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Power words.
Powerful words.
- Emotional
- Persuasive
- Trigger
- Words.
Whatever you call them;
whatever you want to call them;
whatever you fancy calling them;
These are the words that build emotion and spur into action.
These are the words that make a difference for the person reading; and for the person who wrote them (that’s you).
All you action takers and marketers out there, keep reading and don’t you dare QUIT on me now!
For this incredible guide’s about to unveil a secret treasure.
So valuable you won’t believe your unblinking eyes…
Table of Contents
What Are Power Words Exactly?
Power words are special words that can trigger either a negative or positive reaction in a person reading them.
Power words can make us feel:
- angry;
- greedy;
- safe;
- scared;
- encouraged;
- aroused;
- curious.
Common characteristics of these words are:
- Unique– they sound distinct compared to their indistinguishable brothers and sisters;
- Action-Driven– you feel pumped with adrenaline before you even finished reading them;
- Descriptive– they make you “see” what they say (for better or worse);
- Inflammatory– they make you “feel” what they say (for better or worse);
- Surprising– they have a power to elicit a GASP! from you.
However, not all power words have all of these qualities and most have one or two.
Ok, now that you know what they are and what they can do to the reader, let’s see how they can help you the marketer profit from knowing them.
Because after all:
there’s no greater vanity than knowing for the sake of knowing; and not for using the knowledge.
Thanks 🙂
7 Crazy-Effective Types of Power Words Intelligent Copy Writers Keep Secret from You (Because They Don’t Crave Rising Competitors)
#1- Anger
Science says that when you’re angry you’re more likely to:
- make bets you normally would not;
- be more critical of others;
- be less willing to listen to reason and reasons.
Anger is obviously bad for you as human being, but anger power words can help an honest marketer make a few sales more.
How?
Why?
Because they can help you nudge people to do what you want them to do.
For example,
Take a look at this headline
- annoying;
- pretentious;
- useless.
All words that stir up emotions of anger.
Red Queen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Queen_(Through_the_Looking-Glass))- “Annoying! Useless! Pretentious! Off With Their Heads”!
I read the article.
And it’s about useless jargon people use daily to think less, obfuscate meaning, and appear more intelligent than they are.
And the author’s got a point- these words have no place in modern day effective writing.
Now, imagine if instead of this being Forbes’s article, it was your article that you posted on yours site.
You wanted to show your readers what not to do and you achieved that beautifully by getting them extremely angry about these overused clichéd words.
And just as they were about to burst- you offered them a solution.
Did you know I offer a copy-writing course that will help you forever banish these symptoms of plain awful writing?
If you want to be, and I repeat IF, 10x more effective with your copy, then CLICK HERE to learn more!
Remember: the key with anger power words is that you don’t want them to be angry with your company or product;
but with someone else’s.
And ideally you can give them the solution to appease their oh-so-very-righteous anger.
Here’s a full list of 120+ anger power words:
Abuse | Money-grubbing |
Annoying | Obnoxious |
Ass kicking | Oppressive |
Arrogant | Payback |
Abhorrent | Perverse |
Bash | Pesky |
Barbaric | Pollute |
Bully | Pissed off |
Backstabbing | Phony |
Big mouth | Pest |
Beat down | Preposterous |
Blatant | Pound |
Bullshit | Pompous |
Brutal | Punch |
Cocky | Pretentious |
Clobber | Punish |
Cheat | Ravage |
Clown | Repelling |
Curse | Rampant |
Coward | Revolting |
Corrupt | Rotten |
Crush | Repugnant |
Crooked | Revile |
Demolish | Rude |
Defile | Ruined |
Debase | Ruthless |
Desecrate | Savage |
Disgusitng | Slam |
Dishonest | Scold |
Distorted | Sick and Tired |
Evil | Sink |
Exploit | Slam |
Force fed | Slander |
Freaking out | Slap |
Full of shit | Slay |
Gross | Slash |
Gready | Smear |
Horrid | Sniveling |
Harass | Snob |
Hate | Smug |
High and Mighty | Snooty |
Infuriating | Snotty |
Jackass | Spoil |
Kill | Stuck up |
Kick | Terrorize |
Know it all | Suck up |
Knock out | Suck |
Knock | Underhanded |
Lying | Tyranny |
Loser | Trash |
Loathsome | Trounce |
Livid | Up to Here |
Sneaky | Useless |
Fear | Stink |
Broke | Screw |
Maul | Raise Hell |
Rant | Miff |
Weak | Diminish |
Provoke | Hostile |
Diatribe | Vicious |
Agitate | Boil Over |
Morally Bankrupt | B.S. |
Thug | Worst |
Annoy | Violate |
Misleading | Violent |
Lollygag | Quixotic |
#2- Fear Power Words
Tell me:
What is the most powerful way to grab and keep your audience’s attention?
It’s to dose them with fear.
Why?
Because all fear us underpinned by our fear for survival.
A basic instinct really, and a powerful magnetic force that pulls us to pay more attention, even when the rational part of the brain tells us there’s really nothing to fear.
Newspapers and tabloids exploit this to a great effect (the keyword here is EXPLOIT).
For example, I live in Serbia and here newspapers are filled with fear words like:
- Death
- Suicide
- Destruction
- Murder
- Theft
- Disease
- Corona virus (a newly emerged fear power word)
Just by looking at these you’d think world is hell and it’s a great misfortune to be born.
Of course, it isn’t so, but they do this stuff because it works.
Third and final example, here’s how Daily Mail does it on their internet edition:
I underlined fear words just for you, though I know you’re able to recognize them easily.
They’re the one’s that make your heart first skip a beat, and then pump faster than normal.
They’re the one’s that make you want to go home and hide under a blanket.
They’re the one’s that don’t make make us feel good, that make us feel ill.
So marketers, USE fear power words, but please- be gentle.
Here’s a master list of 126 fear power words.
