I think that GA samples the data anyway (unless you pay?), so it might not be a reliable "hit counter" these days. I guess the value comes from seeing "trends"

I think that GA samples the data anyway (unless you pay?), so it might not be a reliable "hit counter" these days. I guess the value comes from seeing "trends" in your site content - I.e. how people move around within the site, which sites are sending traffic etc rtlather than seeing absolute 100% accurate counts Log analysis will always be much more accurate counter if you just need a hit counter.