Statcounter versus Sitemeter

I set up a Sitemeter last September, with which I was perfectly happy until the botched switchover to a new version of the weekend before last, which had to be hurriedly reversed because the new version didn't work. It works fine again now, BTW.

However, I was taking no chances and on that weekend I set up a Statcounter as well just in case.

What is striking is that the number of 'Unique visitors' according to Statcounter is 50% to 60% higher than the number of 'Visits' according to Sitemeter.

The lessons being, if you are a stat-junkie using Sitemeter, you should switch to Statcounter (it lets you enter your starting figure - you don't have to start from zero again). And if it ain't broke, don't fix it.