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Last Updated: October 27, 2025
When measuring a site’s traffic in WordPress, users often ask, “Does my WordPress site count my own views?” The answer for self-hosted sites is: only if you set up a tracking tool to prevent it.
WordPress is designed for speed and security, not internal analytics. The answer to tracking depends on the specific, external tools you use. In this article, we’ll explore the most accurate and performance-friendly ways to track views on self-hosted WordPress (.org) sites.
Why WordPress Doesn’t Track Views Natively
By default, WordPress (.org) does not include a native feature to track and display page views in the dashboard.
This design choice is intentional: WordPress prioritizes database health and performance. Every time a user visits a page, updating a view count requires a database query. For a high-traffic site, this creates massive database bloat and slows down the entire site. Therefore, accurate tracking requires a lightweight external tool.
The Modern Analytics Approach (Best Method)
The most reliable way to track traffic and filter internal activity is using Google Analytics 4 (GA4) integrated via a reputable plugin.
1. Use Google Site Kit (Easiest)
The official Google Site Kit plugin is now the easiest, performance-friendly way to connect your site to GA4.
- Install and activate the Google Site Kit plugin.
- Connect it to your Google Analytics 4 property.
- Site Kit is designed to follow modern standards and automatically filters traffic from logged-in users (Admins, Editors) by default, ensuring your internal views do not inflate your metrics.
2. Use Monster Insights (Advanced)
If you prefer a comprehensive analytics plugin, Monster Insights is a solid choice.
- Once you’ve installed the plugin, your site is configured with default settings for counting page views.
- In this case, the plugin is configured to filter out views from logged-in users or admins. You can also configure how the plugin should perform if you want to ignore or count specific hits, such as those coming from logged-in users.
- Monster Insights needs integration with a GA4 account and helps manage options to change or set counting features in its Settings.
Remember: With all GA4 setups, you can also filter traffic from specific IPs (such as your office or home) directly within your Google Analytics property settings for even greater accuracy.
Lightweight Plugin and Code Methods
If you wish to display view counts directly on your posts without the complexity of full analytics integration, specialized plugins or custom code are needed.
Lightweight Plugin Example
Plugins like Post Views Counter are designed for minimal impact.
- These plugins are critical for performance, as they often update the database only once per user session (or every 24 hours) by using PHP Transients or session cookies. This prevents the “every click equals a query” bloat that slows down a site.
- Use the plugin’s settings to ensure it excludes Administrator and Editor user roles from the count.
If you are concerned about database bloat from view counting, you should look into our WordPress Speed Optimization service.
Safe Custom Code (Developer Method)
If you prefer a programmatic solution without a plugin, you can safely insert custom code (such as a Post Views function) into your child theme’s functions.php file or a custom site-specific plugin.
This is the preferred way for developers to implement a view counter, as it avoids changing WordPress core files, which is dangerous and not recommended. For guidance on safe development, review the WordPress Plugin Handbook on best practices. If you need a fully custom, optimized solution built from scratch, ask us about our Custom Development solution.
Key Points for Accurate Tracking
- Platform Matters: WordPress.com provides native stats and automatically filters logged-in users; self-hosted sites require a tool (plugin or code).
- Admin Status: In most self-hosted setups, your logged-in status as an admin determines if your views are counted. Always check your tracking tool’s settings for filtering users by role.
- Modern Analytics: Be aware that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) focuses on Events and Sessions for true engagement, not just simple “page views,” providing a more precise picture of your audience.
Final words
Page views from various locations need to be more precise if you’re trying to filter out specific sources, such as organic traffic, social media, or traffic from logged-in users. A correctly configured analytics app or plugin is the only way to achieve this on a self-hosted WordPress site.
If you need help setting up complex GA4 filters, troubleshooting plugin conflicts, or optimizing database performance caused by view tracking plugins, don’t risk your site’s speed.
Contact our WordPress fix team and let our experts ensure your analytics are both accurate and fast.