Assault | Lurking |
Agony | Lunatic |
Apocalypse | Massacre |
Armageddon | Meltdown |
Beating | Menacing |
Blinded | Murder |
Beware | Mistake |
Backlash | Mired |
Blood | Nightmare |
Bumbling | Peril |
Buffoon | Pale |
Blunder | Painful |
Bloodcurdling | Panic |
Bloodbath | Played |
Bomb | Pitfall |
Caution | Plague |
Cadaver | Pirannha |
Catastrophe | Poison |
Cripple | Plummet |
Crazy | Punch |
Crises | Poor |
Corpse | Pummel |
Collapse | Pus |
Devastating | Prison |
Disastrous | Revenge |
Destroy | Refugee |
Deceiving | Reckoning |
Death | Shame |
Dark | Scary |
Danger | Risky |
Deadly | Searing |
Dumb | Scream |
Drowning | Silly |
Doom | Shatter |
Embarrassed | Shocked |
Feeble | Shellacking |
Foil | Stupid |
Fired | Slave |
Fool | Slaughtered |
Fooled | Strangle |
Frantic | Suicide |
Frightening | Fugacious |
Gullible | Tailspin |
Gambiling | Targeted |
Hoax | Tank |
Hazardous | Teetering |
Hack | Torture |
Hurricane | teror |
Horrific | Terrorist |
Holocaust | Trap |
Insidious | Toxic |
Injure | Tragedy |
Epidemic | Vaporize |
Invasion | Victim |
Dangerous | Cataclysmic |
Reconing | Trauma |
IRS | Annihilate |
Jail | Suffering |
Jepardy | Volatile |
Lawsuit | Vulnerable |
Looming | Wounded |
Worry | Warning |
Last Chance | Nerd |
#3- Safety Power Words
Feeling safe is what we all need and wish to have more of.
We all like to feel like we belong here. Like the universe is firmly on our side. Like the world came to be when we came to be.
Like the Sun comes out every day to make our days bright, sunny and successful.
We all want to feel safe and trust in the world that has a purpose, has a meaning and we’re integral part of both.
That is some deep psychology, but in copywriting as a skill, speaking to this desire means using safety power words to inspire the emotion of trust.
Because from trust comes ACTION.
For example, take a look how Ramit Sethi forces your to trust him. He saturates his copy with safe words till the brink of it being overbearing; and no doubt it works for him very well.
How do I know?
Because he keeps doing it on sales pages for all of his courses.
You almost feel bad for doubting and if you want to achieve the same effect here are 72 safety power words that can help you.
Above and beyond | Proven |
Authentic | Privacy |
Anonymus | Protected |
Automatic | Professional |
Best-selling | Reliable |
Bankable | Recession-proof |
Backed | Refund |
Cancel anytime | Research |
Certified | Results |
Clockwork | Rock solid |
Endorsed | Risk free |
Foolproof | Science backed |
Guaranteed | Bona fide |
Money back | Scientific |
Recognized | Authority |
Scientifically proven | Accredited |
Studies show | Genuine |
Worldwide | Because |
Safety | Authoritative |
Fully refundable | Case study |
Well respected | Dependable |
Improved | Ensured |
Expert | According to |
Track record | Secure |
Ironclad | Approved |
Lifetime | Survive |
Legitimate | Surefire |
Money back | Tested |
No risk | That never fails |
No obligations | Thorough |
No questions asked | Try before you buy |
No strings attached | Trustworthy |
No fail | Unconditional |
Official | Verify |
Permanent | World class |
Guilt free | Don't worry |
#4- Lust Power Words
Sex really does sell.
You know it, I know it.
Your neighbor knows it.
Ahh, so this basically means we should “spice” up our copy wit dirty words and people won’t be able to glue themselves freom their screen.
They’d risk conjunctivitis rather than being pried away from one of humanity greatest joys, even when it’s just implied and painted (vividly) across the screen with our words.
So just add sex words a tonne, no?
Problems, puff, disappear, no?
No!
I know when you hear the word “lust” you immediately think of that which must not be named (even though we mention it in the sentence above).
But actually, you can lust about anything.
Lust is just like a really strong desire about something and the only thing that prevents it from being a really strong desire is that where lust begins, reason ends.
Before I give you the ultimate list of words to drool over, here’s a screenshot from a known gossip tabloid
Can you spot lust words?
Allure Naughty
Arouse Nude
Begging Obscene
Bare Orgasmic
Beguiling Provocative
Brazen Passionate
Captivating Pinning
Charm Pleasure
Cheeky Rowdy
Climax Racy
Crave Risque
Desire Raunchy
Delight Scandalous
Deprive Satisfy
Delirious Sausy
Ectasy Seduce
Embrace Seductive
Enchant Sinful
Enthralling Sensual
Entice Shameless
Explicit Sex
Entrance Spellbinding
Excite Sleezy
Exposed Spicy
Fascinate Steamy
Forbidden Stimulating
Frisky Strip
Goosebumps Sweaty
Heavenly Tantalizing
Hanker Taste
Hottest Tawdry
Hypnotic Tempting
Impure Tease
Intoxicating Tight
Intense Thrilling
Indecent Ticke
Itching Unabashed
Juicy Uncensored
Kinky Untamed
Kiss Untouched
Lascivious Urge
Lewd Voluptuous
Lick Obsession
Lonely Vulgar
Longing Charismatic
Love Compelling
Pleasurable Enchating
Riveting Charismatic
Mouth wateing Engaging
Magnetic Fascintating
Lovely Alluring
Intriguing Whip
Flirt Wet
Lure Wanton
Luscious Wild
Lust X rated
Lush Yearning
Mischeivous Promiscuous
Sneak peak Yummy
#5- Greed Power Words
“If you want people to buy something, stomp on their greed glands until they bleed”
Gary Halbert
We all want more than we have.
And we especially want more than others have.
Grid is baked into our subconscious mind and is impossible to fully escape from it, even if you’re a Hindu monk.
As a marketer you want to stump that greed gland (as put graphically by Gary Halbert) to get people to do what you want them to do.
Here’s an example from a bestselling book by Dave Ramsey:
See how he uses greed power words to excite you and MONEY is even capitalized, as if it doesn’t stand out already.
And here’s a list of 112 greed power words that I’ve been saving just for you.
