NielFlamm.com Keeps Going Global: 19 Million Characters and Counting
A few days ago, I shared the translation activity for NielFlamm.com. The numbers impressed me then—and apparently the translation engine decided it was just getting warmed up.
Here is how the latest 30-day statistics compare:
Translated characters: 18 million to 19 million
Translated words: Holding steady at 3 million
Input bandwidth: 1.2 GB to 1.24 GB
Translation requests: 4,000 to 5,000
That means another one million characters were translated, while requests increased by 25%. Not bad for a website operated by one bald guy in South Carolina.
The language rankings also shifted.
Italian remains firmly in first place, although its share decreased from 75.8% to 71.5% as other languages gained ground. Russian moved into second place at 4.4%, followed by Chinese at 4.0% and Spanish at 3.3%. Dutch and Vietnamese were tied at 3.1%, with French close behind at 3.0%.
Previously, Italian was followed by Spanish and Vietnamese. Seeing Russian and Chinese climb the rankings shows that the audience is becoming more geographically diverse—which was the entire reason for adding translation options.
What I really want to know is: Which posts are all these readers translating?
Are they reading my movie reviews, health updates, travel stories, scam warnings, Nextdoor adventures, or dating-app experiments? Perhaps somewhere in Italy, someone is translating one of my posts and wondering, “What exactly is going on with this bald American?”
If you use the translation feature, please let me know which posts brought you to the website and which language you selected.
I recently added Thai and Czech. They have not cracked the top rankings yet, but I’ll give them time. Rome wasn’t translated in a day.
Thank you to everyone reading, watching, and exploring NielFlamm.com in whichever language feels most comfortable. These may be numbers on a dashboard, but each request shows that the content is reaching beyond its original language.
I appreciate every one of you.
From 1,000 to 2,500 Visitors in 18 Days—Thank You!
Eighteen days ago, I published “Thank You for Reading My Stupidity,” after traffic had dropped by almost 50% and then finally returned to its previous level.
At that time, the previous 30-day figures showed approximately:
1,000 visits
1,000 unique visitors
1,300 page views
The newest 30-day report shows:
2,500 visits—an increase of approximately 150% since the last post
2,500 unique visitors—also up approximately 150%
2,700 page views—an increase of approximately 108%
These comparisons are based on rounded figures, but the direction is unmistakable: considerably more people are finding and viewing the site.
I want to thank everyone who has visited, read a post, shared a link, or simply stopped by to see what kind of stupidity I’ve posted lately. I’m genuinely grateful for every visit.
The China Is Still Leading the Way
In the previous post, I thanked the 710 visitors from The China. The latest report shows 2,025 visits from The China—an increase of approximately 185% in just 18 days.
The United States increased from 249 to 312 visits, or approximately 25%. Brazil rose from 24 to 27 visits, and the latest report also includes visitors from Vietnam, India, and other places worldwide.
The bounce rate is currently 97.31%, so many visitors appear to stop by, look at one page, and continue on with their day. Whether you read one page or ten, I appreciate you spending some of your time here.
Limited Advertising Opportunities
With the audience continuing to grow, I’m offering a limited number of advertising slots on the site.
This is an opportunity for businesses, creators, and organizations to reach a growing international audience without being buried among dozens of competing advertisements. Availability will remain intentionally limited so the site stays uncluttered and participating advertisers receive meaningful visibility.
If you’re interested in advertising on the site, please get in touch before the available spaces are filled.
Thank you again to everyone visiting—from The China to the United States and everywhere in between. Seeing visits rise by roughly 150% in only 18 days is unexpected, humbling, and greatly appreciated.
Thank you for continuing to read my stupidity.
Lost in Translation—in the Best Possible Way
After uploading my vlog about Resident Evil 2026—which you should definitely check out—I decided to peek at the translation metrics for my website.
Honestly, I hadn’t checked the translation API in quite some time. Apparently, while I wasn’t paying attention, the internet was busy translating.
The numbers impressed me:
18 million characters translated
3 million words translated
4,000 translation requests
Italian generated the most page views by language, followed by Spanish and Vietnamese. Chinese came in last, which surprised me because China has previously been one of the top sources of traffic to my website.
Today, I added two more languages: Thai and Czech.
I added Thai because I hope to spend part of my remaining years living in Thailand. If I’m going to enjoy the beaches, food, culture, and hopefully a beachfront view, it seems only fair that Thai readers can enjoy my adventures—and occasional misadventures—in their own language.
