Hits vs. Visitors

Do you know the difference? Probably not. Most folks use “hits” for everything. There is a difference.

Let’s take a look at what you should know so that you can walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk.

Hits

First off, hits are useless. If someone tries to sell you an ad based on hits, run away. They’re either clueless or taking advantage of you.

Technically, a hit is the server’s response to a request. That sounds fine, until you realize that a single web page is made up of multiple pictures, graphics and other items – all of which are considered separate hits. So, as an example, when you visit the www.forge3.com home page, it generates 30+ hits. Needless to say, this number is useless for most of us. So, ignore it.

Visitors (usually called Uniques or Unique Visitors)

This is a better measure of activity. A visitor is counted when someone comes to a website at least once. If they come back later in the day, he/she is still only counted as one visitor.

For example, let’s say that we’re looking at monthly visitors, and I visit your website today. That’s counted as a visit. Then, let’s say that I come back the next week. This is still counted as a single visitor for the month.

So, if you’re buying an ad based on unique visitors, you’ll want to know how many visitors will see the ad and over what period of time.

TIP: Keep in mind that visitors are estimated. Why? Because most of us use multiple computers, phones, and gadgets to access the Internet. If I visit your website from my phone, and then again from my computer and laptop, this is counted as three separate unique visitors. This is because the website can’t tell that you are you - so it just counts each device as a separate visitor.

About the author

Jeff Teschke is an entrepreneur - always looking for "a better way." His experience ranges from helping small start-ups create their first website, to developing the world's first mobile scavenger hunt game campaign for Microsoft and Sprite. When not helping others forge ahead, he enjoys creating new solutions, flying airplanes and jammin' on the piano.

Comments

2 Responses to “Hits vs. Visitors”

• Jacob says:

  November 18, 2009 at 11:51 pm

  I’ve watched a couple of your videos and I appreciate the simplicity of them. Thank you for putting things in layman’s terms, it helped.

  Reply
  • Jeff Teschke says:

    November 19, 2009 at 12:05 am

    Hi Jacob!

    Many thanks for your feedback. I really appreciate it.

    It’s great to hear that you like the simplicity of the videos.

    We’ll be adding more all the time, so be sure to check back and let me know what you think.

    Forge ahead!

    Reply