These will make you rich:-)
Booked solid | Jackpot |
Cash | Lowest price |
Cheap | Luxurious |
Costly | Marked down |
Dollar | Massive |
Discount | Money |
Double | Money-draining |
Moneysaving | |
Explode | Nest egg |
Extra | Pay zero |
Feast | Profit |
Fortune | Quadruple |
Don't miss out | Reduced |
Instantly | Prize |
Never again | Rich |
Giveaway | Savings |
Final | Fast |
Hurry | While they last |
Value | Premiere |
Handsome | Expires |
Big | Monetize |
New | Save |
Kickass | Noteworthy |
Knockout | Moneymaking |
Notable | Lucky |
At the top | Amplify |
Wealthy | Ahead of the game |
Legendary | Beautiful |
Knockout | Good-looking |
Succesful | Attractive |
Foxy | Clever |
Fortunate | Quick-witted |
Smart | Elegant |
Gorgous | Sassy |
Genius | Drop dead |
Elite | Dazzling |
Crowned | Effective |
You | Turbocharge |
Bright | Superhuman |
Brassy | Booming |
Boss | Boost |
Undefeated | Unbeaten |
Exclusive | Price break |
Special | Running out |
Before | Bonsu |
Upsell | Six figure |
Frenzy | Soaring |
Frugal | Surge |
Freebie | Triple |
Free | Soaring |
Greatest | Treasure |
Golden | Skyrocket |
Gift | Triple |
High Paying | Whopping |
Innexpensive | Waste |
Prosperous | Wealthy |
Pro tip: keep in mind that these greed power words are power words only in general content. What I mean is if you’re reading content from the gold IRA and silver IRA niches the copy will be full of greed powers words like “gold”, “silver”, “gold IRA” “silver IRA” “retirement” “portfolio” “IRA” “palladium” “platinum” “gold and silver” and more.
So these power words will not be effective in content that’s overflowing with them. So for example if you’re reading my guides to the top gold and silver IRA companies (best gold IRA companies) and my Augusta Precious Metals review you’ll be pretty much blind to these power words as they’re everywhere.
#6- Encouragement Power Words
People online are like hungry wolves.
Scratch that!
They’re are like hungry wolves in the middle of cold winter.
- no food;
- no shelter;
Only a persistent, gnawing pain of hunger.
They forage for info; they DON’T CARE about you or your writing.
They require information to feed their problems with a solution.
So, they’re hungry, depressed and low on energy. You need to reinvigorate them
Can you do it and how?
Yes. With encouragement words.
These are the words that put the spring back into our step.
They’re the ones that can quickly bring back the wandering attention to your words, so you can easily convey what you want them to do.
Here’s how Steve Pavlina does it at the end of his blog posts.
- Stronger
- Feel empowered
- Powerfully
- Replace fear
- Action
Don’t know about you, but these all get me pumped to get going and shift my life from scarcity to abundance, starting NOW!
Here’s a list to empower your readers to take action. They’re so powerful that it’s an amateur blogging mistake not to use them to your advantage.
Amazing | Jubilant |
Ascend | Life-changing |
Astonishing | Legend |
Astounding | Magic |
Awe-inspiring | Marvelous |
Audacious | Rule |
Awesome | Master |
Backbone | Mind blowing |
Beat | Miracle |
Badass | Miraculous |
Beliefs | Noble |
Blissful | Phenomenal |
Bravery | Persuade |
Breathtaking | Perfect |
Brilliant | Pluck |
Celebrate | Power up |
Cheer | Praise |
Courage | Prevail |
Colossal | Remarkable |
Command | Revel |
Conquer | Score |
Daring | Spectacular |
Defeat | Sensational |
Defiance | Seize |
Delight | Spirit |
Devoted | Spine |
Dignity | Splendid |
Dominate | Strengthen |
Effortless | Staggering |
Empower | Spunk |
Epic | Striking |
Excellent | Strong |
Excited | Stunning |
Extraordinary | Suprising |
Eye-opening | Supreme |
Fabulous | Stunt |
Faith | Terrific |
Fantastic | Thrive |
Fearless | Titan |
Ferocious | Thwart |
Fierce | Terrific |
Force | Titan |
Fulfil | Tough |
Glorious | Triumph |
Glory | Unbeatable |
Graceful | Unbelievable |
Grit | Unforgettable |
Guts | Unique |
Happy | Uplifting |
Hope | Valiant |
Honor | Vanish |
Hero | Victory |
Incredible | Valor |
Jaw-dropping | Wonderful |
Kudos | Win |
Lovable | Wondrous |
Flawless | Brighten |
Adorable | Stupendous |
Beauteous | Classy |
Openhearted | Radiant |
Virtuoso | Jovial |
Affable | Logophile |
Heart | Cheery |
#7- Forbidden Power Words
When you’re forbidden to do something, you want nothing else but to do it.
When you’re forbidden to have something, you want nothing else but to posses it.
It is human nature to be attracted to what we don’t or can’t have, and as a marketer you can tap into that emotion.
And it’s quite easy too.
It’s because people think grass is always greener on the other side and that there’s always some big secret that only if they knew it- all the problems would turn to vapor and be gone.
For example, take a look at how Tim Soulo, a chief content officer at Ahrefs, teases you with his headline about long tail keywords.
I read the piece and it’s excellent.
But let me tell you a dirty little secret (you need to know THIS)- there is no secret.
It’s just clever copywriting from the guys at Ahrefs.
Ancient Lost
Backdoor Never seen before
Banned off the record
Behind the Scenes Off limits
Black market Outlawed
Black listed Private
Bootleg Sealed
Censored Restricted
Remote Be the first
Ridiculous Be an insider
Sevret Closet
Spoiler Bizarre
Shocking Class full
Ssshhh!!! Illusive
Top secret Elusive
Super secret
Hilarious
Thought proboking Incredibly
Trade secret Insane
Uncharted Interesting
Unconventional Invitation only
Unexplored Key
Undiscovered Login required
Unexplained Odd
Untold Members only
Unheard of Myths
Unsung On the QT
Unusual Priceless
Wacky Privy
Zany Psycho
Classified Strange
Hidden Secret
Cloak and dagger Smuggled
Confidential Uncensored
Confessions Tried to hide
Concealed Unauthorized
Cover-up Under wraps
Covert Under cover
Controversial Under-the-table
Forbidden Undisclosed
Forgotten Unexpected
From the vault Unlock
Under the table Unreachable
Little known Unveiled
Ok, we’re inot the good stuff now.
