HTML calling PHP; PHP returns result

I'm developing a reusable PHP hit counter. Is the following the correct way to accomplish this function? This HTML module is in one directory ... <html> <body> You are the <? ../cgi-bin/counter.php?$App="xxx"?$Trailer="X"; ?> visitor. </body> </html> All the above does is calls counter.php with the application's name and whether a trailer is desired. It is supposed to return "1st", "2nd", "3rd", "4th" ..... etc. to be displayed within the "You are ...." string. This PHP module resides in cgi-bin ... <? // I am counter.php do the file I/O stuff using $App and $Trailer return $theresult ?> All the above does is reads the application's hit counter file (creates one if not found) and sends the text back to the calling HTML module.