Lies, damn lies, and site statistics

I give up. I cannot figure out how many legitimate readers come to this site on a given day.

I have access to four different statisitics-tracking techniques and each one reports a wildly different number.

For example:

For yesterday (a semi-slow day on average, viagra canada find but one I have stats from all four systems for), viagra one tracker reports just 55 visitors.

Another reports 217.

A third reports 359.

And the last one reports 621.

As near as I can figure, illness the differences come from where the tracking code is embedded and whether the tracking software undercounts because it doesn’t track RSS feeds or overcounts because it includes spiders…etc….etc…

And then, of course, you can also have unexpected elements that can wildly skew your readership. For months, I was routinely getting over a thousand visits a day. Unfortunately, they were all from Google searches that brought people to From Where I Sit looking for a particularly hot photo of Tyra Banks.

So basically, I quit.

As much as I’d love to know how many of you are out there, I can’t trust any of the methods I’m currently using to give me an accurate reading and distinguish between spiders, spam-links, and serious readers.

I have an idea: how about each of you join me for a party at my house?

I’ll buy the pizza and bring the clicker/counter.

Spambots and spiders not invited.

5 comments March 8th, 2007