Unique Visitor Counter

How can this be done?

[Newnewbie]

My client wants a unique visitor counter on his website... Not really sure how to do this. Any ideas??

[rcjordan]

I'd start with a simple off-site counter. Extreme-dm has a serviceable free one.

[extreme-dm.com...]

Separating the bots from the eyeballs is a big part of the problem with chasing uniques.

[tedster]

Most stats packages will include a measure that they name "unique visitors".

That said, there are some complications in exactly how that number is defined. The intuitive idea of a "unique visitor" is not easy to translate into an automatic measurement, especially if you are only looking at server logs. It gets a bit easier with cookies and/or site registration.

According to IFABC Global Web Standards (www.ifabc.org) a Unique User is an "IP address plus a further identifier. Sites may use User Agent, Cookie and/or Registration ID." Note that where users are allocated IP addresses dynamically (for example by dial-up Internet Service Providers), this definition may overstate or understate the real number of individual Users concerned.

Interactive Jargon Buster [interactivejargonguide.org]