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Free Invisible Web Tracker / Site Tracker / Visitor Tracker | Statcounter

<!DOCTYPE html> <head> <title>Free Invisible Web Tracker / Site Tracker / Visitor Tracker | Statcounter</title> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta name="Author" content="Statcounter"> <meta name="Keywords" content="free, web, tracker, track, monitor, visitors, real-time, realtime, site tracker, visitor tracker"> <meta name="Description" content="What exactly is a free invisible web tracker? And why do I need one."> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, user-scalable=0"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.statcounter.com/images/og_image.png"> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_IE"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <meta property="og:title" content="Statcounter - Web Analytics Made Easy"> <meta property="og:description" content="A free yet reliable invisible web tracker, highly configurable hit counter and real-time detailed web stats."> <meta property="og:url" content="http://statcounter.com/"> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Statcounter"> <link rel="preconnect" href="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com"> <link rel="preload" href="//statcounter.com/css/packed/statcounter-d25539c3ae.css" as="style"> <link rel="preload" href="/css/sticky-nav.css?cb=098824195" as="style"><!-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics --> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-155370589-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-155370589-1');</script><link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://www.statcounter.com/images/favicon.png?v=1" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="https://www.statcounter.com/images/apple-touch-icon-144x144-precomposed.png?v=1"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Statcounter Blog RSS Feed" href="https://blog.statcounter.com/feed/"><link rel="stylesheet" href="//statcounter.com/css/packed/statcounter-d25539c3ae.css"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/modal.app.css?8392"><link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/sticky-nav.css?cb=098824195"> <script src="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jQuery/jquery-2.1.3.min.js"></script> <script src="https://ajax.aspnetcdn.com/ajax/jquery.ui/1.11.2/jquery-ui.min.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="//statcounter.com/js/packed/statcounter-758f2ac613.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/js/packed/sc-perf-15d6a5f857.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/js/sticky-nav-inline.jquery.js"></script><script type="text/javascript" src="/js/scroll-with-stickynav-inline.jquery.js"></script></head> <body id="section-product" class="page-internal page-free-invisible-web-tracker sticky-nav"><header><div id="sticky-nav"><div id="mobile-menu"><a href="/login/" id="login">Log In</a><div id="mobile-menu-accordion"><h3>Product</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="/features/">Features</a></li> <li><a href="/pricing/">Pricing</a></li> <li id="how-it-works-accordion" class="mobile-sub-menu"><a href="/how-it-works/">How It Works</a> <ul> <li><a href="/how-it-works/">How does Statcounter work?</a></li> <li><a href="/free-invisible-web-tracker/">Reliable web tracker</a></li> <li><a href="/free-hit-counter/">Fast hit counter</a></li> <li><a href="/free-web-stats/">Free web stats</a></li> <li><a href="/statcounter-vs-google-analytics/">Statcounter vs Google Analytics</a></li> <li><a href="/ip-address-tracker/">IP Address Tracker</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="/about/recommendations/">Our Customers</a></li><li><a href="/success-stories/">Success Stories</a></li><li><a href="/demo/summary/">Demo</a></li> </ul> </div> <h3>Company</h3> <div> <ul> <li><a href="/about/mission/">Mission</a></li> <li><a href="/press-release/">Press Releases</a></li> <li><a href="/careers/">Careers</a></li> <li><a href="/about/legal/">Legal</a></li> <li><a href="/about/link-to-us">Link To Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://gs.