Do you want to improve your conversions without spending a ton of time testing different designs and layouts?
You could see up to a 12.7% increase in your conversion rates simply by sprinkling a few power words into your copy.
In this post, we’ll share a list of 700+ powerful words that you can cut and paste to boost your website conversions, sales, and revenue. We’ll also share the definition of power words and how to use each category of power words with real-world examples.
Let’s begin.
Exclusive Bonus: Download our 700+ Power Words Cheatsheet to Boost Your Conversions.
What are Power Words?
Power words are strong words that smart copywriters use to trigger a psychological or emotional response. They’re called “power words” because they are so persuasive that people simply can’t resist being influenced by them!
That’s likely the simplest power words definition, i.e., powerful words that trigger the desired emotion and action.
But power words aren’t just for copywriters. They can be used by any marketer–even inexperienced ones–to motivate people to take a specific action on their website.
Whether you want to entice your visitors to read a blog post, opt into your email list, or click the “Buy Now” button on your sales page, power words are arguably the quickest and easiest way to increase your conversion rates.
In fact, Teespring increased their conversions by 12.7%, just by adding a few powerful words to their call-to-action!
Are you ready to add the most powerful words to your marketing arsenal?
A List of 700+ Powerful Words
Here is a list of power words that you can use to trigger just about any emotion and increase your conversions, sales, or revenue.
We’ve categorized these most effective and powerful words into the following categories:
- Power Words That Trigger FOMO and Greed
- Power Words That Evoke Curiosity
- Power Words That Promote Ease and Convenience
- Power Words for Increasing Desire
- Power Words for Bragging
- Power Words That Increase Trust
- Power Words That Provoke Anger
- Power Words That Create Fear
1. Power Words: Greed and FOMO
Greed is the natural human tendency to want more stuff than we actually need.
These power words can trigger that tendency by playing on scarcity and FOMO (fear of missing out), or simply by making something sound more valuable.
| Bargain Before Best Big Billion Bonanza Bonus Cash Cheap Deadline Discount Dollar Don’t miss out Double Economical Exclusive Expires Explode Extra Fast Feast Final First Fortune |
Frenzy Frugal Gift Giveaway Greatest Guilt-free Hurry Inexpensive Instantly Jackpot Last chance Limited Luxurious Marked down Massive Monetize Money More Nest egg Never again New Now Pay zero Premiere |
Price break Prize Profit Quadruple Quick Reduced Rich Running out Sale ends soon Save Savings Six-figure Skyrocket Soaring Special Surge Treasure Triple Ultimate Up-sell Value While they last Whopping |
How to Boost Conversions with Greed Words
Rich Page tested two different headlines on his exit popup. The first headline read, “Is Your Website Optimized for High-Sales? Grab my free conversion toolbox and start succeeding!”
In the second popup, he tweaked the headline to include a few powerful words (circled in red below).
This version converted much better than the first, and with this optimized popup, he was able to increase his signup rate from 12% to 50%!
Another great use of greed power words is using them to promote giveaways and online contests. Learn how to run an online contest to grow your traffic and generate leads.
2. Power Words: Curiosity
According to curiosity-drive theory, curiosity is a naturally occurring urge that simply must be satisfied, similar to how we satisfy hunger by eating or thirst by drinking.
These power words will make your blog post headlines, email subject lines and landing page headlines impossible to resist.
| Astonishing Backdoor Banned Be the first Become an insider Behind the scenes Bizarre Black market Blacklisted Bootleg Censored Class full Classified Closet Concealed Confessions Confidential Controversial Cover-up Covert Crazy Cringeworthy Dark Elusive Extraordinary Eye-opening Forbidden Forgotten Hidden Hilarious |
Hush-hush Illegal Illusive Incredibly Insane Insider Interesting Invitation only Key Limited Little-known Login required Lost Members only Myths Odd Off the record Off-limits On the QT Outlawed Priceless Private Privy Psycho Remote Restricted Ridiculous Secret Secrets Shh! |
Shocking Smuggled Sneak peek Spoiler Strange Stunning Super secret Thought-provoking Top secret Trade secret Unauthorized Unbelievable Uncharted Unconventional Under the table Under wraps Underground Undiscovered Unexplained Unexplored Unheard of Unique Unlock Unsung Untold Unusual Wacky Withheld Zany |
How to Boost Conversions with Curiosity Words
Take a look at this example from a thank-you page on Mary Fernandez’s site after someone opts in for their email list.