Next you’ll learn how to actually use these words to boos your pretty much everything.
From SEO and social media to branding and awareness, to making more sales and building a brand.
Let’s go!
How to use power words for On-page SEO
On page SEO is crucial for sending relevancy signals to Google and explaining to them what your page is really about. And though there are many content writing tools for SEO designed to make your life easier, it pays to take some time and do things manually, especially for your crucial posts.
On page SEO elements to craft with care and love 🙂 are:
- SEO title
- Headlines (H1)
- meta description
- Sub-headlines
- Intro
- Links
Let’s quickly break down how to use power words for each, shall we?
a) SEO Titles
SEO titles are the second most important relevancy signal for Google (the first is your content)
So, besides making it catchy and attractive, you also need to include your keyword in there so you stand a chance of ranking in Google.
But you can also squeeze in a power word for a quick boost in CTR.
Here’s my SEO title for this guide:
- Free
- Power
- Eat dragons
All words that are bound to catch someone scanning the SERP’s.
And then they’ll “force” them to click on it.
Here’s another example, once again from my site.
My Web hosting free trial guide has the SEO title “free trial web hosting no credit card”
The power words there are “free” “trial” “no credit card”.
It’s a true click magnet.
b) Headlines
“On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar”
David Ogilvy
Trued then;
True now.
Especially with the ever shrinking attention span. You need something that will shock them and pull the from lethargy into excitement and action.
That something is power words, and more specifically- using power words in your headlines since it’s the first thing readers see as soon as your page pops into view.
Writing effective headlines is both an art and a science, and i could drone about it all day long- but I won’t.
I stead, here are some actionable tips to get you started:
- You have ample space. Be wordy and say what you want to say and how you want to say it
- Use your target keyword. Good for SEO but also for readers as they’ll quickly realize they’re in the right place.
- Promise them a tangible benefit if they read the post
- Use Power words
For example:
Kevin Duncan’s post on free blogging platforms has a headline with 3 power words in it:
And here’s my headline for this post:
You can see that it’s longish, has my target keyword, promises a key benefit and includes 5 power words
It’s excellent!
Learn How to Write Awesome Headlines (Even if You’ve Never Written One in Your Life)
Now I have years of experience in internet marketing (still so much to learn though) and I know how to write good headlines.
But what if you’re just starting out?
Are you doomed to live with lousy headlines people regret clicking on?
No!
But you do need to use some beginner tools to help you.
And I have two awesome 🙂 tools for you:
#1- CoSchedule Headline Analyzer
CoSchedule offers a free tool to create better headlines.
You simply need to input your desired headline and the tool will give you a grade and suggestions for improvements.
Here’s the score for the headline of Jon Morrow’s classic post about power words:
Note: One of the best things about CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer is the ability to run as many potential headlines as you need. The system saves your previous headlines and this helps you improve, and then improve upon improvement till you’re satisfied.
#2- EMV Headline Analyzer
This tool is also awesome.
Simply enter your headline and it will give you the emotional score which you can then work to improve on.
For example:
My score for the headline for this post is 64.71%, which is really decent.
c) Subheadings
Subheading are a natural way for you to break apart your posts and make them more digestible to the hurrying eye that scans.
However, you don’t want people to be hurry too much;
and you don’t want them to scan and then just leave.
That kinda defeats the purpose of it all.
Instead:
You want them to stay.
You wish them to buy.
The easiest way to stop stop them in their track is with power words in your subheadlines.
This is because subheadings stand out from the surrounding text and since they are not images which can be glanced over, the eye has to stop to read, and once it encounters your carefully deployed words…
Take a look at a subheading for this very post. I purposely stuffed power word in there to see how far I can take it without it looking too painful to read.
And I think I hit the edge and stopped there 😛
d) Meta Descriptions
Ok, meta descriptions are a surefire way to increase CTR.
Here’s a study that shows how optimized meta description drew in significantly more clicks compared to no meta descriptions.
Now the rules of writing good meat descriptions stay the same:
Make it:
- less than 180 characters
- include your keyword
- have a curiosity gap/ or be clear with what they’ll get/lose
- include a power word
Here’s an example from this post:
Note: When writing your meta descriptions I suggest you use the awesome Portent SEO tool.
It’s because it gives you a superior overview of how your listing will look in the SERP’s once it’s live and ranking #1 😎
Pro tip: Also include a power word. Thise get bolded in the SERP which only boosts your CTR further.
For example, my Fusebox Smart Podcast Player review has the same keyword within my meta description. And it only helps me.
Intro
Your intro is the most important part of your post, a place where the golden rule of copywriting (Golden Rule states: the objective of the first sentence is to get the second sentence read. The objective of the second sentence is to get the third sentence read…) holds true the most.
Because if people don’t read your intro they sure as heck won’t read the rest of the post.
To achieve the results you want (which is readers devouring your piece) you need to use use power words in your intro and ideally those should complement the power words you used in your headline.
Take a look at how I did it for this post
f) Links
Ok,, this is pretty basic stuff but nonetheless important.
if you’re going to have links on the page, you will obviously want to get them clicked, right? (with the exception maybe of outbound links)
So that leaves us with internal links and affiliate links, and the easiest way to boost your link CTR is by making the anchor longer and by including a power word or two.
For example, Jooble’s “jobs in USA” page has links to all job openings across the major US cities. However, their links look pretty bland and boring with just the city name, state, and the number of job openings beneath it. They could spruce up those links with power words and get an average higher CTR.
This would easily result in more profit for them down the line.
For example, if I use a short anchor text like HostGator Black Friday, “Black Friday” there is the power phrase because it implies huge savings for a limited time only i.e., high pressure and urgency.
