Do “Catchy” Words Really Trigger More Headline Clicks? The Power Word Debate Solved

Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Power words and phrases have been used in sales copy since the birth of advertising. Repeatedly, tactical word use has been proven to impact consumer engagement. In fact, word use is at the center of nearly every sales message. Yet, while some writers still add massive power word lists to their swipe files every day, other contemporary copywriters and content creators cringe at the idea. 

So, what’s wrong with power words? …and, do they actually make your online headlines more clickable? Read on to find out. 

Here, we’re going to cover: 

• Why Do Some Copywriters Curse the Idea of Power Words?
  • Disruptive Trends in Modern Marketing
• Key Factors That Contribute to Headline Clickability
  • Emotional Triggers
  • Urgency
  • Relevance
  • Grammar & Clarity
  • Character Length
  • Numbers
• 50 Powerful Words to Use in Content Headlines
  • +Bonus: Alternatives to Use Instead of Boring Words
• Conclusion

Read carefully because you can tremendously improve headline clickability if you apply everything you read in this article. 

Why Do Some Copywriters Curse the Idea of Power Words for Headlines? 

My sixth-grade language arts teacher once gave me an ‘expressive words’ list printed on a sheet of hot pink paper. I carried it around in the back of my binder through my high school graduation day — dust-stained edges, handwritten notes, and all. Since then, a lot has changed.  

In the mid-2000s, I remember reading a survey that estimated somewhere close to 80% of people on the planet aspired to write a book. And, I can’t imagine the number has changed much. Most people want to be writers. Unfortunately, a tiny portion of those who have the desire ever reach the end goal. 

The point: Professional writers put a ton of work into skill development. Copywriters specifically learn to write headlines that engage, inform, and captivate. They learn the nuances of how to keep readers interested and moving through sales funnels. Writers’ unique methods are developed over time through thousands of hours of education, research, trial, and error. 

Now, imagine that someone comes along and tells an experienced sales writer that if they use a word like “magnificent” in their headlines, more readers will click through to view their articles and landing pages. At this, the writer rolls their eyes because they know it’s not that simple. 

The truth is there are multiple factors that contribute to headline clickability. A standalone “powerful words” list that claims to “make your writing stand out from the competition” is an insult to a professional who has invested blood, sweat, and tears to hone their wordcraft. 

When my young self carried a tattered list of words from classroom to classroom, my relationship with language was still young and full of wonder. Now, I know that catchy words are a little-bitty piece of a massive puzzle. 

The Latest Disruptive Trends in Modern Marketing

In addition to the recoil you get from copywriters, consider the world right now. We’re in a pandemic and, if it doesn’t already, this should have a major impact on your content marketing.

The current global crisis pressed the fast-forward button on an already gimmick-intolerant consumer market — here are some facts to illustrate. 

• An “untrusted company” is #3 on the list of top factors that steer consumers away from doing business with a brand (PWC). If people don’t trust you, they don’t want to do business with you. And, if you think you’re going to manipulate readers with your headlines, you’ll only build skepticism.  
• More than half of commercial content was predicted to be created outside marketing departments by 2020 (ResearchGate). User-generated content has always had a higher trust factor than brand-created promotional materials. All corporations might as well be run by reptilian hybrids who only want us to obey and consume. As a brand, you almost have to prove otherwise. 
• In 2020, the brands that humanized and softened themselves were the ones who kept consumers connected when people weren’t purchasing (CommerceNext). Every marketing agency leader and company owner I’ve talked to since the onset of COVID-19 has had the same opinion — this year marks a time for brands to get real. 
• Authenticity, hope, camaraderie, empathy, compassion, and factual context are the prescribed brand messaging themes in response to the Coronavirus pandemic (Inc). People are stressed. Most of us carry unusually heavy weight right now. We can’t handle any more B.S. 

These trends show that brand messaging must be genuine. No matter who your audience, inauthenticity poses the risk of making people feel as if your company doesn’t notice or care about them. 

Notwithstanding, there are proven steps you can take to boost headline clickability while educating, helping, and being real with your readers. 

6 Key Factors That Contribute to Headline Clickability 

You can’t just haphazardly throw together multiple power words to hypnotize headline viewers to click. There’s a craft you must learn. Mastery over the following can make your headlines more enticing for readers. 

1. Emotional Triggers 

If you know about sales psychology, you understand that emotional triggers drive action. Article and page headlines are considered effective when they drive the reader to click through and read more. For optimal clickability, stimulate the right emotions. 

