Everyone who sets up a web site needs to know whether it is going in the right direction or not. Once you have set a site up you need to know whether it is gaining any popularity - whether people are actually visiting, and exactly how many. To do this you need 'statistics'.
Although most hosting packages have some form of statistics (or ‘stats') package that will help you determine the number of visitors you receive, for the novice, such packages might be a bit daunting both in terms of the information they offer and knowing your way around a hosting package well enough to get the information you need. To overcome these difficulties many people kick off with a simple counter that offers a limited amount of information, but can be attached to a website quickly and easily.
There are numerous trackers and counters available on the Internet, and believe it or not, they are more than often free. Why? Well companies/developers like offering people tasty tidbits of the things they can offer, and as a webmaster becomes more technically competent, the more he/she may require from his/her statistics. Of course, when it comes to the point that more information is needed than a package offers, additional options can be purchased. For the real newbie though, what most free trackers and counters offer will probably suffice.
It is surprising just how easy trackers and counters are to deal with. Predominantly, you register for a service and receive a code through email. You put this code on the pages on your website you want to track, and that's it! Some statistics produced by trackers and counters are sometimes visible to the public, sometimes not. What is fairly well recognized is that your part of the bargain involves placing a small advert on your site for the company offering the tracker / counter. Not a bad deal really…
What follows is a basic comparison of some of the free site trackers and counters we have found on the Internet. We have given you the user names and passwords you need to take a look at each of the accounts:
Name: Extreme Tracking URL: http://extremetracking.com Comments: Extreme Tracking really is the king of free counters / trackers. Extremely straightforward set up procedure leads to a set of extremely useful and reliable statistics. You can find out how many unique visitors you are getting a day, when they arrived at your site, where they are from, what operating system and browser they are using, and who (which website) sent them to you. Simply put, who could ask for more? Which begs the question, just how many Extreme Tracking users actually turn into paid customers? Very few I would imagine! Note: Extreme Tracking is available to the public at all times, which is what makes it so easy to use. It you want to keep your stats private, choose another freebie or pay Extreme Tracking for an invisible service! User: n/a Password: n/a
Name: OneStat Basic URL: http://www.onestat.com Comments: OneStat.com immediately looked promising. A nice web site with a reasonably straightforward interface allows you to sign up in seconds. The fun starts when you actually put the code on your pages and start looking around for your stats. You arrive back at the page you started at and you get a strong sense you have done something wrong submitting your registration. You eventually figure out you have to log in and then you arrive at a set of stats similar to that offered by Extreme Tracking. The graphs are meant to assist you, but we initially thought that this system didn’t provide any numerical values, which is wrong – they are below the screen! Good, reliable set of data, and a fairly unobtrusive graphic – they should lose the text link though! Worthy of note: they don’t allow you to use this tracker / counter on Adult or XXXX sites, but just how they know if you do, we can’t imagine! User: 247353 Password: onestst
Nutrisystem Coupons Name: Amazing Counters URL: http://www.amazingcounters.com/ Comments: Amazing Counters offers no nonsense little trackers that add up just how many visitors you have had and shows the figure to your visitors. You can be left with the impression that this is all that is on offer but click on the counter and you are taken to their site. Again, the trick here is to login, and once you have, there is a bit of consideration needed to actually get to your stats – a considerable number of advertising options cloud your path! Once you get to the stats the information provided is somewhat limited, offering the number of hits today, from when you started with the tracker and the average number of hits per day since you started. A huge graph offers more stats (daily, weekly) but the data is not as immediate as it could be. Shameless text link advertisement under their button leaves a lot to be desired! User: john@clicksee.net Password: amazingcounters
Name: CQ Counter URL: http://cqcounter.com Comments: After a nice, clean registration, one problem we encountered with CQ Counter is the fact its button didn’t show - unfortunate, but there is a text link there to support it. Click on the link, and unlike other counters / trackers, you are offered English AND French language options. You arrive at the same page where you made your registration, which is a bit confusing, and again, you have to figure out exactly how to access your stats. Once you have (and that means logging in) there’s a nifty little control panel where you can manage CQ Counter. Scintillating little set of stats – Summary and Averages, Average Daily, Weekly, Monthly, via Search Engine, All referrers, etc. Very thorough! Well worth taking a look at. User: 12345678 Password: host1234
Name: Real Tracker URL: http://free.realtracker.com/ Comments: From their own mouths: “RealTracker FREE is a FREE counter for non-commercial homepages providing instant, reliable statistics about the visitors to your homepage. Optionally, RealTracker FREE can be configured to allow your visitors to leave their opinions regarding the design and content of your web site.” So, if you are generating any money from your site, you shouldn’t use this option, but then again, if you had money from your site, you wouldn’t be looking for a free option, would you? Although we used the code they sent, the biggest (only?) problem we had was nothing happened when we clicked on the button. As a result, we’ve never seen the stats package they offer! User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
