SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the crucial ladders on your way up to improve your website content. Most people think that the main goal is to rank high on search engines such as Google and Bing, and this is not very far from the truth. However, there is a catch!
You have to appeal to your audience as well, which is probably the most difficult task, and without any doubt a more important one. Before you start writing, you should focus on keywords as they are the building blocks of your future content. What you need to do first is to find the most adequate words that best answer your readers’ questions, and then put them all together to paint the right picture.
Sounds tough? Well, not necessarily. There are a few tips and tricks that are extremely helpful when it comes to choosing the right words and using them to satisfy your purpose. The one that we are going to discuss today is the use of Power Words. Without further ado, let’s cut to the chase and see what types of Power Words there are and how we can use them to our advantage.
Power Words
Copywriters and marketers tend to use certain types of keywords in order to provoke different emotions. These words are called Power Words because of their strong ability to attract a person’s attention. You are sure to captivate your readers’ attention by using power words and thus boost your conversion rate by 12.7%. To make things a little bit easier, we are going to explore the following types of power words:
- Greed Words
- Curiosity Words
- Sloth Words
- Lust Words
- Vanity Words
- Trust Words
- Anger Words
- Fear Words
1. Greed Words
Greed words are those that make you want to know more about the particular subject or buy more stuff than you actually wanted to in the first place. They are usually used in marketing in order to entice the customers’ greed. As we all know very well, we tend to buy more when we see the sign ‘SALE’. This particular word has the power to grab your full attention and make you become as greedy as possible.
The same goes for other Greed Words. When you see them as a part of an ad, they immediately trigger your need to find out more e.g. how can I double my profit or what is the special offer? So, if your aim is to attract new followers or customers, don’t hesitate! Start using Greed Words immediately and you are sure to see the difference very soon.
The most common Greed Words are:
bargain, before, best, big, bonus, cash, cheap, deadline, discount, don’t miss out, double, economical, exclusive, extra, fast, final, first, gift, giveaway, greatest, hurry, instantly, last chance, limited, luxurious, massive, monetize, money, more, never again, new, now, pay zero, premiere, price break, prize, profit, quick, rich, running out, sale ends soon, save, soaring, special, surge, treasure, ultimate, value, while they last
2. Curiosity Words
Curiosity words are used to entice the need of being satisfied. It is wise to use these words when you are writing titles, headlines for blogs or emails, especially if your aim is to attract the attention of your readers and provoke their curiosity. For example, when you see the title ‘Confessions of a shopaholic’, you immediately want to know more about these confessions; in other words, you are curious!
The same goes for titles and phrases like ‘get your unique offer code today, ‘invitation only’, ‘all offers are under the table’, etc. Don’t you want to take a sneak peek at the offers or get a unique offer code? You want to, don’t you? Well, if you use Curiosity Words in this way, your customers will be curious to take an extra look at your offer. Just be creative and pick the right words for your purpose. Easy-peasy!
The most common Curiosity Words are:
banned, be the first, behind the scenes, bizarre, censored, classified, closet, confessions, confidential, covert, crazy, dark, extraordinary, forbidden, hidden, interesting, invitation-only, key, limited, login required, lost, members-only, off the record, priceless, private, restricted, secret, sneak peek, spoiler, strange, stunning, unbelievable, unconventional, under the table, undiscovered, unique, unlock
3. Sloth Words
By using sloth words, you give your bare minimum in order to attract your readers’ attention. These words make items sound more practical than they actually are, so you don’t have to overuse them in order to achieve your goal.
When you hear someone saying ‘Well, that was a child’s play!’ everything is pretty clear. You have received the information that the task was extremely easy, which was exactly the goal of the phrase ‘a child’s play’. The meaning of these words is pretty clear and it is completely unnecessary to further elaborate on something that is ‘free’ or ‘all-inclusive’. The customers understand what you wanted to convey to them, and the purpose of Sloth Words is fulfilled.
The most common Sloth Words are:
all-inclusive, basic, building blocks, cheat sheet, clear, complete, components, comprehensive, downloadable, easy, economical, efficient, effortless, factors, free, freebie, gift, guide, how-to, in less than, in record time, ingredients, instant, kickstart, light, list, minutes, no problem, now, on-demand, painless, pattern, printable, quick, ready, replicate, report, smooth, snap, steps, tools, uncomplicated
4. Lust Words
When you want to provoke a massive hunger for an item, you can use lust words. These words have the power to make your customers think less realistic and lust after finding out more about the product. Just think about the word ‘uncensored’ – try to resist the need of finding out more! And if something is forbidden, it is simply a must to explore what is forbidden and why.
Upon reading the title with Lust Words, people instantly start to wonder what these mind-blowing facts might be, or which exotic places you would visit. Your readers are hungry for more data about the products, facts, or destinations. This means that it was smart of you to use Lust Words.
