Counter

Similar in function to an odometer on a car, a web counter measures in hits, not miles. Every time a visitor navigates to a company's page or website, it is a hit for that page or website.

Also known as a web counter or hit counter, counters are simple programs with a limited function: to keep track of how many visitors (or hits) navigated to a certain page. The script for the web counter is added to the HTML coding for a webpage.

The accumulating number of hits will keep going up until you reset it. Usually, counters have a date or time next to them, so viewers can get a sense of what the number means (has it been 2,030 visitors since 1999 or since the first of the month?).

Counters can track hits differently: Some counters are created to only count new visitors, while others track every hit, even repeat hits from the same person.