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">Global Stats</a></li> </ul> </div> <h3>Support</h3> <div> <ul> <li class="mobile-sub-menu accordion"><a>Installation</a> <ul> <li><a href="/default/">Default Installation Guide</a></li> <li><a href="/install-guides/">Platform Installation Guides</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="mobile-sub-menu accordion"><a>Using Statcounter</a> <ul><li><a href="/support/using-statcounter/">Using Statcounter</a></li><li><a href="/support/analyze-your-first-visitors/">Analyze Your First Visitors</a></li><li><a href="/support/install-the-mobile-app/">Install the Mobile App</a></li><li><a href="/support/ignore-your-own-visits/">Ignore your own visits</a></li><li><a href="/support/explore-visitor-paths/">Explore Visitor Paths</a></li><li><a href="/support/configure-your-email-reports/">Configure your email reports</a></li><li><a href="/support/filter-your-reports/">Filter Your Reports</a></li><li><a href="/support/add-visitor-labels-and-alerts/">Add Visitor Labels & Alerts</a></li><li><a href="/support/add-another-project/">Add Another Project</a></li><li><a href="/support/sync-your-google-keyword-data/">Sync Your Google Keyword Data</a></li><li><a href="/support/set-up-multiple-users/">Set Up Multiple Users </a></li><li><a href="/support/view-google-ads-keywords-in-statcounter/">View Google Ads Keywords in Statcounter</a></li><li><a href="/support/analyze-landing-pages/">Analyze Your Landing Pages</a></li><li><a href="/support/live-update/">Watch a live update of your visitors</a></li><li><a href="/support/track-conversion-rate/">Track Your Conversion Rate</a></li><li><a href="/support/detect-click-fraud/">Detect Click Fraud</a></li><li><a href="/support/session-replay/">Session Replay Guide</a></li><li><a href="/support/session-replay-filters/">Zone in on the important sessions to watch with filters</a></li></ul> </li> <li id="knowledge-base-accordion" class="mobile-sub-menu accordion"><a href="/support/faq/">FAQ</a> <ul> <li><a href="/support/faq/">General</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Installation">Installation</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Configuration">Configuration</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Upgrade">Upgrade</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Bugs">Bugs</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Statistics">Statistics</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Billing">Billing</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Forum">Forum</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Definitions">Definitions</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/?filter=Advertising">Advertising</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="//api.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">API</a></li> <li><a href="/support/contact/">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </div><h3>Explore</h3><div><ul><li><a href="https://statcounter.com/google-analytics-alternatives">Google Analytics Alternatives</a></li><li><a href="https://statcounter.com/statcounter-vs-google-analytics">Statcounter vs Google Analytics</a></li><li><a href="https://blog.statcounter.com/">Statcounter Blog</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="mobile-menu-signup"> <a href="/sign-up/" class="btn btn-green">Try it for Free!</a> </div></div><div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col col-span-9 col-nav"><nav id="nav-main"> <ul class="clearfix"><li id="nav-product"><a href="/features/">Features</a></li> <li id="pricing"><a href="/pricing/">Pricing</a></li> <li id="nav-demo"><a href="/demo/summary/">Demo</a></li> <li id="nav-sign-up"><a href="/sign-up/">Try it for FREE!</a></li> <li id="nav-log-in"><a href="/login/">Log In</a></li></ul> </nav></div> <div class="col col-span-3 col-logo"> <div id="logo-statcounter-2017"> <a href="/">Statcounter</a> </div> </div> <div id="navicon"> <span>Menu</span> </div> </div> </div><div id="header-content"><div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col col-span-12"><h2>Product</h2><h3>Free invisible web tracker</h3> </div> </div></div></header><div id="main-el"> <div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col col-span-4 aside"><ul class="section-navigation"> <li id="nav-features"><a href="/features/">Features</a></li> <li id="nav-pricing"><a href="/pricing/">Pricing</a></li> <li id="nav-how-it-works"><a href="/how-it-works/">How It Works</a></li> <ul> <li id="nav-reliable-web-tracker" class="active"><a href="/free-invisible-web-tracker/">Reliable Web Tracker</a></li> <li id="nav-fast-hit-counter"><a href="/free-hit-counter/">Fast Hit Counter</a></li> <li id="nav-free-web-stats"><a href="/free-web-stats/">Free web stats</a></li> <li id="nav-statcounter-vs-google-analytics"><a href="/statcounter-vs-google-analytics/">Statcounter vs Google Analytics</a></li> <li id="nav-ip-address-tracker"><a href="/ip-address-tracker/">IP Address Tracker</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="nav-our-customers"><a href="/about/recommendations/">Our Customers</a></li> </ul></div><div class="col col-span-8"><h1>Free Invisible Web Tracker / Site Tracker / Visitor Tracker</h1> <p>What exactly is a web tracker (also known as a visitor tracker or site tracker), and why do you need one?