With several free web counters available on the Internet (check the one below from Bravenet.com), it’s easy to keep track of the visitors to your web site. The free web site counters can be included on your web site or blog by simply pasting a bit of code (most cases) on the pages. It is this script that keeps track of the visitors and their browsing profiles i.e. which pages they visit and the configuration of their systems etc.
Thus, the free counters help you understand your visitors and know the popularity of your web site. The free counters might display an small advertisement or a image with numbers (the counter image). Most free web counter providers allow you to choose the layout and style of the counter.
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How can free counters help creating an effective web site?
In addition to counting the number of visitors, the free counters provide visitor profiles – the browsers used, screen resolution, operating system, presence of Javascript etc. You should regularly check this data to understand if your web site is an effective sales tool. For example, if a large proportion of your visitors use Unix (or its variants) and your site is not generating sales, you should test your web site under that platform to see if the site is being displayed properly.
StatCounter
Free web site counter from STATCOUNTER is very easy to set up. You are required to sign up for an account, create a project and insert the code on your web site. When added, the STATCOUNTER is invisible on your web site (no ads) and lets you monitor visitors in real-time.
Get StatCounter
Google Analytics
A free service from Google which is so much more than a simple web site visitor counter. You may need to create a free Google account (if you don’t have one already) and insert a small bit of JavaScript code on the web pages you want to track. Google Analytics reveals mind-blowing insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness.
Get Google Analytics
Yahoo! Web Analytics
A complete web analytics solution from Yahoo! through which you can understand visitor behavior and gain new insights on users. Yahoo! Web Analytics is a powerful and highly flexible data analysis tool that lets you view real-time and historical data separately. You can track various visitor attributes such as age groups, gender, country etc.
Get Yahoo! Web Analytics
ShinyStat
The free web analytics services from ShinyStat is for personal and non-profit web sites only and lets you track up to 1000 page views daily. The counter is available in several styles, colors and shapes and can display two values. Not interested in showing number? Use a ShinyStat icon!
Get ShinyStat
Site Meter
Site Meter offers two types of web site counters – free and Premium. The free tool can quickly be installed and set up on any web site. It provides information on visitors, where they are coming from and where they are going within your site.
Get Site Meter
Piwik
Piwik provides you with comprehensive reports on web site visitors. For instance, you can come to know which search engines or keywords were used by the user to arrive at your web site. It’s an open source web analytics program available under the GPL license and can be downloaded and installed for free. Piwik is based on PHP/MySQL software so you need to have these running on your web server. Once the installation is over, simply copy and paste the JavaScript code on the pages you want to track.
Get Piwik
Chartbeat
Through Chartbeat, you can monitor your online presence in real-time. In addition to a web-based dashboard, an iPhone app and email and SMS alerts let you know the minute traffic jumps or the web site goes offline.
Get Chartbeat
Bravenet Hit Counter
One of the several great utilities for web site developers provided by Bravenet; free hit counter with a customizable design, multiple layouts and easy installation.
Get Bravenet Hit Counter
Motigo Webstats
A free web site counter and analytics tool from Motigo. Understand visitor behavior by tracking traffic to your web site.
Get Motigo Webstats
Extreme Tracking
One of the most popular free website counters on the Internet. The free tracker from ExtremeTracking requires you to place a small graphic (in the Pro version, this can be hidden). Sign up for a free account, add the tracker image and get a whole lot of stats for your web site.
Get Extreme Tracking
Digits
Sign up for an account and get a Digitscounter to track visitors on your web site for free.
Get Digits
GoStats
Get a free or professional (paid) web site counter that also shows valuable statistics of visitors to your web site. Once you create an account on the service, you would be able to track popular pages, return visitors and much more.
Get GoStats
Twelve more services that offer a free web page counter.
