Counters
 

How come if you have more then one counter they all have different readings? What is the most accurate counter? My guess is my server logs.

server stats

There's as many ways to count traffic as there are counters. It's all in how you interpet it.

Your server logs are a good place to start, but again they can be read diffrent ways.

How many unique ips
What other URLs are referring to you
Average length of visit
Repeat visits (how long of a break before you consider it a repeat)

Additionally if you have a good enough stats parser you should even be able to see diffrent routes individual people took through your site. Like how many tours they too, or if they signed up immediately, or if they were referred directly to your signup page. Which galleries are most popular, which pics are most popular, traffic patters per time of day etc etc etc.

It's all there, but much like a foriegn language you have to know how to read it, or have a good translator.