</p> <p>The idea behind a web tracker is very simple and has been around for many years. Essentially you place a small piece of code on your website, when someone visits your website, that small piece of code is executed and the visitor's public details (ip address, browser, operating system, referrer, page title and url etc) are analysed and stored for reporting to you later.</p> <p>The great advantage of web trackers are that they are better at tracking 'real people' as they track browsers NOT server requests. This often means a web tracker will have a significantly lower count than standard log file analysis. But it offers a more realistic figure of the visitors to your website and far more detail. At StatCounter our web tracker is provided in real-time so it's even better still.</p> <p>A web tracker also records your visitors if they return to the same page twice or more. This does not happen with log files. Your page would be already cached in your browser. No request would be sent to the server. That user activity would go unreported. Thanks to web trackers and their use of a random javascript number - your counter is forced to load each time and your visitor is tracked.</p> <p>As web trackers only track 'real people', it is not able to tell you when a search engine spider is indexing your website. For information like this you need a good log analyser.</p> <p>StatCounter.com can produce far different results to standard log file analysis. This is not surprising as our system is designed to track browsers NOT server requests. This can result in a significantly lower count than standard log file analysis. But it offers a more realistic figure of the visitors to your website and far more detail and it is provided in real-time!</p> <h3>So how do they differ?</h3> <p>A big factor is the placement of the StatCounter tracking code. You can use StatCounter to only track the pages you want by simply placing it on the pages you want to track. Log file analysis will track all server requests by default.</p> <p>If you have very large, slow loading pages it is recommended to place the tracking code closer to the top of the page instead of the bottom. Or a visitor may exit your page before the page finishes loading and the tracking script will never have been loaded.</p> <p>Framed websites can cause a big problem for log file analysis resulting in an over-inflated count. When a visitor visits a singe page that could often be recorded as 3 visits - loading the main frame, a side frame and a footer. StatCounter does not have this problem.</p> <p>Cached pages are another huge problem for log file analysis this time resulting in a very poor undercount of visitors. Often your own local ISP will keep a cache of many websites you visit regularly. This speeds up your use of the web - unfortunately no server request is made to your website when this happens. And your visit will go uncounted. This does not happen with StatCounter with the use of javascript and a random variable each time.</p> <p>Web Proxies - many users, most noticeably AOL users access the web through a web proxy. Their ip address can change on each request to your website so log file analysis could not accurately count your unique visits. StatCounter does both - we use a simple cookie and the user's ip address.</p> <p>Robots - the requests made to your website by robots will be recorded in your log files but it will not be recorded by StatCounter.</p> <p>Overall StatCounter provides a far more detailed, accurate count and tracking of behavior of the 'real' visitors to your website than standard log file analysis.</p><p><a href="/sign-up/">Try it for FREE</a> and see how Statcounter can help you understand your visitors and grow your traffic the easy way.</p></div></div></div> <!-- #main-el --><div class="home-join clearfix"><h2>Try Statcounter free for 30 days</h2> <div class="text-center">No Credit Card required. Downgrade to the free plan anytime.</div> <a href="/sign-up/" class="btn btn-green">Try it for FREE!