With several free web counters available on the Internet (check the one below from Bravenet.com), it's easy to keep track of the visitors to your web site. The free web site counters can be included on your web web site by simply copying a little JavaScript code (most cases) provided by the free web counter provider and pasting it on your web pages. It is this script that keeps track of the visitors and their browsing profiles i.e. which pages they visit and the configuration of their systems etc. Thus, the free counters help you understand your visitors and know the popularity of your web site. The free counters might display an small advertisement or a image with numbers (the counter image). Most free web counter providers allow you to choose the layout and style of the counter.

How do the free counters help you in creating an effective web presence?

In addition to counting the number of visitors, the free counters provide visitor profiles - the browsers used, screen resolution, operating system, presence of Javascript etc. You should regularly check this data to understand if your web site is an effective sales tool. For example, if a large proportion of your visitors use Unix (or its variants) and your site is not generating sales, you should test your web site under that platform to see if the site is being displayed properly.

Bravenet
Most awesome free counter from Bravenet I have found on the web - Track and graph your website traffic... you will not need anything else! - Click here to get the free counter.

Web Tracker
Web Tracker

NedStat
NedStat

eXTReMe Tracker
eXTReMe Tracker

FastCounter from Microsoft bCentral
FastCounter from Microsoft bCentral

Best free web site and web page hit counters
Free Web Site Counters
Free Web Page Counters