Yes, it’s long but that’s the point. It also includes three power words (can you spot them?) and is overall going to get a much higher CTR.
Bottom line
Power words can make your affiliate links much clickable and they can also help with internal links CTR which then boosts your site’s overall SEO performance.
#2- How to Use Power Words on YouTube and Social Media
a) YouTube
You can use power words with your your YouTube so as to get more:
- views;
- shares;
- likes;
- comments;
- and ultimately- subscribers.
Here’s how Aaron Doughty a popular new age belief vlogger does it.
Nearly every title in his video archive has clever copywriting and power words are aplenty;
You simply itch to click and feel bad if you don’t
Do power words work for him?
Well, given that he has 842k subscribers, yes I’d say he does alright for himself 😀
b) Twitter
Twitter leaves no room for extraneous words so you won’t be using dozens of power words in such a limited space (only 280 characters).
However, the upside to that is that the power words you do use are going to STAND OUT like CRAZY.
For example:
Here’s how I promoted this guide on Twitter when it was still hot off the press.
Pro tip: you can also use Missinglettr to schedule such provocative tweets. And when you do, don’t forget to use power words in abundance.
c) Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual platform that’s perfect for adding highly visible power words to your pins.
Here’s how Greg Konnenko, a known Pinterest expert, does it with his pins.
Noting more to add here.
Just learn from the best!
d) Facebook
With Facebook marketing, you want to be really targeted with where you promote your stuff. Your best bet are Facebook groups.
For example my friend Navin Rao runs his Facebook group
And that group has an official blog promotion day.
Here’s how I promoted one of my articles there:
These are perfect for spreading the word about your new post because everyone who participates is required to support other bloggers too, so you could get dozens, sometimes hundreds of early visitors very early on.
Bonus tip
Facebook ads are cheap and you could use power word to compel people to give you their click.
Unfortunately, I know next to nothing about advertising on Facebook.
So I won’t waste your time or worse, pull advice out of my ass and give it to you hoping it doesn’t cause too much damage to your business.
e) Social Locker Plugins
Social locker plugins are awesome little things that help you get more traffic flowing to your site over the long haul.
How?
They keep parts of your content hidden and for someone to access it they need to pay the toll by sharing the article with their audience.
Very clever because each person that shares potentially brings in a handful of others and then they might share too…
And all happens passively, which is just beautiful.
Now, to entice folks to unlock the content you need two things:
- One awesome bait, highly relevant to the post they’re on and something they’ll want to check out no matter what
- Power words to DESTROY any resistance they might harbor to sharing.
For example:
Here’s how my friend Enstine Muki does it on his blog post about making money with guest posting.
Wanna see it all?
Then you have to pay the price 😉
#3- How to Use Power Words to Get More Email Subscribers
a) Homepage
Sometimes, getting more traffic means nothing more than keeping the traffic that’s already on your site.
What do I mean?
Take you website’s homepage for example.
Perhaps it’s a welcome mat for your new visitors.
Or maybe you use it to get new email subscribers;
Or maybe you’re doing your best to funnel people deeper into the site. (this is the what I do as my homepage is a list of blog post I recently published).
But, whatever the homepage’s purpose, it needs to capture people so they stay and don’t click the dreaded back button.
How?
With smart power words usage of course!
And with you informing the visitor (who probably never heard of your brand before)- what’s in it for them.
Here’s how NerdFitness does it with their homepage:
Their home page tells you quickly whether you found your new online home or not.
“Nerds,” “Misfits,” and “Mutants” are all unusual and powerful words that speak directly to the hearst and minds of nerds, misfits and mutants who want to lose weight, get stronger and have fun while doing it, without needing a gym membership.
Plus this strong USP work wonderfully to segment NerdFitness into its own little corner, with they dominate with ease by the way.
b) Locked Content
Hat tip to Brian Dean for this one.
if you head over to Baclinko you will see that on his blogroll some posts look like this:
i.e. they’re FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.
But you can still get a glimpse on what the page is about which is also a teaser to hand over your email.
(And take a look at that mass of power words. Psst! I don’t think that’s an accident)
Nicely done Brian,
I think I’ll steal that one 😎
c) Author Bio Boxes
Author bios have a difficult task of convincing people to click on your website link or subscribe to your email list.
And if you’re a kind of person that think glass is half empty, I can almost hear you saying:
“Author bios! Bah! Humbug! (Don’t be a blogging Scrooge).
I only have 3 lines to work with here. I need to say who I am; what I do; my website’s link; my profile links…
There no room for any power words!
But if you’re a person who think the glass is half full, you will say
Hey! I only have 3 lines to work with.
Excellent!
Then even one power word will exert its magic simply because it’ll be unavoidable.
That’s the way to think and you don’t even need to include just one power word.
You can use several.
For example:
Here’s Henneke Duistermaat wrote her author bio for CopyBlogger:
Amazing!
D) Opt in Boxes
Opt-in boxes in the right sidebar are one of the easiest ways to get new subscribers.
The problem?
Everyone and their mom know it which means this tactic is overused and people have developed “sidebar opt-in blindness”
What’s the solution?
The solution is to include power words because they make the blind man see.
Here’s how CopyBlogger used to do it in 2017:
Note:
I used the Wayback Machine to pull it out of their archives.
I have no idea why they removed that optin.
It was so powerful because it had 3 power words clustered in such a small a space; and it was well done and not at all overbearing.
Now, I know this is not an optin per se but clicking the banner lead to a landing page where you could subscribe.
Next, here’s how Eb Gargano does it on her blog post about ways to be more productive blogger.
At the end of a that post there’s a way for you to easily opt in to her list and in return you get a free, step-by-step guide that will help you blog smarter, and not harder.
d) Popups
Popups are a favorite tool among all experienced list builders.
And there’s an excellent reason why- they work!
Even a bad pop-up can help you grow your list over time.
And the good one?
it can help you explode it fast.
What are some things that can make a popup super effective?
There’s too many to mention here, but in the context of this page, it’s power words.
