View Full Version : Is this as problematic as I'm being told.....
kinkaid
02-18-2004, 01:39 AM
Being impressed with what I saw, I signed up for StatCounter last night and emailed the code I received to the person responsible for creating my web page. He also hosts the server I'm on. Being somewhat of a newbie to this "world", I was frustrated with my inability to respond in any kind of intelligent way. I would be very interested to hear some reactions to this persons comments, which I will copy and paste below. Thanks in advance for any feedback. I'll be very interested to hear how much of this is valid and how much is #@!%#!$.
"Generally I do not add code that references scripts or uses bandwidth from other servers because;
1. I provide this kind of statistics at no charge. There are two levels of stat generation. *
2. You would need to have this code on every page.
3. It may not work with frames.
4. It will slow load time for your site.
5. It may also track other traffic and affect the server's performance.
6. It is javascript based, and as such relies on the client's browser to send the information to the central statistics server.
7. Not all web browsers have javascript turned on.
8. You get what you pay for, since it is free, what is the company that provides it getting?
9. Page counters like this actually report bogus amounts of hits.
10. Because the web is stateless, each item on your page is a hit, every graphic, every logo on a page is "considered a hit" so one page can actually be over 30 hits. Not accurate.
11. Using onsite statistical generation software that actually reads the log files, is the preferred way to read the stats. You will receive much more information and it will be more accurate."
webmoriar
02-18-2004, 03:57 AM
Well I can't reply to all of it but here is what I can say and I am sure Aodhán will throw in his two cents:
"Generally I do not add code that references scripts or uses bandwidth from other servers because;
1. I provide this kind of statistics at no charge. There are two levels of stat generation. *
What does the '*' mean?
2. You would need to have this code on every page.
That is true.
3. It may not work with frames.
It does you just have to place it with in the content portion of the code between the <body></body> tags and not in the <frameset> tags.
4. It will slow load time for your site.
StatCounter has as close to an instantaneous load time as you can have so it doesn't slow down your site.
5. It may also track other traffic and affect the server's performance.
Not sure on this one, I don't really get what he is saying.
6. It is javascript based, and as such relies on the client's browser to send the information to the central statistics server.
7. Not all web browsers have javascript turned on.
It does send information to the central server but you can also use a HTML only counter that does not require javascript.
8. You get what you pay for, since it is free, what is the company that provides it getting?
The company makes money to provide the free tracking solely from ads on www.statcounter.com
9. Page counters like this actually report bogus amounts of hits.
From what I know usually statcounter reports less since it does not report server activity but actual browser activity.
10. Because the web is stateless, each item on your page is a hit, every graphic, every logo on a page is "considered a hit" so one page can actually be over 30 hits. Not accurate.
I am pretty sure this is incorrect but Aodhán can probably verify this or say I am wrong.
11. Using onsite statistical generation software that actually reads the log files, is the preferred way to read the stats. You will receive much more information and it will be more accurate."
Log files record server activity as stated above. Does he know how much information you receive from StatCounter? My impression is that you get as much if not more information and in a very good layout. Not to mention all the additional statistics coming in the near future.
oldzbutgoodies
02-18-2004, 06:29 AM
3 cents here
if you are paying him to do your site realize if you want him to take a minute to add the code to the pages this should not be a huge problem for him at all..how many pages are you talking about?? tons,,20,3? it is not rocket science..not that intricate to add a counter..(some things are but this is a very easy site to use)
you could come and check stats yourself not bothering him at all.
obviously he wants to use his stats THAT COULD NOT IN MY OPINION COMPARE WITH THE INTRICATE STATS YOU GET HERE
apparently he did not take the time,,3 minutes..to come to this site..see THEY EVEN HAVE INVISIBLE COUNTERS ON THE FREE ACCTS..unheard of on the net..
i think he may be thinking they are putting ads or a toolbar on your site..NOT..
this is a state of the art site as a webmaster he should not be asking you these questions,,he should come here browse around and probably be SHOCKED AT THIS AWESOME SITE..
Page counters like this actually report bogus amounts of hits.
absolutely wrong easy to check,i have, on this he is wrong
U R THE CUSTOMER HERE..he should do what you want on YOUR SITE..
i suggest going to google and type in making a website tutorial etc...and learn a bit...so you can understand more..
i know of a man that paid thousands for a site,for his tiny biz,very simply done,never got a sale from it in 2 years...he could have made his own comparable simple site FREE AT yahoo geocities...a 3rd grader could do it..poor guy...
ps i admire you for finding this site,,and for being sharp enough to come to chat & ask for yourself..i bet you will learn a lot through all this good luck with your site..
u r in charge remember that
Hi kinkaid,
Thank you for posting in the forum with your problem. And thanks for the replies Stephen and oldz. I'll add my own comments to this as well.
1. I provide this kind of statistics at no charge. There are two levels of stat generation. *
Ask him this. From 'his stats'
- can you tell what state and city your visitors are from?
- are they updated in real-time?
- are you able to run custom reporting?
- are you able to drill down through your stats?
- are you able to zoom in and magnify your visitor?
2. You would need to have this code on every page.
You need the code on every page you want to track. If he is looking after your site correctly then this should take less than a second to add and remove.
3. It may not work with frames.
It does work with frames.
4. It will slow load time for your site.
It will not slow the load time for your site. We invest so much time and money to ensure this.
5. It may also track other traffic and affect the server's performance.
Absolute rubbish.
6. It is javascript based, and as such relies on the client's browser to send the information to the central statistics server.
It is javascript and non-javascript based. Being javascript based we can track far more crucial information than simply server logs.
7. Not all web browsers have javascript turned on.
Again. It is javascript and non-javascript based.
8. You get what you pay for, since it is free, what is the company that provides it getting?
Rubbish argument spouted by people who are afraid of real competition. Read our mission statement on the homepage for more information about what we get out of it.
9. Page counters like this actually report bogus amounts of hits.
StatCounter is incredibly accurate. It has been used in high court legal proceedings to win cases. We track real visitors very accurate, whereas servers track server activity. We don't just tell you had a hit and expect you to believe it. We give you oodles of information all about each visitor who increased your count.
10. Because the web is stateless, each item on your page is a hit, every graphic, every logo on a page is "considered a hit" so one page can actually be over 30 hits. Not accurate.
This guy has lost the plot. This is the problem with the log analysis he is recommending. Tracking far more hits than it should. StatCounter tracks 'real visitors' by tracking browsers and not server activity.
11. Using onsite statistical generation software that actually reads the log files, is the preferred way to read the stats. You will receive much more information and it will be more accurate."
StatCounter will give you a far more precise, indepth, detailed and 'accurate' count. StatCounter tracks visitors, log files track server activity.
I will however concede on one point, that he did not even mention. Log file analysis is superb in finding out when the search engine spiders are spidering your site. As we only track 'real visitors' this does not get counted. That is the only situation in which log file analysis is superior to StatCounter.
kinkaid
02-18-2004, 12:38 PM
Thank you all, for taking the time to respond. This is very helpful to me. Webmaster, your responses are especially insightful. I think this forum alone is helpful in showing the integrity of the product. Again.......thanks.
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