Va. said:
Anyone know what's the best (cheapest) way to put a site hit counter on a
webpage.
The website has not been published yet and may become a sub-domain to
another site local to our town.

I've done some google search for "free hit counter" and most (seem) to
want me to register with an email address and provide the URL. Leads me
to believe a hit counter wont work unless the site is published to the
web. Don't really know how hit counters work... can this done via a local
script or something?

Maybe some basic information and a few pointers would be most appreciated.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I understand why would you want a "hit counter" on a site which
wasn't live on the Web.

In any case, some basic information: putting a visible "hit counter" on a
web site is an outdated idea. I know of no good-quality, professional web
sites which feature a visible "hit counter". If you think about it, there's
really no good reason for it: why do random visitors need to know how many
people have visited a site? You probably want people to think your site is
interesting and popular, but does have a number at the bottom of the page
really achieve that?

Also, there's a lot of confusion about what a "hit" is. A lot of scripts
count every image and file associated with every page, every time a user
loads that page, so that a page with 5 images on it, viewed 3 times by the
same person, gives a count of 15 "hits". This obviously is pretty useless
information.

If you and your clients want to know how many people are visiting your site,
it makes much more sense to use a utility that provides site statistics,
which will be much more accurate and thorough than any "hit counter". I
really like Google Analytics, which is free, simple to install, and
invisible to the public user. To see your statistics, you log into a Google
Analytics page and read all about your visitors: what search engines or
links brought them to your site, what browser they use, how long they
stayed, what page they viewed just before they left, etc. It's very
interesting and useful information.

There are others besides Google Analytics, but it's so high-quality that I
haven't bothered with any of the others since finding out about it.

Hope that might help.
 
R

Richard In Va.

Yes, that does help alot Patty, Thanks!

This website is all about a small town civic project that is beginning to
get the attention of our community.
Big project... small town... small non-profit civic organization.... you
know. Get more people involved by serving up information and interesting
content to the web.

The statistical information would be a great help! I'll look into Google
Analytics as you recommend... Thanks!

I'm just thinking it might be nice if local citizens could see (on the home
page) how many of other local citizens are interested as well. I know....
that can work both ways.... 2 hits a day might turn-off potential
volunteers!

But I see other local websites that have counters, I'm just wondering if
it's a script file that I can build into our website or what. (I would
certainly only want 1 hit per page view).

As far as not being on the web? Right now I'm writing the html code for the
webpages at my dining room table in my sock-ed feet, you know... on a
shoe-string budget! But it's looking good and the boss is getting excited,
I expect the site will be launched to the public as soon as we decide who'll
give us some server space. Just wanted the counter thing installed and
working prior to launch.

So, I ask... is it a simple script that runs or what? (the whole town is
historic, so I don't mind being a little out-dated by having a hit counter)

Thanks again!

Richard in Va.
+++++++++++++++



take hold of the local
 
K

Ken

Richard, I don't know if this helps or not but I've done three pages using
free hit counters. To use the Frontpage hit counter you would need to have
a host with the frontpage server extensions installed. The free hit
counters I use are basically hosted by someone else and accessed when the
page is loaded by anyone. All you have to do is cut and paste the code they
provide. I'm not sure how they trigger a hit, but I know they've kept my
clients happy. It seems to me what you should do, is try both the free hit
counter ( there are some that don't require an email address by the
way -although they do have a small advertisement attached to them ) and the
Google analytics. That way you could keep the boss happy, seeing hits
generated, and you could quietly monitor what's actually going on.
 
R

Richard in Va.

Yep... sound like reason enough to me, Thanks!
Looked at the website you suggested and I think it looks fine... fit's your
client's theme well... I even ran their count up, okay... just a few times!

Thanks again,

Richard In VA
++++++++++++++++


Steve Easton said:
I use them just because:
1. I can
2. I use custom images.
3. Sometimes the client wants them.
;-)

Check the hit counter at the bottom of this page:
http://www.transtarlogistics.net/
keeping in mind that the site is "exactly" what the ***client*** wanted.

