125+ SEO Power Word Examples to Increase Engagement and Conversions
What is a Power Word?
Power words are a crucial element of effective online marketing. These are words that evoke strong emotions and feelings in readers, making them memorable and attention-grabbing.
When used strategically in marketing copy, they can persuade readers to take action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to a newsletter. Power words can also help differentiate a brand from competitors in a crowded digital landscape by activating an emotional response.
Creating a sense of urgency or scarcity, making a customer feel supported and a part of an exclusive membership, and establishing a sense of attachment to your brand are all ways power words work to make your marketing more effective.
By incorporating power words into your marketing strategy, your business can increase engagement and ultimately, boost conversions. It's important to use these words thoughtfully, however, as overusing them can come across as insincere or manipulative.
Where to Use Power Words
So, where can you use power words in your marketing? The simple answer is almost anywhere! You probably see them being used in the news, article headlines, instagram captions, and email subject lines.
Think of the last email newsletter you opted-in for. What made you give away your email? You were likely promised a freebie like a checklist, a quick-start guide, or a nice discount to a course you’ve been considering purchasing.
Perhaps the landing page read something like:
For a Limited Time Only- Download our Free Research-Backed Blog Template so You Can Start Posting Today!
There are several power words in that title that make you feel a sense of urgency, trust, and ease.
The template promises to be research-backed indicating it is valuable and likely to provide results.
This is a limited time offer so you are forced into making a quick decision or you may miss out on this opportunity.
Since they are offering a template, you feel like this will make your life easier and you can start creating blog content today.
The purpose of power words is to increase clicks and conversions for your business. Higher click rates mean your pages will start to rank higher on search engine results and you’ll be able to beat out your competition in the process (RankMath, 2023).
Hopefully, this gives you a good idea of the importance of power words and how they can improve both your SEO and marketing. Below is a list of some of my favorite power words to use in my content creation.
Click here to download the full list and save to your desktop so you can reference whenever you are writing something new!
To Build Trust
Building trust with your audience is key if you want them to buy from you. You wouldn’t promote a product that was unprofessional or didn’t deliver on its promise.
These power words to build trust offer trusted solutions to your client’s pain points with very little risk. Try them today!
Absolute
Fool-proof
Risk-free
Research-backed
Safe
Guarantee
Reliable
Bestselling
Definitive
Professional
Above and beyond
Rock solid
Approved
Authentic
Legit
Superior
No-obligation
Tested
Official
Promise
Patented
Worry-free
Verified
Endorsed
Anonymous
To Pique Curiosity
Ever have a reel go viral on Instagram or get stuck scrolling through TikTok watching videos on cooking because you just.couldn’t.stop?
Maybe you used a hook or interesting image in the first second of your video to capture people’s attention. This list of power works to pique curiosity makes it almost impossible for people not to click on your content.
Be the first
Strange
Hilarious
Super secret
Insiders Only
Behind the Scenes
Get the Scoop
Invite Only
Exclusive Access
Banned
Sneak Peak
Ancient
Trade secret
Invitation only
Little known
Classified
Under wraps
Uncover
Unexpected
Unbelievable
Eye-opening
Confession
Genius
Crazy
Surprising
To Show Ease and Efficiency
I am the queen of buying courses that help teach me processes and procedures that improve my business and help me save time. I could’ve spent hours on YouTube trying to learn web design, but instead I purchased a course from Paige Brunton and learned it in half the time.
If your course, product, or freebie promises to make someone’s life easier, definitely promote that using some of these power words for efficiency found below.
Easy
Simple
Time-Saving
Fast
Hack
Free
Guide
Manageable
Efficient
No-nonsense
In less than…
Cheat sheet
Comprehensive
Manageable
Downloadable
Straightforward
List
Template
Tools
Fill in the blanks
Copy
All-inclusive
All encompassing
In record time
Ready
To Promote Urgency
You likely see examples of the power words for urgency all of the time. I can probably go into my email right now and see 10 different companies promoting limited-time only sales.
By setting a firm deadline to act, the company is forcing you to make a decision. I know if I can save a few bucks to buy something now vs. waiting a week and spending more, I will choose to make that purchase today.
Even if the deadline is arbitrary, creating that sense of urgency awakens people’s FOMO (fear of missing out) and is a good strategy for encouraging people to act on your offers.
Now
Rare
Limited
Temporary
Hurry
Only
Exclusive
Today
Immediate
Instant
Bonus
Bargain
Run Out
Last Chance
Deadline
Final
Never Again
Act Fast
Expiring
Won’t Last
Can’t Miss
Frenzy
Giveaway
Sweepstakes
Scarce
To Evoke Fear and Anger
You’re probably wondering, “why would I want to make someone angry with my words?” You see, sometimes negative words work to get someone to take action.
If you were doing something in the “worst” or “slowest” way possible, you’d want to fix that, right?
Look at my blog post about making website mistakes. Why would I give out information about mistakes people make on their website? Not to call anyone out but rather to show people that doing these things is the wrong thing to do. The key is to offer solutions to their problems so you end up the hero!
By using this list of words, you will play on your audience’s pain points. Pain points are specific problems faced by current or prospective customers and are often motivating factors to elicit change.
HubSpot lists 6 types of pain points when it comes to business. They are:
Positioning pain- the challenges businesses face when positioning themselves in their industry
Financial pain- challenges caused by funding or finances, such as not making enough money to afford the rent of a brick and mortar business.
People pain- challenges with morale, turnover, people management and culture.
Process pain- challenges implementing repeatable processes in the business. A business owner may be struggling to stay afloat because they are not staying in their zone of genius or hiring out tasks that they don’t need to be handling.
Productivity pain- roadblocks preventing a company from working efficiently. The business may have to submit plans to their local government and aren’t able to get the work done without the proper permits.
Small business pain- challenges that specifically face small businesses. This can be a number of problems such as lack of funding or resources, lack of motivation, or even lack of interested consumers.
Try using a word from this list in a blog post title to help your reader see that the solution you’re offering is going to take them from frustration to peace.
Absurd
Agonizing
Awkward
Catastrophe
Dangerous
Exposed
Heartbreaking
Lame
Painful
Mediocre
Traumatizing
Useless
Worst
Unpopular
Pitfall
Mistake
Warning
Annoying
Pain
Terrible
Exploit
Sick and tired
Ruined
Lies
Spoiled
Conclusion
The last point I will make about using power words in your copywriting is to be careful not to over-promise and underdeliver. Your headlines should match the content you are promoting so that when people click on your links, they don’t quickly jump off because they realize you are not actually answering their question.
Power words should be used in marketing copy to persuade readers to take action. They can increase engagement and boost conversions when used thoughtfully. However, it is essential to be aware of the potential to overuse power words that can come across as insincere or manipulative.
Power words can be used in any area of content creation, such as headlines, Instagram captions, email subject lines, and more. Use the provided list of power words to build trust, pique curiosity, show ease and efficiency, promote urgency, and evoke fear and anger. Use these power words to create content that will drive traffic to your website and increase sales and conversions.
And if you’re ready to take the next step to learning SEO, be sure to check out my new course: RANK Method- An SEO and Marketing Course for Busy Business Owners.
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