Czech was also added because the more people who can read and watch my content, the better. My website is slowly becoming more multilingual than I am. I’m still working on English some days.
To everyone who has visited, read a blog post, watched a video, or translated my content: thank you.
These numbers may not break the internet, but they mean a great deal to me. I truly enjoy bringing this content to you and sharing the strange, funny, serious, and unexpected moments of my life.
Thank you for reading, watching, and joining me on the journey—wherever in the world you may be.
📊 The Good, the Bad, and the Website Metrics
Transparency matters.
One of the things I want to do with NielFlamm.com is share the journey—the wins, the losses, and everything in between. So today, I thought I'd pull back the curtain a bit.
First, thank you.
Seriously.
Whether you've visited once, read a blog post, watched one of my movie reviews, listened to a podcast, or stopped by to see what kind of internet garbage I posted this week, I appreciate you. Even more, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to send feedback, leave comments, or reach out directly. It means more than you probably realize.
Now for the numbers.
Compared to last month:
Unique Visits are down about 37%.
Visits are also down about 37%.
Page Views are down about 20%.
Do I love seeing that? Of course not.
Do I panic? Also no.
The reality is... I don't know exactly why.
It could be seasonal. Summer vacations, kids out of school, people spending more time outside than staring at another screen (probably a healthy decision).
It could be that social media algorithms decided my posts should be shown to approximately three people, and one of them was probably my mom.
It seems my content isn’t resonating as much.
Maybe people are just busy.
Maybe search engine rankings shifted.
Maybe some readers are waiting for me to write about something they're especially interested in.
Or maybe the internet decided to internet.
The honest answer is... I don't know.
I enjoy creating content, and I'm continuing to invest in making the site better.
Over the last couple of months, I've added a few tools.
I've talked quite a bit about using ChatGPT to help organize ideas and polish content. My website is hosted on Squarespace, and I recently added Linguise to provide translations into multiple languages.
None of these companies are sponsors...
...yet. 😄
One interesting thing Linguise lets me see is which translated versions of the site are being viewed.
The results surprised me.
The most viewed translated language?
Russian.
That's right...
Russian.
Tell Comrade Putin I said hello.
After Russian came German, Japanese, and Chinese, even though most of my overall traffic still comes from China.
I honestly don't know what to make of that yet, but it's fascinating to watch.
The analytics raise more questions than answers, and that's part of the fun.
For those who have followed along, you already know this isn't my profession.
I'm not a programmer.
I'm not a marketer.
I'm not in corporate communications.
I'm just someone with life experiences, stories, opinions, recovery, movie reviews, technology observations, customer service experiences, and the occasional questionable joke that I hope connects with someone somewhere in the world.
If something resonates with you, fantastic.
If something doesn't, I'd like to know that too.
I'd love your feedback.
Leave a comment on the site or email me at niel@nielflamm.com.
Please tell me what you like.
Please tell me what you skip.
Please tell me what you'd like to see more of.
This website has always been about starting conversations, and I hope we keep having them.
Thank you for being part of the journey.
Here's to next month's numbers... hopefully they're pointing in the other direction.
A Quiet Starbucks, A Productive Afternoon, and the Experience I Expected
This afternoon, after watching Motor City at the Regal Palmetto Grande and before heading to a recovery meeting on Daniel Island, I stopped by the Starbucks on Daniel Island to get some writing done.
It was a late Saturday afternoon, and I noticed something unusual.
I was the only guest in the entire store.
This Starbucks is spacious, clean, and inviting. While I worked on LinkedIn posts, blog articles, and other content, the team members were busy doing what great teams do—cleaning, restocking, and preparing the store for the next morning's customers. They were focused, professional, and creating the kind of environment you'd want to walk into when the doors opened the next day.
The music during today's visit was exactly what I'd expect in a Starbucks. It was playing through the store speakers and was a fun, eclectic mix. I caught what I believe was some Björk, followed by the classic Landslide by Fleetwood Mac. It fit the atmosphere perfectly and made for a relaxing place to spend a couple of productive hours.
Ironically, this reminded me of another Starbucks experience I had recently at the location near my home in Mount Pleasant. I wrote a blog post and shared a video because music was playing in the café that probably wasn't part of the corporate-approved playlist. I even recorded it so people would know I wasn't making it up.
Today's visit was exactly what I expected from the Starbucks brand: a comfortable, welcoming place where I could sit, think, write, and be productive.
I've included the video from today's visit with this post.
Join the discussion.