Name: StatCounter.com URL: http://www.StatCounter.com Comments: StatCounter is has an over rich registration page with explanations on everything you might query before registering for a free stats package – which is useful… unless of course you couldn’t care less and just want to get to the code, which is what I imagine most people want to do! This one offers an invisible option which is quite rare for free trackers/counters. After you have logged in you reach a page with a graph, but there is a timely reminder to look in the left hand margin to access a host of stats including a Summary, Popular Pages, Entry Pages, Exit Pages, Came From, Keyword Analysis and much more. Very, very good value, but there are a number of reminders throughout to upgrade your package so you can get even more information, and that of course means making a payment! Good package – very useful User: JohnClicksee Password: statcounter
Name: FreeStats (The banner is too big to show) URL: http://www.freestats.com Comments: Another counter / tracker where the button didn't show – whoops! Free Stats is one of the systems that take you directly back to the page you used to register – really not a good feel at all! However, once you have logged in, you are taken to a page that offers reports that are conveniently put in four categories: Traffic, Marketing, Site Path and Visitor Profile. Click on each of the categories and things get quite exciting – there are numerous sub-categories that offer you the world. Unfortunately your excitement subsides when all too often you are invited to ‘Upgrade to Get These Reports' – bit of a let down really after all the build up. Also, needlessly long text link under their button. User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
Name: WebStat URL: http://www.webstat.com/ Comments: WebSTAT’s easily managed registration procedure gets your stats up and running in hardly any time at all. The offer of 14 days free trial is a bit confusing though, and you have to go through the page to establish there are various levels of service available to you – the free service only one of them. Login and you arrive at a control panel that allows you to add new sites, get the code for your pages, and view an install guide. As you have already gone through this process, it seems redundant taking you here. You get a nice little presentation on how to install the code, but what you don’t get are stats – at least we could find them! Let us know if you find anything different! User: hostsearch Password: webstat
Name: SeeHits.com URL: http://www.seehits.com Comments: SeeHits.com puts a tiny, tiny little button on your screen – in fact more of a dot than a button. Click on the ‘dot' and you get take to a registration page where you can login for your stats. Login and you are taken to a series of graphical displays that aren't as straightforward as those that provide numerical data. For instance, if 100% of your users use a 6.x browser, that percentage is the same whether its 1 or 1 million users – here's one instance where graphical information can be a bit misleading. The stats are good – they offer pretty much everything you need and a bit more. For instance, they will let you know whether your visitors use Java or Javascript Enabled, or whether they use Flash or Shockwave Director, etc. User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
HTML Hit Counters Name: EasyCounter.com URL: http://www.easycounter.com Comments: Easy Counter is exactly what it says it is. Totally simple registration procedure leads to a little colored rectangle that shows exactly how many hits your site has had. You login from the registration page and go straight into a graphic display of the number of hits you site has received over the last 30 days, the current month and over the year. Simplicity itself and entirely unpretentious, even if a little lacking in the type of information you might need for your site. Worth taking a look though! User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
Invisible counter Name: ShinyStat URL: http://www.shinystat.com Comments: ShinyStat has a simple registration procedure that allows you to choose only three of a multitude of very useful data options. Smart move as it compels people to upgrade there and then! Those who persevere with the free version get a range of useful information alongside the options they have chosen. Total number of page views; total number of visits (day, month and year) – all good stuff with options to switch between a numerical and graphical interface, thus catering for everyone's needs. A great little counter and one that makes you wonder what else you could get if you upgrade! User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
Name: webstats4U URL: http://www.webstats4u.com Comments: webstats4U has a dead simple registration procedure and is easily set up. What I like about its set up is your get a graphic and a text link – click on the graphic and you go straight to your hits and click on the link ( Free counter ) and you get registration info. Separating the hard sell and the data is a good idea – it can be a bit off-putting going through a lot of fuss to get to the information. And its treatment of statistics is good – a solid Summary showing when you started and how many page views up till now, your busiest day, and today's visitors. There is also a nice little forecast for the day which gives you a prediction on the number of hits you will receive based on the statistics available. Details of your ten last visitors are given. Well worth a look. Curious categories that are a bit difficult to fit things in. User: hostsearch Password: hostsearch
Is there a free tracker / counter you recommend? Let us know and we'll add it to the list... Do have comments on the counters / trackers above? Let us know what they are and we will add them.
Low Cost
Web Hosts from Web Hosting Search Results 