The goal was to increase click-throughs to their private Facebook group by making subscribers curious to see what’s on the “other side.”
How many powerful words can you spot?
If you counted seven, you’re right!
3. Power Words: Ease and Convenience
Everybody loves ease and convenience. People are not usually motivated to do more than the absolute minimum work to achieve their goals.
The right power words can convey to readers how easy it is easy to do something. Because they don’t have to do much or put in a lot of effort, they are more likely to take action.
| Accessible All-inclusive Basic Building blocks Cheat sheet Child’s play Cinch Clear Complete Components Comprehensive Copy Downloadable Easy Economical Efficient Effortless Elementary Elements Factors Fail-proof Fill in the blanks Formula Free |
Freebie Gift Guide How-to In less than In record time Index Ingredients Instant Itemized Kickstart Light List Manageable Manifest Mere Minutes Model Mold No nonsense No problem No sweat Nothing to it Now |
On demand Painless Pattern Picnic Piece of cake Plain Printable Quick Ready Replicate Report Roadmap Simple Simple as ABC Smooth Smooth sailing Snap Straightforward Steal Steps Swipe Template Tools Uncomplicated |
You can use these power words to make your lead magnets sound more digestible, to make your products sound more useful, and to make your headlines more enticing.
How to Boost Conversions with Sloth Words
Here’s an example of a blog post headline we’ve used that works very well.
Can you spot all the power words?
Did you get all five?
4. Power Words: Desire and Lust
Lust is usually thought of as sexual, but it’s actually just an intense desire for any item. When we lust after something, we crave it so badly that we stop thinking rationally.
Use these tantalizing strong words to amplify that craving and encourage people to take action.
| Alluring Brazen Captivating Charismatic Compelling Crave Depraved Desire Dirty Enchanting Engaging Exotic Exposed Fascinating Flirt Forbidden Hypnotic Intriguing |
Lascivious Lick Lonely Lovely Lust Magnetic Mind-blowing Mischievous Mouthwatering Naked Naughty Obsession Passionate Pleasurable Promiscuous Provocative Riveting Scandalous Sensual |
Sex Shameless Sinful Sleazy Sleeping Spank Steamy Stimulating Striking Sweaty Tantalizing Tawdry Tease Thrilling Uncensored Urge Wanton Whip Wild |
How to Boost Conversions with Lust Words
List25 uses a lust word combined with curiosity words to make for an irresistibly provocative headline.
Did you spot the 3 power words in the featured headline on the right?
5. Power Words: Vanity and Bragging
You may not think of yourself as “vain”. However, researchers have found that vanity is one of the chief driving forces that lead to purchase decisions.
The fact is, we buy into things because of how we think they will make us look: both to others and to ourselves. And it’s not just that we want to look good physically, but we also want to look successful.
Use these power words to show how your offer (whether it’s a product, service, or lead magnet) will make your visitor look more attractive and more successful.
| Ahead of the game Amazing Amplify At the top Attractive Awe-inspiring Beautiful Bold Booming Boost Boss Brassy Bravery Brazen Bright Brilliant Cheer Clever Conquer Courage Crowned Daring Dazzling Defiance Drop-dead Effective |
Elegant Elite Enchant Epic Fearless Fortunate Foxy Genius Good-looking Gorgeous Guts Handsome Hero Jaw-dropping Jubilant Kick ass Knockout Legendary Lucky Magic Mind-blowing Moneymaking Notable Noteworthy Optimal Prosperous |
Quick-witted Remarkable Sassy Saucy Sensational Smart Spectacular Spine Staggering Strong Stunning Successful Super-human Triumph Turbo charge Ultimate Unbeaten Undefeated Valor Vanquish Victory Wealthy Wonderful Wondrous You |
How to Boost Conversions with Vanity Words
Snack Nation uses one carefully chosen power word to increase conversions on their popup.
Do you know what power word it is?
