StatCounter is a fantastic tool to help you find out who is visiting your website.

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(No. This is not a paid advertisement.)

I got the idea for this post while commenting on Teresa Boardman's Widgets I Can't Live Without post.  Check it out.

Last January I was looking for some better widgets and tools for my "other" blog over at BBQ Capital.  I found two gems.  The first was My Blog Logwhich is all those little heads on the right side of this blog.  My Blog Log has been well documented here on activerain and there are a few posts telling how much people like it and how to use it. 

This post is going to be dedicated to StatCounter.  Look at that map at the top of this post.  Those little red push-pins represent the most recent visitors to my BBQ Capital blog.  And here is the great thing about it.  You can zoom in from there.  Literally, right down to street level to see where your visitors are coming from. 

Here's a personal note about the map you see above.  Although I reside and work in Kansas City most of my clients come from the coasts.  As a residential real estate investment property specialist this just makes sense.  Our values in Kansas City for rental houses are so much better that what those real estate investors are able to purchase in their own home areas.  And the map reflects that.  Pretty cool, I think.

Here are some other cool things StatCounter can do for you:

• Show you the IP addresses of your visitors.
• Show you what web links your visitors are using to find you.
• Show you what key words are most active to find your blog.
• Show you the entry pages to your blog..
• Show you the most popular pages.
• Show you the length your visitors are staying.

And much, much more.  How much does all this cost.  Nada. Zip. Zero.

There is an upgrade feature available and I may one day go ahead and commit.  But for now I'm quite happy using the basic features.  It really helps me to know where my visitors are coming from, what they are reading and what attracts them.  From that I can learn a lot about how to serve my potential clients.

One last note.  Even though I know where people are coming from and even have their IP addresses, I don't bother them.  I just know that they are stalking me while I'm stalking them.  I don't ever approach them.  I just like to know they are out there.