</a></div><footer> <div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col col-span-3"> <h3 id="product-title">Product</h3> <ul id="product-menu"> <li><a href="/features/">Features</a></li> <li><a href="/pricing/">Pricing</a></li> <li><a href="/how-it-works/">How It Works</a></li> <li><a href="/about/recommendations/">Our Customers</a></li><li><a href="/success-stories/">Success Stories</a></li><li><a href="/demo/summary/">Demo</a></li> </ul> <h3>Get the App</h3> <ul id="mobile-apps" class="clearfix"> <li id="app-ios"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/statcounter-free-real-time/id903409665?mt=8" target="_blank">Statcounter iOS App</a></li><li id="app-android"><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.statcounter.statcounterapp" target="_blank">Statcounter Android App</a></li><li id="app-windows"><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/statcounter-web-analytics/9nblggh5q10j" target="_blank">Statcounter Windows App</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col col-span-3"> <h3>Company</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/about/mission/">Mission</a></li> <li><a href="/press-release/">Press Releases</a></li> <li><a href="/careers/">Careers</a></li> <li><a href="/about/legal/">Legal</a></li> <li><a href="/about/link-to-us">Link To Us</a></li> <li><a href="https://gs.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">Global Stats</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col col-span-3"> <h3>Support</h3> <ul> <li><a href="/default/">Installation</a></li> <li><a href="/support/using-statcounter/">Using Statcounter</a></li> <li><a href="/support/faq/">FAQ</a></li> <li><a href="//api.statcounter.com/" target="_blank">API</a></li> <li><a href="/support/contact/">Contact Us</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="col col-span-3"> <h3>Explore</h3> <ul><li><a href="/google-analytics-alternatives">Google Analytics Alternatives</a></li><li><a href="/statcounter-vs-google-analytics">Statcounter vs Google Analytics</a></li> <li><a href="https://blog.statcounter.com/">Statcounter Blog</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </footer><div id="sub-footer"> <div class="row clearfix"> <div class="col col-span-6"> <p class="center-text"><span class="nowrap">&copy; Statcounter 1999-2024.</span> &nbsp; <span class="nowrap">All rights reserved.</span></p> </div><div class="col col-span-6 clearfix"> <ul id="social-links" class="clearfix"> <li id="link-facebook"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/StatCounter-276618292699885/" target="_blank">Statcounter on Facebook</a></li> <li id="link-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/statcounter" target="_blank">Statcounter on Twitter</a></li> </ul> </div></div> </div><div id='sc-perf-wh' class='sc-perf session-replay-block'>webf002</div><div id='sc-ttfb-bd' class='sc-perf session-replay-block'>16.047954559326</div><!-- Start of StatCounter Code for Default Guide --> <script type="text/javascript"> if(document.cookie.indexOf("landing=")==-1) { var exdate=new Date(); exdate.setDate(exdate.getDate()+365); document.cookie="landing=" +escape(document.location)+"|||"+escape(document.referrer)+";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()+";path=/;domain=.statcounter.com"; } var sc_project=11601825; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="9b281417"; document.write("<sc"+"ript type='text/javascript' src='" + "https://statcounter.com/counter/counter_test.js?cb=697241dd5385'></"+"script>"); </script> <noscript><div class="statcounter"><a title="Web Analytics Made Easy - StatCounter" href="https://statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img class="statcounter" src="//c.statcounter.com/11601825/0/9b281417/1/" alt="Web Analytics Made Easy - StatCounter"></a></div></noscript> <!-- End of StatCounter Code for Default Guide --><!-- Start of StatCounter Code --> <script type="text/javascript"> if(document.cookie.indexOf("landing=")==-1) { var exdate=new Date(); exdate.setDate(exdate.getDate()+365); document.cookie="landing=" +escape(document.location)+"|||"+escape(document.referrer)+";expires="+exdate.toGMTString()+";path=/;domain=.statcounter.com"; } var sc_project=10011918; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="458f783c"; var sc_click_stat=1; document.write("<sc"+"ript type='text/javascript' src='https://statcounter.com/counter/counter_test.js?cb=697241dd5385'></"+"script>");</script> <noscript><div class="statcounter"><a title="blogger visitor counter" href="https://statcounter.com/blogger/" target="_blank"><img class="statcounter" src="https://c.statcounter.com/10011918/0/458f783c/1/" alt="blogger visitor counter"></a></div></noscript> <!-- End of StatCounter Code --></body></html>

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