Yes, “hero”! They know that their customers love getting positive attention and praise from their co-workers, so of course, they would love to be seen as the “office hero”.
(Bonus points if you also noticed that the words “without lifting a finger” is a great sloth power phrase, even though we didn’t include it in this list.)
6. Power Words: Trust
Have you ever thought that trust is really what content marketing and email marketing are all about?
Whether you are writing blog posts, creating signup forms, sending emails, or tweaking your product pages, the real purpose behind all of that is to build trust between the consumer and your brand.
Use these powerful words to speed up the trust-building process.
| According to Accredited Anonymous Approved Authentic Authoritative Authority Backed Because Best Best selling Bona fide Cancel anytime Case study Certified Dependable Don’t worry Endorsed |
Ensured Expert Fully refundable Genuine Guaranteed Improved Ironclad Lifetime Moneyback No obligation No questions asked No risk No strings attached Official Pay zero Privacy Professional Protected |
Proven Recession-proof Recognized Refund Reliable Research Results Safety Scientifically proven Secure Studies show Tested Track record Try before you buy Unconditional Verify Well respected Worldwide |
How to Boost Conversions with Trust Words
In this test at Teespring, the power words “don’t worry” were added in the fine print below the call to action button and tested against a control.
The result of just this one tiny tweak in wording was a 12.7% boost in conversions! (That’s huge!)
7. Power Words: Anger
Anger has a huge influence on our perception, reasoning, and decisions. It makes us irrational, which can lead to choices that actually have no bearing on the thing that initially made us angry.
Stirring up the emotion of anger in your visitors and customers is a bad idea when it is targeted at your company. However, it can also work for you, if the anger is directed at something else.
Think about what makes your prospect angry about your industry. Stir up those emotions with these powerful words, then provide the solution.
| Abuse Agitate Annoy Arrogant Ass kicking B.S. Backstabbing Beat down Boil over Broke Brutal Buffoon Bullshit Bully Corrupt Coward Crooked Crush Diatribe Diminish Disgusting Evil Exploit Fear |
Force-fed Foul Greedy Hate Hostile Know it all Lies Loathsome Loser Lying Maul Miff Money-grubbing Morally bankrupt Nazi No Good Obnoxious Payback Pitiful Pound Preposterous Provoke Punish Raise hell |
Rant Revolting Ruthless Screw Sick and Tired Smug Sneaky Sniveling Snob Snooty Snotty Stink Stuck up Thug Underhanded Vicious Victim Violent Waste Weak Worst Wounded |
How to Boost Conversions with Anger Words
Advertisements that use anger have been shown to be highly effective. In a study by researchers from Dartmouth and Cornell, anti-smoking TV commercials that used anger to appeal to the viewer’s emotions were more persuasive than those that used sadness.
This ad from Harley Davidson received a lot of praise for blatantly stating the angry, rebellious thoughts on people’s minds in regard to the economy.
Did you find all the power words?
8. Power Words: Fear
Fear is perhaps the most powerful motivator of all. It’s that primal instinct that keeps us safe, that keeps us alive.
If you want to inspire your readers to take action–whether that’s sharing your blog post, downloading your lead magnet, or buying your product–use these strong words to make them fearful of what might happen if they don’t.
(Just make sure you don’t completely paralyze them with fear: also, provide an actionable solution to their problem.)
| Agony Annihilate Apocalypse Armageddon Assault Backlash Beating Beware Blinded Blood Bloodbath Bloodcurdling Bloody Bomb Bufoon Bumbling Cadaver Cataclysmic Catastrophe Caution Collapse Corpse Crazy Cripple Crisis Danger Dangerous Deadly Death Destroy Devastating Disastrous Drowning Dumb Embarrass Epidemic Fail Feeble Fired |
Fool Fooled Frantic Frightening Gambling Gullible Hack Hazardous Hoax Horrific Hurricane Insidious Invasion IRS Jail Jeopardy Lawsuit Looming Lunatic Lurking Meltdown Mired Mistake Murder Nightmare Painful Pale Panic Peril Piranha Pitfall Plague Played Plummet Plunge Poison Poor Prison |
Pummel Pus Reckoning Refugee Revenge Risky Savage Scary Scream Searing Shatter Shellacking Silly Slaughter Slave Smash Strangle Stupid Suck Suffering Tailspin Tank Targeted Teetering Terror Terrorist Torture Toxic Tragedy Trap Trauma Vaporize Victim Volatile Vulnerable Warning Worry Wounded Wreaking havoc |
How to Increase Conversions with Fear Words
Jon Morrow, known for his fear-inducing blog posts, uses powerful words to get his visitors to read and take action.