Power words make popups gain superpowers.
When faced with Power-word-dosed popup, even a stingiest in the badest mood ever mood ever visitor is forced to hand over their precious email.
Here’s how the experts at Optin Monster do it.
they use power words like:
- Powerful
- Power
- Real
- as little as
- Industry leading
- Trusted by
to basically guilt you into giving them your email address.
Because if you don’t, you obviously don’t care what happens to your business.
How to Use Power Words to Get More Sales and Build a Brand
a) Sales Pages
If you intend to sell anything online, then your sales pages need to have safety power words on them.
So it’s not enough for folks to trust your brand. they also need to see reassuring words like:
- Fully refundable
- Results
- Research
- Risk free
- Certified
- Cancel anytime
- Foolproof
- etc.
Here’s a nice example from Ramit Sethi and his sales page for his email scripts that are supposedly infallible:
You can see how masterfully he uses them, but what’s really clever is that his safety words are immediately followed by logos of some of the world’s most trusted brands.
You look at this offer and you can’t help but think:
This is a safe bet.
If I purchase these email scripts, it’s really an investment for me because I will become a master of email outreach. I will even be able to reach out (successfully) to
:
- ABC News
- CNN
- The Wall Street Journal
- PBS
- FOX News
- The New York Times
- CNBC
Amazing!
b) Email Marketing
Your subscriber list.
Your treasure trove of TRUE marketing potential
Your absolute best way to make more sales as soon as you press “Send”
And… no one opens your emails
If you keep sending email after email after email yet rarely a subscriber opens it, it means that your subject lines are boring and opposite of enticing.
How to boost newsletter email open rates?
I think you know the answer:
With power words!
For example:
Let’s say you have a new post on SEO tool
You could write in your subject line something like this:
“SEO Tools- The Complete List for a Busy Marketer”!
Not bad!
But not nearly as good as:
“Unlock my secret stash of SEO tools I use every day to beat my competitors left right and center”!
The second version wold rock their world.
c) Business and Domain Names
This has a limited practicability, but it’s worth knowing about.
Because you should not choose your domain and business name based on the power words you’d like to include.
Instead, pick those words and phrases you feel best describe your nascent brand.
However, if you can include a power word, consider it a nifty bonus.
I’ll give you three quick examples
Fist is backlinko.com
It has the word backlink in it.
Now, “backlink” is not a power word per se, but links are power when it comes to ranking in Google.
So the eyes of any SEO’s worth their salt light up whenever they see the word “backlink” even when followed with an o.
So it’s a niche specific power word 😉
Note: the same applies with one-word relevant domain names, which are pue gold on the market.
What are Niche-Exclusive Power Words Exactly?They are word that appear normal on the surface yet speak strongly to a specific niche or audience of people .
For example:
If someone is really into mountain climbing, then to them power words would be “Everest” and “Sherpa’s”,
If someone craves speed then the sure-fire words to fire them up would be:
- Turbo;
- Nitro;
- Rocket.
Or if someone loves the sea and has a flair for adventure then the words:
- Pirates
- La Tortuga
- Treasure
- Nautilus
- Captain Nemo
Are all the right words to use.
The other example is Enchanting Marketing by Henneke Duistermaat.
Her writing style is enchanting so the name fits better that a glove fits a hand.
Finally, there’s Inspire to Thrive by Lisa Sicard.
Lisa manages to sneak two power words into a 3-word name, without making it tacky and overbearing.
In fact, the name is quite elegant if you ask me.
Well done!
Pro tip: You could try a business name generator to get some ideas flowing.
d) Testimonials
I’m not suggesting you change testimonials to include power words.
But I do say that those that have them should get the spotlight.
For example:
my good friend Moss Clement does an excellent job on his testimonials page:
How to get more testimonials?
Two tips:
- have a testimonials page;
- be awesome 🙂
e) Product Names and Descriptions
You have two choices when you’re naming your products:
- Be boring: Use words in your product name that simply describe the product (i.e. this is X)
- Use names that pack a punch: Give your product a descriptive name, but kick it up a notch with power words.
Almost all product names fit into these two categories.
A great example is a friend of mine’s Ryan Biddulph and his blog.
Not only does his blog has a catchy word in his blog’s name and domain (bloggingfromparadise.com) but he also uses it on all of his products.
For example:
here’s how he does it for his course “How to Retire to a Life of Island Hopping through Smart Blogging”
He could have just named his course “How to Retire to a Life of Island Hopping through Blogging”,
But he spiced things up with a power word:
And when you click on the link you can see that he uses power words throughout his sales page.
Yeah, Ryan is a master communicator and no doubt it helps him a tonne.
And those beautiful images don’t hurt either.
Ryan’s blogging career now is globetrottin, taking beautiful images and sharing useful blogging advice on his blog, podcast and ebooks.
Effective!
Power words FAQ- All the Questions You were Afraid to Ask- Answered
#1- What Are the Most Persuasive Power Words
The language of Shakespeare boasts hundreds of effective power words.
And they all exert their dominance over their weaker siblings
However;
the five you’ll find below are great among great; alphas among alphas; and the strongest of the bunch.
These words are…
#1- You
We all like to think that the world came to be when we came to be; and that the Sun comes out every morning to shine on our pretty faces.
So it’s no wonder our mind lights up when we read copy that seems to be written for and speaking with us on intimate terms.
As a marketer, you can achieve this effect by sprinkling you and it’s derivatives across the page.
#2- Because
As humans, when we do pretty much anything, we like to know the reason why we’re doing it. We need to justify our actions to ourselves.
Now, for a marketer who’s trying to sell stuff the easiest way to explain to someone why exactly they need their service or product is to use because.
Why
Because 😀 it’s like a magic word that tears down all hidden objections someone might have before whipping out their credit card.
Want proof?
Take a look at this image from Henneke Duistermaat:
This image shows you the result of a test that happened way back in 1970’s.
So, researcher (Ellen Langer) wanted to test how people waiting in a line to use a photocopier would react to a person who tried to cut the line.
So they had three scenario.
