What is the difference between a website hit, which registers on the counters, and a visit?

BungeeAZ

A visit to a website is counted as a hit. Feb 09 07, 5:58 PM

zbeckabee

"A "Hit" is a term used that represents the number of files downloaded from a server to your computer. For example, if a page has ten different graphics, and someone visited it, it would count as eleven hits, one for the page load, and ten for all the different graphics. The only real use for this statistic is for server administrators, so they can determine the server load. A "Visit" is when the web site is visited by a unique individual, no matter how many pages are viewed." http://www.phoenixmetro.com/difference.html Feb 09 07, 6:47 PM

satguru

Thanks zbeck, someone said on the radio they were different but I missed the reason why. The odd thing is most site counters register hits, making the actual visitor total a fraction of what it appears, and then as Bungee pointed out most people refer to a hit as a visit without realising if you have a meter the figure usually represents something quite different. The real solution would be to get meters which only record each visitor, but try telling the programmers that... Feb 10 07, 9:03 AM