Here’s an example:
Did you spot the power words?
Conclusion (Power Word Style!)
Don’t be a slave to the endless grind of tweaking and testing when you can simply copy the words that the experts use.
With this complete power words list, you are now equipped to turbocharge your conversions in record time!
What are your favorite power words? Can you think of a few we missed? Let us know in the comments!
Exclusive Bonus: Download our 700+ Power Words Cheatsheet to Boost Your Conversions.
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Hi Mary,
A great comprehensive article with a lot of very useful words. Thanks for putting it together.
Daniel
Ps. I believe you’re missing an opportunity to grow your own list by not providing a PDF version of the words to download and keep in exchange for an email address.
Thanks, Daniel! The downloadable version is actually coming soon… Thanks so much for reading!
This is a sensational article and resource that Kicks-Ass! Thank you!
Looking forward to the downloadable version…
Steve
Thanks, Steve! The downloadable version is now available! Just click on the big blue box with the yellow “Download Now” button below the post.
What a terrific download. Too often, you download something with high expectations only to find you have been conned.
My work is in politics and strength-based thinking – where words make our world.
As a side, very interesting to see the words the Dems/progressives use and the GOP.
Clearly, one side has been listening to you. (LOL)
Thanks again and will take a close look at your work.
Yale Wishnick
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the download, Yale! Great point, power words are extremely valuable in the political world. Thanks for your comment!
Daniel beat me to it. I was going to pose the same reply. Thanks Daniel and Mary. Larry @www.larryrmiller.com
Thanks, Larry! The downloadable version is now available… just click on the big blue box with the yellow “Download Now” button right below the post. 🙂
Why does clicking on ‘Download now’ just bounce me to the top of the page?
Christina, have you tried ctrl+Click?
Do you have an extension on your browser that is blocking popups?
Wow, that’s a huge list and thanks for the cheat sheet. Surely implement it.
I’m so happy you will be implementing this, Madhusudhan!
Hey Mary,
Thanks for providing the list! You must have done lot of research for it!
I will grab some of these words and use it on my Blog. Kudos!
Glad you enjoyed the article, Anand. Our guide on How to Write the Perfect Call to Action is a good followup. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook to keep up with all our content.
Thank you for dividing these up into category. Personally, due the nature of me and the clients I serve, I’d like to stay away from anger words. However the curiosity and some of the vanity and trust words are right up my alley!
Kara Louise
Glad you found that useful, Kara Louise. 🙂 You might also like our recent article on how to write the perfect call-to-action. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to keep up with our articles as we publish them.
Thank you for sharing this. We are always seeking better ways to drive reactions and actions in our marketing pieces. these words will be a good pool to use in doing so.
Happy to help, Scott. Try using those power words with these blog post ideas for even better conversions. 🙂
Was surprised not to see ‘recommended’ in the list of Trust Words
In terms of building trust, the source of the recommendation is likely more important than the fact that something is recommended, Bob.
Extensive and helpful list for anyone who wants to connect and expand.
I am going to experiment with your list in my sales email.
Thank you for a great job.
Thank you for the free keyword list. I believe the list will be a fantastic tool for me.
Hey Kathie,
Thanks for commenting 🙂 We’re so happy to be able to provide you with these kinds of tools and resources!
Awesome article. Thanks! 😀
Thanks a Lot
Thanks for the power words list. Certainly will be a great tool for me. Thanks again!
Dear Mary,
Just after I read about “Power Words”, I needed to learn more. Your article taught me the concept – precisely! Thank you so much for this article. This will provide me with a great tool in my content writing.
Very helpful to our blog post. Thanks, much for sharing, I saved all the power words and we will use this in our blog post.
I literally bookmarked this page so I can comeback and use this list to improve my article titles. This is great stuff. I love how they are broken down.