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PAID COUNTERS
ASoftware's CountMan is an effective counter for smaller sites. For $1/month, you may choose from over 100 font styles to match your counter to your page's aesthetic scheme. The $1/month rate only allows for 10,000 impressions per month. BellaCoola Software has developed a log-file producing tracker that monitors your traffic more effectively than traditional log-file generators, which can 'miss' hits from return visitors due to browser caching. While the statistical readout produces by BellaCoola can be interpretted by humans, it would be used most effectively if run through a log-analysis program, such as Analog or Webtrends. The stats reveal refferer URLs, search engine keywords used to find you, which pages individual surfers browsed and how they left, along with more basic functions. CGI Host has come up with an interesting concept. For those without access to a CGI-bin, CGI Host are offering the use of their server and CGI scripts for $4.95/month, if you want their banners to appear on your page, or $6.95 if you don't. For that, they offer a simple banner management system, a guestbook. Counter.com offers a paid counting/tracking service wherein you are given a limited choice of counters to place on your site (including invisible), but from which you receive detailed audited statistical analyses of your site's traffic. The statistics generated are accurate enough for you to use in the management of a banner advertising campaign. The service costs between $5 and $35+, depending on the amount of traffic your site receives. CounterStats.com offers a reasonably conventional program. You can place up to 5 counters on your site for a flat rate of $3/month (plus an extra 50 cents/month for each aditional five counters). For this, you are provided with a reliable, accurate counter that you can customise by uploading your own graphical font if you please. The statistical readout is very bareboned for a paid site. CountMania.Com's counters feature both a traditional webcounter and a clock/calendar. They also offer over 40 different digit styles. The daily statistical readout is very basic (listing only the number of visitors each day). The counter, clock and stats cost $24 anually, or $7.50 per quarter. Alternatively, you can order the counter only for $1/month. Dbasics counter service is primarily aimed at webmasters who do not have access to their own CGI-bin. The statistical readouts are exhaustive, monitoring all of the site's pages. The statistical output includes data on referring pages, browser types, domain accesses and specific visitors. The counter service is provided at a cost of $5/month for sites delivering fewer than 10,000 hits in a month, through to $9+/month for sites generating in excess of 50,000 hits monthly. The product is also available for a one-time flat-rate payment of $40 for those who have the ability to install the CGI-script onto their own server. EpicStats provides a visitor tracking service that does not require access to a CGI-bin or server logs. The graphical statistics produced are packed with features, including the number of page accesses for each page on your site, stats noting the percentage increase in traffic from month to month, data regarding where visitors leave your site and more. Prices range from $9.95/month for sites receiving fewer than 30,000 accesses to $133.95+ for those receiving in excess of 400,000 monthly accesses. They also offer a one-month free trial. Jinko Access Counter is one of the better paid services. For as little as $1/month, you can choose from over 280 styles of counter (including sports teams, TV stars and generic digit counters), which you can edit to further enhance its appearance. With their $2/month 'Detailed Account', you are also given access to detailed statistical readouts. There is also a $12/month 'Advanced Account', which gives you all of the above mentioned features, as well as FTP access so that you can upload custom-designed counter styles (your logo, special fonts, photos of you favorite hamster...whatever). LiveCounter Plug and Play offers a Java-based counter, which actually updates in real-time, letting you know when new visitors reach your page. The scrolling counter can be complemented by an electronic 'doorbell' that lets you know when a new surfer has arrived, though the doorbell option can get irritating. The counter also produces detailed, graphical statistics for the entire site. LiveCounter is priced between $4 and $15+ per month, depending on the number of visitors your site receives. Net-Trak provides statitics about the number of visitors who reach your pages, their geographical location, their IP addresses, a list of referring URLs and more. They also give you three choices of logo. You can either host a small (88x49 pixel) logo and visible counter, an 88x31 pixel animated button or a transparent tracker. All this could be yours for a one-time setup fee of $5. StatTrax tracks the number of visitors to access your homepage by the time and day that they reach your site, as well as providing graphical details about their geographical location and their IP addresses. The StatTrax service costs $5/month for the first 10,000 hits, plus another $5/month for each additional 10,000 hits. W3 Stats offer 40 different counter styles, including an invisible counter/tracker. Detailed graphical tracking reports are generated from each counter/tracker, and there is no limit to how many pages the counter can be placed on. These services are provided for $5/month for the first 10,000 hits/month with an additional fee of 50 cents/month for each 1,000 excess hits. They also offer a referral program whereby for every person you sign up, you are granted one month of service for free. WatchWise provides real-time tracking and reporting of web site accesses (including data for individual pages) and the most popular visitors by domain. It also offers graphical predictions of your site's traffic trends, which can be helpful in the marketing of your site. WebCounter provides both a free service and a commercial counting service. It's commercial service provides webmasters with a reliable, 24-hour counter (no tracking stats). The service is priced between $35/year and $580/year, depending on the amount of traffic your site receives. WebPromote Link Tracker offers an extensive array of features, and a well-presented, reliable interface. Their tracker is priced at $US450, but a free demo is available for trial download.
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