In the first the person said:
“Excuse me, I have 5 pages May I use the Xerox machine”
This polite request got them 60% success rate
The second time the person said:
“Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”
Now, this is a pretty lame excuse because anyone who’s ever been in any kind of a long line will tell you that they too were in a rush and NO, no one let them cut.
So, what happened?
Well, you saw the image so you know but a staggering 94% of people let them pass. That’s the power of because.
Finally, in the third scenario, the person said:
Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?
This silly and weak reason, but accompanied by immensely strong bodyguard (because), still had a 93% success rate.
Mind-boggling when you consider it.
Bottom line
Use because liberally.
Why?
Because I said so!
#3- New
We all welcome novelty in our lives. And we all like new products and services, Something we’ve never seen before.
Be it because we want to be entertained; or because we want to stave off boredom and ennui of day-to-day existence,
Or because we genuinely need some new and better products to improve the quality of our lives.
No matter!
As a marketer writing sales copy it’s your job to subtly instill excitement for the new product you’re describing and also to convey how these new features are a game changer from what came before.
#4- Instantly
Despite science having proven that knowing how to delay gratification is a necessary trait/skill for long term success… we all want things yesterday.
And if we can’t have them yesterday, we want them NOW!
Appease this need for speed by including instantly in your copy along with his brothers:
- immediately
- fast
- quick
- instant
- blazing
- today
- in the next hour
#5- Free
Free is such a ubiquitous work that you’d think it has gone out of style long time ago, but no it’s still there among the top 5 strongest words in the English language.
Here’s an interesting experiment for you to know that allure of free
Dan Ariely revealed the power of free in his book Predictably Irrational, where he examined a very unusual “battle” between Lindt chocolate truffles and Hershey Kisses.
The test was for people to study the value of a 1c Hershey’s Kiss vs a 15c Lindt truffle (much higher quality chocolate)
In the first scenario here’s how people chose:
So they recognized that Lindt truffle is half it’s usual price and found it a good catch of the day.
In the next scenario they lowered the price of both chocolates for 1c each.
Hershey’s Kiss was now free while Lindt cost 14c
And what do you think happen?
The irrational thing of course.
as soon as Hershey’s went free it became irresistible to X% of people.
That is the power of free.
#2- David Ogilvy’s Famous 20. What Are the Words Deemed Most Powerful In the English Language?
In 1963 the famous advertising guru David Ogilvy came out with his list of 20 words he found to be the most persuasive in the English language.
Here’s the list below, and even though it’s almost sixty years vintage, the words there still pack a mighty punch with the people today.
- Startling
- Miracle
- Revolutionary
- Bargain
- Announcing
- Sensational
- Challenge
- Introducing
- Compare
- Improvement
- Now
- Suddenly
- Magic
- Quick
- Easy
- Hurry
- Wanted
- Offer
- Remarkable
- Amazing
#3- This is Quite a List. Should I Try to Use all Power Words in My Copy?
No.
While all these power words are proven to work, context matters a lot
For example:
Take a look at the speech by the man himself Winston Churchill (I’ve underlined the power words)
“We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
These are the words suitable when you’re going to war, but not so much when you’re trying to sell a holiday vacation to your visitor and they’re taking the kids with them.
Then, a much more suitable word pack would be:
- fun;
- incredible;
- perfect;
- jubilant;
- exciting;
- celebrate;
- fantastic;
- fabulous;
#4- If a Power Word Has a Synonym, Should I Use a Simpler Word?
In general, yes.
When writing online simplicity is key as you always want to be clear with your words and you always want to avoid at trying to dazzle your audience with the voluminous and voluptuousness of your vocabulary.
And no, they do net need to know how cerebral you can be 😉
The thing is, people reading online are like wolves hunting for food.
They don’t care about you they don’t care that you wrote something as long as you can feed them.
And clear writing and simpler power words are the way to go.
However, there are exceptions.
For example:
“Cheap” and “inexpensive” are both power words and they are synonyms.
But you really shouldn’t use cheap because it carries the connotation of “not high enough quality”.
#5- I Need a Quote About the Amazing Power of Words. And I’m in a Hurry! Have One?
I have eleven.
Enjoy!
- “Be mindful when it comes to your words. A string of some that don’t mean much to you, may stick with someone else for a lifetime.” -Rachel Wolchin
- “Words are free. It’s how you use them that may cost you.” -KushandWizdom
- “Raise your words, not your voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.” -Rumi
- “The secret of being boring is to say everything.” -Voltaire I like this one 😀
- “One kind word can change someone’s entire day.” -Unknown
- “Be careful what you say. You can say something hurtful in ten seconds, but ten years later, the wounds are still there.” -Joel Osteen
- “Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day.” -Unknown
- “Don’t ever diminish the power of words. Words move hearts and hearts move limbs.” -Hamza Yusuf
- “Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.” -Edgar Allan Poe
- “Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world.” -Lawrence G. Lovasik
- “Your words have power. Speak words that are kind, loving, positive, uplifting, encouraging, and life-giving.” -Unknown
- “The tongue has no bones, but is strong enough to break a heart. So be careful with your words.” -Unknown
I actually gave you twelve wisdom tidbits.
No need to thank me.
#6- Do Power Words Change Meaning Based on Context?
They sure do.
Many words in the English language change their meaning depending on the content they’re used in.
For example:
“”Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas- Grucho Marx”.
Power words are not an exception.
What’s the solution?
The solution is to get educated. I’m not a native speaker and I hired a tutor from Preply to help me. And it did help me tremendously in mastering the subtle nuances of the English language.
They can help you too.
If you can’t afford it, then self educate yourself by reading, A LOT. Over time you will pick up on the words that change their meanings based on the context they find themselves in. You can also play word games to improve your vocabulary in a fun way, and use supplemental tools like word unscramblers to help you learn new words. The more you play, the better you’ll grasp new power words.
#7- Can I Use AI Tools like Jasper AI, Quillbot, Grammarly and Hemingway App to Write Powerful Copy?
Jasper AI is an OpenAI GTP-powered artificial intelligence software that creates human-like copy in an instant. The quality of content is high, but you will need to do some editing as well (this is to improve the copy but also to prevent AI-generated content from being detected).
