by kenmac » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:09 am
Here's a better explanation than I can give you:
"Let's assume the page you have requested has nothing but text on it. That would be one item that the browser sends back to you, so that's one hit.
However, if a web designer or website owner adds a picture to a web page, that picture does not merge (become one) with the web page. Rather, it remains separate from — but referenced in — the page so that it displays where it is intended to display. Thus, adding one picture to a web page means two pieces: the page and the picture. That's two hits.
Of course, most website pages have more than one picture. If someone visits a page with 24 pictures, that's 25 hits. There are even more factors, but we've covered enough here to understand precisely why hits are not the best metric of how much visitor traffic a website is getting."