Tracking feeds is even harder. If you have any feed redirects, it might not count them.

It’s not a clear cut thing. Different programs handle the numbers very differently. And honestly, if you are into exact numbers, then slow down and refocus. The stats often don’t tell you the information you really need to know. You may have 220 hits, but what are they coming for and how many of those were conversions to return customers. Think of them as general numbers to give you an estimate over time and you’ll do better, but find out how each stats package works to find out why there might be some discrepancy.

I have both the standard WordPress stats and the ShortStats plug in on my blog. The stat counts are DRAMATICALLY different, and I don’t know which one to believe. Example: WordPress will say I got 24 hits on something while ShortStats will say I got 45 unique visits plus 220 hits and 67 RSS. I know I’m still super-small, but I still want to know how many people are check out my site.

Any help deciphering this would be greatly appreciated!

With the recent announcement of LiveJournal closing, many are transferring to WordPress.com.

As the lack of a link might suggest, there has been no such announcement. There were a number of layoffs at the company’s offices in San Francisco and many LJ users were frightened into moving or backing up their content elsewhere (never a bad idea, regardless of where you blog). LJ is still open to signups and planning their 10th anniversary celebrations in April.

While I’m not optimistic about the site’s future, reporting their demise is at best premature, at worst irresponsible. Still, the great thing about blogging is that there are always readers prepared to check the facts on your behalf