There are proven, specific emotional triggers that lead to more sales. But, we’re not talking about product packaging or calls to action. Instead, we are crafting headlines that move website traffic from an external source (such as a search engine, social media platform, or curation website) to a webpage through a click, not a sale. 

When they describe headline psychology, experts typically declare five or seven or ten basic emotions to trigger. None of these people are wrong. However, there’s another approach. 

I like to study something until I understand it inside and out, then simplify it to it’s most relevant parts before I tuck it into my tool belt. In the case of headline writing, I focus on one central emotion: curiosity.  

Curiosity alone leaves readers with an impulse to learn more. But, people are busy, so it’s best to go the extra mile. Curiosity paired with a secondary emotion can give someone enough energy to actually follow through on their click impulse. Reflect for a moment on what it’s like when you feel the following. 

• Curiosity + Excitement 
• Curiosity + Contempt 
• Curiosity + Passion 

These combinations aren’t easy to ignore. So, when you write a headline, imagine whether or not readers will feel curious when they read it. If you’re sure they will, you’re on the right track. 

2. Urgency 

Next in the chain of clickability command is to create a sense of urgency. When writing headlines, you should be asking, ‘How can I make readers want to learn more right now?’ 

There are numerous ways you can do this. 

First, urgency can be nurtured through supply or time-scarcity: 

• Only Three Spaces Left… 
• This Promotional Pricing Ends Today
• Final Deadline: October 29, 2020

Next, you can pose a threat: 

• If You’re Not Ready, You Might Have to Close Your Doors
• This Guy Missed Out on $10K Because They Didn’t Have This

But, these aren’t my favorite strategies. Instead, I like to write headlines that simply hint at answers to pressing questions. 

• Are You Making This Mistake? (Wait… what? I don’t know… am I?… *click*)
• Here’s How to Get X Right (I have been curious about how to X… *click*)
• 7 Ways to Make Your Content Stand Out (I wonder if there’s something here that I haven’t already heard… *click*)

The latter approach is softer and — as long as your content delivers the goods — more trustworthy. Ultimately, brand messaging needs be handled on a case-by-case basis and there’s no shame in using any tactic you like. The essential clue here is that if you can drive urgency, it will give readers the push they need to click through. 

3. Relevance 

Now, this brings us to relevance. Your headline must be relevant to your content. Your content must be relevant to your audience. And, your headline needs to appeal to your target audience in a fitting way. 

If your readers are c-level executives at enterprise financial companies, you probably don’t want your headlines to include metaphors about dog food. Instead, maybe you want to mention fintech, banking, or another relatable figure of speech. 

However, there is an exception to this rule. If your ideal buyer personas tell you that c-level executives at enterprise financial companies tend to purchase dog food, go for it! 

The more you know about your audience and their desires, the more fuel you have for your headlines. All parts of your offer, including article and page headlines, should resolve their pain points. 

4. Grammar & Clarity

What is central message of your headline? In most cases, clarity comes down to simple grammar. When we get carried away with keyword phrases and SEO factors, sometimes our headlines just don’t make sense. 

Unfortunately, if readers don’t immediately understand what you’re saying, they quickly move on to the next thing and never look back. 

Luckily, you don’t have to be a native English speaker or even a lit guru to get grammar right. Writing helper tools can go a long way in giving your headlines more clarity. 

Here are three proofreading tools that I trust: 

1. Grammarly 
2. Hemingway 
3. Outwrite 

If you’re not 100% certain that your headlines and content are clear and grammatically correct, use one of the above tools and/or hire a proofreader to review your content before you hit publish. 

5. Character Length 

Now, headline length plays a major role in clickability. And, there are two central factors that should determine the length of your headlines: Psychology and distribution channel(s). 

According to Fast Company, at first glance, readers only look at the first three and the last three words in a headline. So, they say headlines should be six words in length. But, if you settle on this approach, you will lose sight of clarity. 

And, if you notice, the article that shared this advice used double their own recommendation:

The author knows as well as anyone that there isn’t a black and white answer to how long a headline should be. So, here’s what to keep in mind. 

• How will your headline render when a link is shared on social media? 
• How will your headline appear in search results? 
• Will readers be able to view the entire headline or will it be cut-off? 
• If it will be cut-off, have you front-loaded the most important words?  

As of today, the fourth result in a Google search for “headline length,” shows a headline that cuts off in the middle of a statement:

In this case, it doesn’t really matter that some of the words are missing because the point has been made. Plus, the missing portion leaves readers with a new question: ‘Are short headlines more what?’ which makes it even more engaging (remember: curiosity is priceless).

Note that every distribution channel has distinct character limits for page titles. 

