A "hit" is not a visitor to the web site, but a hit on the web server. A hit on the web server can be a graphic, java applet, the html file, etc. So, if a site has 79 small graphics on the page, every visitor to the site registers as 80 hits on the server (79 graphics plus the html file). In this case, 80,000 hits translates to just 1,000 visitors.
As webmasters, designers, business owners, SEOs, etc., we are not concerned with hits to a site. We want to know the number of visitors to our site. And we don't just want to know about every visitor--we want to know about every unique visitor. So if we can't count hits, can we use a counter?
The problem with using counters to track our visitors is they are set up to measure page views, not unique visitors. Everytime someone views your page, whether it's the first time or the twentieth, that visitor is counted. And if the page times out for some reason and they "Reload," it counts them again. And if someone just wants to have fun with your counter, they can exit and enter the site several times and are counted as a visitor each time, even if they never look at a product.