And if you want the copy it delivers to be full of powerful words, then you will have to manually insert those key phrases, or you can just set the Jasper AI writing tone to “excited”.
Learn more about Jasper AI in my Jasper AI statistics and Jasper AI review guides. My Jasper AI coupon, Jasper AI pricing and Jasper AI free trial are excellent reads as well if you want to learn about Jasper AI.
As for Quillbot, it is a content summarizing and paraphrasing tool, so my advice is to find existing content online that has the power words you need, then use Quillbot to rephrase it, and then just keep the power words intact, or replace them with close synonyms.
Read my Quillbot review to learn more! Occasionally, Quilbot also offers a free trial and discount codes. To learn more it and read my Quillbot free trial, Quillbot pricing and Quillbot discount code guides next.
As for Grammarly and Hemingway App, these tools can’t create content for you, but they let you check it for grammar (both Grammarly and Hemingway App are part of my list of the best grammar checker software here), spelling and writing style errors.
Click the link to get Grammarly Premium free trial, or read my Grammarly vs Hemingway post to learn the key differences between these 2 content editing tools.
For example, Grammarly is also one of the best plagiarism checkers, while Hemingway App can’t detect content duplication at all.
Other Grammarly guides to read are Grammarly statistics, Grammarly student discount and Grammarly pricing tutorial.
#7- Can I Use OpenAI ChatGPT to Generate Power Words?
You can use OpenAI’s ChatGPT to generate power words.
Here’s an example of me telling ChatGPT to generate me 30 power words.
To learn more about OpenAI and ChatGPT make sure you read my OpenAI statistics and ChatGPT statistics guides next.
My DALL-E statistics post is also an excellent read.
Note: DALL-E is also an OpenAI product.
8- Can I Use Google Bard to Generate Power Words?
You can use Google’s Google Bard to generate power words.
Here’s an example of me telling Google Bard to generate 20 power words.
To learn more about Google Bard make sure you read my Google Bard statistics posts next.
9- Can I Use Microsoft Bing Chat to Generate Power Words?
You can use Microsoft Bing Chat to generate power words.
Here’s an example of me telling Bing Chat to generate 20 power words.
To learn more about Microsoft Bing and Microsoft Bing Chat make sure you read my Microsoft Bing statistics and Microsoft Bing Chat statistics guides next.
10- Can I Use Writesonic Chatsonic to Generate Power Words?
You can use Writesonic Chatsonic to generate power words.
Here’s an example of me telling Chatsonic to generate 25 power words.
To learn more about Writesonic and Chatsonic make sure you read my guides to Writesonic pricing, Writesonic free trial and Writesonic discount code next.
#11- Do Power Words Influence SEO in Any Way? Can I Use Them on My Money Pages (the SEMRush example)
Power words definitely can affect your SEO, either positively or negatively.
For example, if you use power words in the headline of a “sensitive” post hoping to entice them to click, it might backfire big time on you.
What is a sensitive post?
It’s the one where you obviously are promoting something, often as an affiliate.
For example, in my SEMrush pricing post, I use a headline that has zero power words in it. This is because I want to keep the tone neutral as much as possible so as to convey the idea that I’m just delivering the necessary information without pressing on them to buy SEMrush.
On the other hand, on certain sensitive posts, it’s advantageous to use power words to increase a chance of a sale.
For example, my SEMrush coupon post has the phrase “that really works” which acts as a power word in this scenario. This is because I know lots of sites are offering fake SEMrush discount codes, and people are fed up with it, and are looking for legitimate deals.
The same thing happens with my SEMrush free trial guide.
I use the words “free” and “learn” liberally in the headline.
Yes, I promote SEMrush a lot. It’s not an accident. SEMrush affiliate program is a powerhouse for commissions.
Concluding My Power Words Guide and Tutorial…
It’s hard to stand out in this crowded digital world. There’s so much competition already and that number is ever on the rise.
What’s the solution then?
Giving up?
Of course not! But you knew that already 😀
And I also think you already know what the solution is. I mean, why else would you be reading my power words master guide?
Yes, the answer is to use language smarter so you can get your message across better and overshadow those that use plain and boring language to try to convince and convert.
Power words VS weak words.
Who wins?
That’s for you to tell me, in the
comments section
below
thanks:)
Nikola Roza
Nikola Roza is a blogger behind Nikola Roza- SEO for the Poor and Determined. He writes for bloggers who don't have huge marketing budget but still want to succeed. Nikola is passionate about precious metals IRAs and how to invest in gold and silver for a safer financial future. Learn about Nikola here.
Hi,
I just wondering about this list because sometimes rank math ask to add power word in my content headlines.
You have provided extensive list of power word and also described how to add them.
I am going to bookmark this page right now for future use.
Thanks for this amazing article. Looking for valuable content.
Thanks,
Regards,
Hey Nikola,
Simply, this is great. When I was reading this, I felt like it is a book. So, if you could, please make this as an ebook because I would like to have this by my side when I write.
Thanks for sharing this fantastic article.
Thanks Nirodha,
Maybe I will make it into an ebook, maybe I will…
Glad you found it so helpful:)
Wow, this was full of value Nikola.
Giant one. Certainly, power words can be used in several areas in a blog or website. I often try to include those, where it makes sense. You have shown some great example as well, how to go about it.
Kudos. I loved it, and thanks for the mention too. Yes our group focused on helping the bloggers.
Hi Navin,
thank for your kind words about my post. Yeah, you almost can’t overuse power words in your writing. And if you want to master writing for the web, they’re a necessary read.
Hi Nikola,
I was speechless after reading this post by you – you have really outdone yourself. It is fabulous and something I’ve bookedmarked for reference.
I love the examples you have show like the chocolates and how FREE can make a difference as well as the 20 most influential words.
This can really help many of us with our content writing Nikola. I used to use co-schedule for headlines until they began to charge. I can only pay for so many plugins and tools at a time 🙁
I am honored to be included as one of your examples here – thank you. Please by safe there and take care!