The most common Lust Words are:
alluring, captivating, charismatic, crave, depraved, desire, dirty, enchanting, engaging, exotic, exposed, fascinating, forbidden, hypnotic, intriguing, lonely, lovely, lust, magnetic, mischievous, naughty, obsession, passionate, pleasurable, provocative, scandalous, sensual, sex, shameless, sinful, sleazy, sleeping, stimulating, striking, sweaty, tease, thrilling, uncensored, urge, wild
5. Vanity Words
Admit it or not, other people’s opinions play a huge role in our lives. We might buy something that we don’t really need because others think that it is a necessity. Also, we might think that if we buy a currently popular item we are going to somehow change our personality and the way we are perceived by others.
The fact is – we are all vain in one way or the other. When we add Vanity Words to this formula, it is impossible to resist buying products that we otherwise wouldn’t even notice. Take a look at any content and pay attention to Vanity Words and the effect they have on you. A powerful trick, isn’t it? If you play the vanity card, you will surely get more attractive content and thus more customers.
The most common Vanity Words are:
amazing, at the top, attractive, beautiful, bold, boost, boss, bravery, bright, brilliant, cheer, clever, courage, daring, effective, elegant, fearless, genius, gorgeous, hero, jaw-dropping, kick-ass, knockout, legendary, lucky, magic, mind-blowing, moneymaking, optimal, prosperous, quick-witted, remarkable, sassy, sensational, smart, spectacular, strong, successful, triumph, ultimate, undefeated, victory, wealthy, wonderful, you
6. Trust Words
One of the most important things and one of the hardest ones to do is to gain your customers’ trust. If your content is not trustworthy enough, the number of your customers might start decreasing after some time. If you use Trust Words when you write the content of your website, you are sure to entice the trust of your readers, which will undeniably result in accelerating your website’s success.
Think about this while you are writing signup forms or your products’ reviews. Use these words carefully and pay attention to their impact. Well, did it work? Do your customers have more trust in the brand now? If the answer is ‘Yes’, it means that you have used the right Trust Words to reach your goal.
The most common Trust Words are:
according to, accredited, approved, authentic, because, best, cancel anytime, case study, certified, don’t worry, ensured, expert, fully refundable, genuine, guaranteed, improved, no obligation, no risk, official, pay zero, privacy, professional, protected, recognized, refund, reliable, research, safety, scientifically proven, secure, studies show, tested, try before you buy, unconditional, verify, well respected, worldwide
7. Anger Words
Whether we like it or not, anger plays a big role in our decision making. It can easily make us do things that are irrational and it can lead us to a different perception of things. Taking this into consideration, you should be extremely careful when you add Anger Words to your content. You must redirect the feeling of anger away from your company and towards your industry in general if you want to provoke the right effect.
When your customers are agitated, they are more likely to pay attention to the solution you are offering. You should consider using this type of words when you are writing an ad, especially an anti-ad (anti-smoking, anti-alcohol, etc.). Take a look at the following sentences ‘Are you sick and tired of smoking? Crush this vicious habit with our latest product!’ It is pretty clear – anger-driven smokers are sure to become your loyal customers! If you put Anger Words like these in your content, the effect will not be omitted. The main thing to remember is to direct the anger to something else, and not to you.
The most common Anger Words are:
abuse, agitate, annoy, arrogant, beat down, boil over, broke, brutal, bully, corrupt, coward, crooked, crush, disgusting, evil, exploit, fear, force-fed, foul, greedy, hate, hostile, know it all, lies, loser, lying, no good, obnoxious, payback, provoke, punish, ruthless, sick and tired, smug, sneaky, snob, stuck up, thug, vicious, victim, violent, waste, weak, worst, wounded
8. Fear Words
An emotion that motivates people the most is certainly fear. Wise marketers use this powerful emotion to get their customers to buy their products, and it works perfectly! The trick is to make your customers think ‘What if I don’t buy this product?’ and make them fear the consequences of their decision. In other words, they will think about what is likely to happen if they miss an opportunity you are currently offering.
The right amount of Fear Words is there to help you get to this point. Just make sure not to exaggerate and scare your customers away instead of making sure they are here to stay. With the right use of these power words, your customers will rush towards an opportunity to see what you are writing about. For example, fear-provoking titles would be ‘5 hazardous household items and their side effects’, or ’10 dumb mistakes that can destroy your career’. Be wise and use Fear Words to make sure your title and content are attention-grabbing.
The most common Fear Words are:
assault, beware, bomb, catastrophe, caution, crazy, crisis, danger, deadly, destroy, dumb, embarrass, fail, feeble, fired, frightening, gambling, gullible, hack, hazardous, horrific, invasion, jail, jeopardy, lawsuit, meltdown, mistake, nightmare, painful, panic, played, poison, poor, prison, revenge, risky, savage, scary, scream, silly, smash, targeted, trap, warning, worry
Conclusion
Do not hesitate to use Power Words. Even proficient writers use them, so don’t think twice. The possibility of adding a special touch to any content is invaluable. Make sure you make the right choice depending on the wanted effect and use these words wisely. Pay close attention to the number of Power Words in your content and make sure not to overuse them.
After all, the use of Power Words can make your content:
Priceless
Obsession-worthy
Wonderful
Effective
Rich
Fascinating
Undefeated
Legendary
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