See visits as they happen
Open your dashboard after publishing or sharing a post and watch new visits arrive.
Ghost installation guide
Ghost analytics for your blog
See visits to your Ghost blog, where visitors come from and which posts they open. Check Hitsteps in your browser or with the iPhone and Android apps.
- Live visitors, traffic sources and top web pages
- One sitewide snippet through Ghost’s Site Footer
- A separate dashboard you can check from your phone
Start with a 7-day Pro trial. No credit card required. The Free plan is available for smaller blogs.
Get to know the traffic behind your posts
Use web traffic reports to decide what to write next, what to share and which posts deserve a follow-up.
Find your traffic sources
See which referring websites, search engines and campaigns bring visitors to your blog.
Find the posts people open
Review your top web pages and pageviews to see which articles attract attention.
How to add Hitsteps to Ghost
You need access to sitewide Code Injection. If that setting is missing, check your Ghost plan or ask your host before starting.
Create an account and add your blog
Create your Hitsteps account, then add the public URL of your Ghost blog as a website.
Copy the full tracking code
Open your website’s Tracking code tab. Choose Paste the tracking code, then Copy code. Copy the whole manual snippet, including its script and noscript parts. Use your own website’s snippet, not the plugin API code.
Paste it into Ghost’s Site Footer
In Ghost, open Settings > Advanced > Code Injection. Paste the complete snippet into Site Footer and save. Keep any existing footer code. Install Hitsteps once sitewide, not again on each post.
Open a published post and confirm a visit
Open a public post in a normal browser window. Return to Hitsteps and check Recent visitors for your first visit. Check the published website rather than the Ghost editor or a preview.
Need help finding the setting? See Ghost’s Code Injection guide. Site Footer places the code before the closing body tag.
Check your blog from your phone
Use the Hitsteps apps for iPhone, iPad and Android to check live visitors and website activity away from your desk. Sign in to the same account you use on the web.
These are Hitsteps web traffic reports. The snippet does not import Ghost newsletter, member or subscription data.
A Free plan for a smaller blog
The Free plan covers one website with under 2,000 monthly pageviews and 14 days of history. It includes live visitors, traffic sources and top pages.
New accounts start with a 7-day Pro trial, with no credit card required. Heatmaps, live chat, goals and uptime monitoring are paid features and are not included in the Free plan.
Ghost analytics questions
Can I use this on Ghost(Pro) or a self-hosted Ghost blog?
You need access to sitewide Code Injection in Ghost. If Settings > Advanced > Code Injection is missing, check with your host or check your plan before continuing. This guide does not assume that every hosted plan includes it.
Which tracking code should I copy?
Copy the complete manual snippet from your website’s Tracking code tab in Hitsteps, using Paste the tracking code > Copy code. Include the script and noscript parts. The separate plugin API code is not the snippet to paste into Ghost.
Why does the guide use Site Footer?
The full Hitsteps snippet includes a script and a noscript image/link fallback. Hitsteps directs you to place the complete code before the closing body tag, which is where Ghost inserts Site Footer code. Add it once sitewide, rather than again on each post.
What if my first visit does not appear?
Check that you saved Site Footer and opened a published post, rather than the Ghost editor or a preview. Make sure you copied the full snippet for the correct website and have not installed it twice. A browser blocker can prevent the request; try a normal browser window without that blocker, then check Recent visitors again.
How does this relate to Ghost’s own analytics?
Ghost(Pro) already includes automatic native web analytics. Hitsteps is a separate dashboard for website visits, with mobile apps. A tracking snippet does not import Ghost newsletter opens, member records or subscription revenue. You can use the two dashboards alongside each other.
Take a closer look
See your next Ghost blog visit
Create your account, add the full snippet in Site Footer and open a published post to check your first visit.