Free Web Page Counters

Basic Information about Free Web Page Counters

There aren't many free things in life, but web page counters are, in fact, one of them. A number of companies provide this service free for a number of reasons, including:

• The counter is free over a limited trial period.
• It is available up to a maximum limit of daily traffic.
• The counter relies on "click-through" traffic from your site.

In other words, there are plenty of reasons for companies to offer you free web site counters, and very few reasons for you not to use one.

Choosing a Web Page Counter

There are a wide variety of counters in all shapes, sizes and colors. The key to choosing the right counter for your web page isn't only the fact that it's free, but also the look of the counter and whether or not the style and color of the display itself fit in well with the overall layout and style of your web page.

Aside from the look of the counter, there are also various functionalities to consider when you choose a free counter. Each type of set-up will have an impact on the ease of installation, the reliability of the counter, and ease of configuration.

Information Counters Can Provide

While there are very simple counters that only reveal the number of times a particular web page has been loaded, there are also many that provide more detailed information about each user, including:

1. Geographic location
2. Operating system
3. Web Browser information
4. Date and time of visit

The counters that have this additional functionality are typically called "trackers" since they track a certain amount of user data.

Types of Web Page Counters

There are many types of web page counters. How they are set up and how they function depends greatly on which type you choose.

Hosted Counters

A hosted counter is one where the script that keeps a tabulation of visitors is stored and run on a web server other than the one your web page is running from. This allows you to simply cut-and-paste HTML text provided by the counter service into your web page and the counter is ready and working immediately.

The drawbacks to using a hosted counter is that if the other web server where the hosted counter goes down or is unreliable, your counter will not work properly. Most of the free counters are of the hosted variety.

Some examples include:

• Dayana Counter
• Extreme Tracking
• Sitemeter
• Statcounter

Stand-Alone Counters

Stand-alone counters are software scripts installed on the same web server as the page that your website is running from. This set-up insures that as long as your web server is up and running, the free web page counters will be functioning. This setup will allow you to configure the counter however you would like, and typically they can be used to track any page on your website.

The drawback to using a stand-alone counter is that it can be more complicated to configure, and as the web designer, you need to have access to the CGI-BIN scripting area of the web server. Depending on your web-hosting plan, you may not always have access to that area, so you would need to verify this before choosing to use a stand-alone counter for its added configurability and functionality.

Some examples include scripts such as:

• Decimal Counter
• EZ Stat
• Parkansky Logger
• Counter Maker

Web Host Provided Statistics

Very often, the web host also offers website statistics tools that are part of your hosting package. These applications or tools would be available within the control panel. So it is worthwhile to consider this and either take a close look in your control panel for logging/statistics tools, or ask the web host whether they provide website statistics tools for free as part of their normal web hosting plan.

These tools are the most convenient method to monitor website usage because they usually display a great deal of data, not only information about the user's location and operating system, but also information such as what website they came from (referral website) and how long they spent viewing each page.

The Value of Visitor Information

Regardless of which type of counter you choose, the information you gather through using such a counter will prove invaluable when you want to customize your website to capture the interests of more of your visitors. Utilizing these counters in order to gather valuable data will lead to a much more useful and visited website in the end.