The Problem
The digital content creation space has witnessed explosive growth, with millions of creators vying for attention across several social media platforms.
However, many creators and social media marketers face significant challenges in sourcing contextually relevant, viral-ready elements such as transitional hooks, video memes, and sound bites to keep their audience engaged. These elements are often scattered across multiple sources, making it time-consuming and cumbersome to find and implement them effectively. Furthermore, creators from different regions struggle to find culturally relevant content that resonates with their audience.
This fragmented approach leaves a huge gap in the market for a centralized, user-friendly resource tailored to the needs of modern content creators.
The Solution
ViralHooks.video (or simply Hooks) addresses this problem by providing a 100% free, centralized library of transitional video hooks, video memes, and sound bites and effects.
Designed to cater to creators of all levels, ViralHooks simplifies the process of finding viral-ready content.
In addition to providing downloadable video and audio resources, ViralHooks features Meme Country selection to ensure content aligns with regional trends and preferences.
The platform is the first of its kind in the world.
My Role
As the sole designer and developer, I was responsible for every aspect of building ViralHooks.video from the ground up.
Using WordPress as the backbone of the platform, I implemented a custom design that aligns seamlessly with the branding and vision of the project. Additionally, I conceptualized and integrated features like the Contributor Dashboard, earning systems, and cloud upload mechanisms.
This involved creating intuitive user flows, enabling contributors to easily add content while maintaining strict quality standards.
As a WordPress tutor, sourcing memes and hooks was a problem I faced myself while creating tutorial videos — until I created ViralHooks.
My little research revealed a lack of similar solution, asserting the uniqueness of this project.
Before commencing the development of the website, I crafted the branding elements, ensuring a cohesive identity that resonates with the target users.
All brand-related elements were designed in CorelDRAW.
I would usually begin by setting up a Virtual Private Server before scaling up to a Dedicated Server as the project demand grows. A VPS relatively processes data faster and quicker than a shared hosting plan.
I spun up a VPS droplet on Digital Ocean for about 14 USD a month.
Note that the word "Droplet" is a branded term for a "Cloud Server" on Digital Ocean.
Next, I installed an opensource web hosting management software known as CloudPanel 2, connected the domain name which I had earlier secured before installing WordPress (via CloudPanel).
I develop all my projects using a local server due to the relative speed and ease. For that, I used always use a WordPress development environment known as Local.
When the project reached the launch phase, I migrated the data from the local development environment to the live "www" server on Digital Ocean.
I got a dedicated object storage service by Digital Ocean known as "Spaces" to handle the hosting of the site's downloadable resources (the video and audio files), and then connected it with a custom subdomain to align it with the website's branding. (content.viralhooks.video)
Cloudflare was used for this. I switched DNS over to Cloudflare's DNS to leverage all the security and performance features offered by Cloudflare.
Having gathered extensive experience in WordPress web development, it was my natural choice for this project.
Key plugins used were;
- Elementor Website Builder: To rapidly build web pages and custom templates.
- JetEngine: For custom fields, database queries, and custom post types.
WordPress can not work without an active theme. For that, I used the barebone Hello Elementor theme. I chose Hello Elementor because it is an extremely lightweight option that provides a minimal, blank slate for building custom websites with Elementor. Another legit reason is because it is the most compatible theme with the Elementor Website Builder.
As it is with most of my projects, I onboarded contributors who helped with the manual sourcing and uploading of resources to the website.
I built separate dashboards depending on account types; Users, Contributors, and Administrators.
The contributor dashboard allows contributors to track their earnings, check their uploads and view historical earnings.
The User dashboard mainly allowed users to save their favorite videos.
The Admin dashboard features all the necessary tools to manage users, administer payments, and carry out moderation tasks.
Content moderation is an on-going website maintainance process. It comprises fishing out and removing duplicate content, removing invalid or corrupted media uploads to the website, and so on.
I simply used the RankMath SEO Plugin to help streamline the on-page SEO process for the website.
RankMath was used to customize search engine results appearance, and integrate SEO Webmaster tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4. RankMath was also used to set the default Opengraph Image, generate a custom sitemap XML, carry out internal linking audit, toggle the indexability of certain pages, amongst other things.
ViralHooks is not monetized via display ads, but through crypto donations.
It took seven weeks to complete the development of ViralHooks. It was launched on the 4th of November, 2024.
Live Search
Search results are provided dynamically as a user types into the search field. This removes the need for the user to submit the search query before seeing search results.
Saved Items
Hooks lets users save/bookmark their favourite resources (Videos and audio hooks), making them instantly accessible from any device. However, this would require the user to be logged in.
Responsive Design
Hooks is designed to adapt effortlessly to foldables, smartphones, tablets, and desktops, delivering a consistent and engaging experience to everyone, no matter what device is used.
Intuitive Navigation
Finding the desired resource on ViralHooks is fun, thanks to the user-friendly interface and clear categorization and filters.
Earning Program
Hooks offers a unique opportunity for contributors to earn by uploading resources to the platform. Contributors can track their performance and earnings via their Hooks dashboard.
Hooks Cloud
With Hooks Cloud, uploads are seamlessly sent directly to an S3 cloud storage bucket, ensuring that there’s no performance impact on the web server. This feature enhances speed and efficiency, allowing for faster content delivery without compromising the web server’s performance.
Summary
The content creation landscape has shifted with the rise of short-form video platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, making attention-grabbing video content crucial for viral success.
Inspired by this need, ViralHooks.video was created as a centralized platform offering a vast library of viral video memes, sound bites, and transitional hooks.
The platform empowers content creators to save and access resources in the cloud.