• Search Engine Results Pages 
  • Google – Up to 70 Characters
  • Yahoo – No Limits
  • Bing –  Up to 71 Characters
• Social Media Platforms
  • Facebook – 40 Characters
  • LinkedIn – 80-120 Characters
  • Twitter – 70-100 Characters
• Email subject lines – ~50 Characters (varies by platform)

To choose an appropriate headline character length, pay attention to what people will see the first time they come across your headline and how this rendition is likely to make them feel and think. 

Hint: For a single piece of content, advanced distribution strategies often include a variety of headlines customized for each channel. 

6. Numbers 

Obviously, not all headlines include numbers because they’re sometimes irrelevant. For those that do, here’s some food for thought: 

First of all, you’re writing for online readers, not your English teacher — numbers below ten don’t necessarily need to be spelled out. Yes, as an AP style guide rule, it’s proper to write-out number below ten. In marketing, you have permission to break the rules. 

In doing so, you do two things: 

1. Free up character space that you can use for another word
2. Draw more attention to your statement 

When you free-up character space, there’s a better chance readers on all distribution channels can see your entire headline. “7” in place of “Seven” makes room for four additional characters in an already limited space (The US English Scrabble dictionary has 3,996 four-letter words that you could fit into your headline — just sayin’).

Just for anecdotal evidence of my second claim about using a numeric digit in place of a written number, have a look at the following make-believe headlines as they would appear on Facebook: 

Seven Easy Ways to Make a Noisy Dog Stop Barking

VS

7 Simple Ways to Get a Rowdy Dog to Stop Barking 

Both of would appear without being cut-off when shared as alink on Facebook, where the character limit is 40. These headlines are both valid and make the same assertion. Yet, the second one is stronger and more clickable.  

Headlines with numbers, specifically a numeric digit or “arabic” symbol are easier for the human brain to process and play a significant role in the customer journey — Arabic, verbal, and analog (on a number line) representations seem to be the strongest. 

Next, certain numbers do seem to have more power than others. A few years ago, Buzzsumo released research from 100K headlines. Here, they found some pretty interesting statistics about which numbers triggered the most headline engagement on Facebook. 

So, when you use numbers, use Arabic symbols, and know that listicles have a high chance of being shared virally. 

50 Powerful Words to Use in Content Headlines 

As long as you sprinkle these words into your headlines with a full understanding of what it takes to drive clicks, they can contribute to higher CTRs. 

This	Proven	First	Dire	Secret
Controversial	Known	Current	Critical	Untold
Dispute	Official	Fresh	Desperate	Restricted
Solve	Verified	Latest	Crucial	Unknown
Who	Validated	Original	Intense	Confidential
What	Certified	Novel	Compelling	Hidden
When	Authentic	Advanced	Drastic	Concealed
Where	Genuine	Modern	Extreme	Disguised
How	Simple	Disclose	Wild	Invisible
Why	Easy	Reveal	Complex	Covert

+Bonus: Alternatives to Use Instead of Boring Words

Using the same words over and over will kill their emotional impact. Take a look at the following, for example. 

“Let’s go to the store,” said Sally.

Henry said, “Ok. While we’re there, I need a gallon of milk.” 

Sally said, “I need a sack of potatoes.” 

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes,” said Henry. 

“Awesome. I’ll wait for you in the car,” said Sally. 

Are you bored out of your mind yet? Now, notice the difference when we remove the word “said” from the dialog. 

“Let’s go to the market,” Sally invited.

Henry agreed, “Ok. While we’re there, I need a gallon of milk.” 

Sally replied, “I need a sack of potatoes.” 

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” 

“Awesome. I’ll wait for you in the car.”

Better, right? Your headlines are not likely to be written in dialogue form. I just wanted to illustrate the power of diversification. 

If you can use an alternative in place of a boring and dull word, it will instantly give any statement more impact. Remember this when you are tempted to use a word like “good” or “small.”

Said	Declared	Announced	Stated	Responded	Affirmed
Good	Worthy	Brilliant	Awesome	Powerful	Influential
Bad	Poor	Inadequate	Terrible	Awful	Sorry
Small	Compact	Miniscule	Puny	Slight	Meager
Big	Substantial	Immense	Enormous	Vast	Epic

Conclusion

Power words can certainly have a positive impact on clickability (hence the list of my favorites above). However, to be effective, article and page headlines must be strategically crafted pique curiosity with clarity and relevance. Furthermore, increased click-through rates are worthless if your brand message is inauthentic or inconsistent — people ultimately want to do business with brands they trust. 

With the advice here, you’ll be well on your way to higher headline CTRs. What’s your favorite headline writing tip? Let me know in the comments!