--

Steve Easton
Microsoft MVP FrontPage
FP Cleaner
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/fpclean.htm
Hit Me FP
http://www.95isalive.com/fixes/HitMeFP.htm
Click to expand...
 
R

Richard in Va.

Hello Ken, Thanks for the good advice!

So I guess with a "free" hit counter installed, anyone who browses to the
page gets redirected to the host of the hit service, then redirected back to
the desired page that then loads into their browser with an updated count
value.

I'm making alot of assumptions here!

The hit service provider get to see all your traffic and maybe uses that
information in various ways to generate a "profit" for their service.
We all know nothing is "free"... I'm just trying to understand where the
"hitch" is before I commit.
Just one thing... out of curiosity, what happens if you manually remove the
code from the bottom of the page? Do they still get to see the traffic even
though there is no longer a counter on the page?

As a side note-- I really don't want someone else's "small" add popping up
on the page. After all, this is a non-profit thing...!

Thanks again for your insight! I'll certainly look into Google analytics.
(really don't mind the email address thing, just don't care to provide my
personal email)

btw, right now I have the website on my linksys NAS200 that has HTTP/ftp
built in, password protected, so "the boss" can login to see how their site
is coming along.

Thanks again!

++++++++++++++++
 
K

Ken

Hey Richard...
The free hit counter doesn't redirect the site visitor at all. It loads as
normal with an updated count, but I'm sure you're absolutely right on them
making themselves a dollar somewhere..As for the add...I've only gotten a
very small text add below the counter itself, usual flogging Saints tickets
or something...actually quite unnoticable..no pop-ups or anything. Although,
if you do decide to go with one, do not alter their code, or change your
background colour to blank out their text as that will render the counter
useless. My point is, it's an easy and fairly inobtrusive way to keep the
client happy..Lots of different styles available. And I've never had any
negative repercussions. Anyway, I'm not promoting or dissing them..just
trying to give you some info...good luck either way..
 
R

Richard in Va.

Thanks again Ken!

That was the intent of my original post.... just some "heads up" on
something I see around alot therefore taking interest in, however, not
knowing how they work.

Thanks!

So... don't suppose you (or others) might recommend a "good" hit counter
service? You had to guess that was going to be my next question!
The nonprofit group I'm working with will probably not want ads...
regardless of how unintrusive they are. That is my guess anyway... I'll ask
them.


Richard in VA.
++++++++++++++++
 
K

Ken

R

Richard in Va.

Thanks Ken,

Those look great, I'll ask "the boss" if we want to peruse this. I think
the Google Analytics might be well worth considering as well.
I've copied/pasted one of the counter images onto the home page just to
tickle their fancy!

Thanks again for your extended advice!!

Richard in VA.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
K

Ken

No problem at all Richard, glad I could help.
Richard in Va. said:
Thanks Ken,

Those look great, I'll ask "the boss" if we want to peruse this. I think
the Google Analytics might be well worth considering as well.
I've copied/pasted one of the counter images onto the home page just to
tickle their fancy!

Thanks again for your extended advice!!

Richard in VA.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Click to expand...
 
R

Richard in Va.

Thanks Ken,

I've just found out that our local Chamber of Commerce doesn't seem to be
supportive in hosting our site, beats me, our site is all about community
and they do support the project and it's cause.

So now we're considering using a web host service "go daddy" or something. I
don't suppose you'd care to chat about that a little as well? Probably just
alittle more "heads-up"?

I've looked at a few "top 10" listings for these services... they all look
pretty much the same, never done this before either, but I hear it is easy
to do.

I could start another post but someone will likely harp because it's not a
FrontPage topic.

Need to run a few errands but I'll be back after a while.

Richard in VA.
++++++++++++++
 
K

Ken

Yeah Richard
Send me an email (e-mail address removed) or do the live messenger
thing..I'm always on...I might be able to help with your hosting problems,
but I'd need to know a little more..
 

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