Understanding how many people actually read your content is one of the most important metrics for any blog or website. Page views are useful, but they don’t tell the full story. What really matters is how many unique visitors you reach.

Today, we’re happy to announce that Ghostboard now tracks Unique Visitors, and this data is already available in the Insights report inside the dashboard.

This tracking started in January 2026, so from now on you can clearly see how your audience grows over time: without cookies, without personal data, and without compromising privacy.

Why Unique Visitors Matter

If you run a blog, create content, or manage a small business website, you probably ask yourself questions like:

• How many real people visit my site?
• Is my audience growing or shrinking?
• Did a specific post attract new readers?
• Are my marketing efforts working?

Page views alone can be misleading. One person refreshing a page ten times creates ten page views, but it’s still just one reader.

Unique Visitors help you understand real reach.
They answer a simple but powerful question: how many different people visited my site?

Where to Find Unique Visitors in Ghostboard

You can find this new metric inside the Insights report in your Ghostboard dashboard.

The following widgets are available:

• Unique Visitors – Last 24 hours
• Unique Visitors – Last 7 days
• Unique Visitors – Last 30 days
• Unique Visitors – Last 12 months

These widgets are designed to give you quick and clear answers, whether you want to check today’s traffic or understand long-term trends.

Tracking Started in January 2026

Unique Visitor tracking started in January 2026.
This means:

• Data is collected from that point forward
• Historical data before January 2026 is not retroactively generated
• From now on, you’ll build a clean and consistent dataset over time

This approach keeps the data accurate and transparent.

Privacy-First by Design (No Cookies, No Personal Data)

Ghostboard is built with privacy as a core principle.

We do not use cookies.
We do not track personal information.
We do not identify individual users.

There are no consent banners, no invasive scripts, and no hidden tracking.

This makes Ghostboard a great choice if you care about:

• User trust
• Privacy-friendly analytics
• Simpler compliance with regulations like GDPR
• A clean and respectful web experience

How Unique Visitors Are Calculated

Transparency matters. That’s why Ghostboard’s tracking API is fully open source.

You can review the code yourself here:
https://github.com/ghostboard/tracking-api

In particular, the logic for calculating unique visitors can be found in this file:

src/core/views/generateVisitorHash.ts

What is used to calculate a Unique Visitor?

To generate a visitor hash, the system takes into account:

• The blog or website identifier
• The visitor’s IP address
• The browser (user agent)
• The day of the visit

These values are combined and encrypted into a hash.

Important points:

• The hash cannot be reversed
• No raw personal data is stored
• The same inputs always generate the same hash for that day

How Visitors Are Counted (Simple Rules)

Here is how Ghostboard defines a Unique Visitor:

• If the same person visits multiple times on the same day, they are counted as 1 unique visitor
• If the same person visits on a different day, they are counted again
• If the same person visits from different devices or browsers, they are counted as multiple unique visitors

This model keeps things simple, fair, and easy to understand.

It also reflects real-world usage: different devices usually mean different contexts and sessions.

Why This Approach Makes Sense

There is no “perfect” way to count unique visitors on the web, especially without cookies. But Ghostboard focuses on what matters most:

• Consistency: numbers are calculated the same way every day
• Transparency: the logic is open and auditable
• Privacy: no invasive tracking
• Simplicity: metrics that are easy to explain and trust

For bloggers and small businesses, this is often better than complex systems that try to do too much.

Benefits of Unique Visitors in Ghostboard

Here are some practical benefits you get from this new metric:

1. Measure Real Audience Growth

See if your content is reaching more people over time, not just generating more clicks.

2. Compare Content Performance

Understand which posts bring new readers instead of just repeat visits.

3. Track Marketing Efforts

See the impact of newsletters, social media, or SEO campaigns.

4. Stay Privacy-Friendly

Get useful analytics without compromising your visitors’ privacy.

5. One Metric, No Noise

No inflated numbers, no confusing reports, just clear insights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Ghostboard use cookies?

No. Ghostboard does not use cookies at all.

Is any personal data stored?

No. Personal information is not stored or tracked.

Can I identify individual users?

No. Visitors are anonymous and cannot be identified.

Is this compliant with GDPR?

Ghostboard is designed to be privacy-first and cookie-free, which greatly simplifies compliance. However, always check your local regulations.

Is Unique Visitors available on all plans?

Yes. Unique Visitors tracking is available on all Ghostboard plans.

Can I see the code?

Yes. The entire tracking API is open source and publicly available on GitHub.

Built for Creators, Bloggers, and Small Businesses

Ghostboard is not trying to be an enterprise surveillance tool. It’s built for people who want:

• Clear data
• Honest metrics
• Respect for users
• A simple dashboard that answers real questions

Unique Visitors is a big step forward in helping you understand your audience — without complexity or compromise.

Grow your Ghost blog audience faster 🚀

Start your free trial now and explore all Ghostboard features for free. No credit card is required.