While page counters provide a simple way to keep track the number of hits made on your pages, they provide no way to determine the source of the hits or how people came to find out about your pages. If you have advertised your web in various places, how do you know which advertisements are working and which aren't?
One solution to this problem is to create a number of catchment pages , each with its own separate counter. Each catchment page would welcome the reader and direct them to your main home page. Once you've done this, you can advertise a different catchment page in each different place where you promote your web.
The final step would be to construct a scoreboard for the catchment pages listing the source leading to each catchment page, and the number of hits the source provided. This would provide a basis for making decisions about advertising and link exchanging.
I haven't tried this idea yet.
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