Switching it on
With the StrideRank SEO plugin, WordPress shows a notice Switch on visitor counting — one click and you are done, nothing to paste. For any other website, open Visitors, expand “Another website, or add it by hand” and copy the single line into your site.
Counting uses no cookies, stores nothing in the browser and stores no IP address. Your own visits while logged in to WordPress are not counted. The first visits appear a few minutes after the first page view.
What you see
Visitors, page views, leads and the lead rate per period, which pages visitors came to and where from, and the days your articles were published. Time on page, scroll depth and taps on your phone number are only measured after visitors agree in your cookie banner.
A lead from an article form appears on that article’s page even if the visit itself was not counted (for example when you tested the form while logged in).
Privacy
Because basic counting sets no cookies and stores no IP address, it does not need a cookie banner. The Visitors page has a suggested paragraph for your privacy policy you can copy. Counting only works on the addresses listed for your website; if the line shows up on a site that is not yours, create a new key there and the old one stops counting.