Implement Visitor Count Tracking with AWS API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB

Source code available at: GitHub Repository

In this section, we will implement a visitor count tracking system using AWS API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB.

Architecture

Introduction

In this section, we will implement a visitor count tracking system using AWS API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB.

Step 1: Set Up DynamoDB Table

1. Open the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to DynamoDB.
3. Create a new table named visitorcounts.
4. Set the primary key as id with type String.
5. Add an initial item with id set to 0 and views set to 0.

Step 2: Create a Lambda Function

1. Open the AWS Management Console.
2. Navigate to Lambda.
3. Create a new Lambda function named VisitorCountFunction.
4. Set the runtime to Python 3.x.
5. Use the code from lambda.py for the Lambda function.
6. Configure the Lambda function with an execution role that has access to DynamoDB.

Step 3: Set Up API Gateway

1. Open the AWS Management Console.

2. Navigate to API Gateway.

3. Create a new API.

4. Create a new resource named visitors.

5. Create a new GET method for the visitors resource.

6. Integrate the GET method with the Lambda function VisitorCountFunction.

7. Enable CORS for the GET method.

8. Add a mapping template for the GET method to pass query string parameters to the Lambda function:

   {
       "queryStringParameters": {
           "count": "$input.params('count')"
       }
   }
   

9. Deploy the API to a stage (e.g., prod).

Step 4: Implement Client-Side Code

1. Add the code from visitorcount.js to your website to track unique visitors.

2. Ensure you have an HTML element with id="visitors" where the count will be displayed:

   <div id="visitors"></div>
   

Step 5: Test the Implementation

1. Open your website in a browser.
2. Verify that the visitor count is displayed and increments for unique visitors.
3. Check that the count does not increment for returning visitors.