Transition words: why and how to use them
Using transition words in your writing can help you enhance the readability of your content. They help your text flow and show readers the relationship between phrases and paragraphs. That’s why the readability checks in Yoast SEO provide feedback on your use of transition words. But what are transition words, and why are they so important? And how should you use them?
What are transition words?
Transition words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’, and ‘because’ are words that show readers the relationship between phrases. Or sentences or even paragraphs. In a way, transition words act like the glue that holds your text together. Without them, your text is a collection of sentences. But with them, the individual parts come together to form one whole.
Let’s look at an example: I pushed the domino. As a result, it fell over.
When you start a sentence with ‘as a result’, your reader will immediately know two things: First, what happened in the first sentence caused something. Second, the sentence after that will describe the effect. By using the phrase ‘as a result’, you show that the two separate sentences are related to each other and should be read together.
Read more: Examples of transition words in your language »
Transition words to start a paragraph
Transition words can be used to connect short phrases, sentences and paragraphs. When you use them to start a new paragraph, this allows you to showcase the relationship to the former paragraph. This helps keep your text flowing and readers understand what direction the next paragraph is going into. Examples of transition words for starting paragraphs are ‘for example’, ‘firstly’, ‘likewise’, ‘however’ and ‘to sum it up’.
Transition word at the end of a sentence
You don’t always have to place transition words at the beginning of a sentence. You can also add a transition word at the end to change it up or when it feels more fitting. For example:
He’s a very nice guy. He took us out to dinner yesterday, for instance.
Even though ‘for instance’ is placed at the end of the sentence, it still provides the reader with information on how the two sentences relate.
Why you should use transition words
You might be wondering: are transition words really that important? Let’s look at a text (Text A) where we don’t use them and the same where we do (Text B).
Text A
I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to learning skills. The only way to truly master a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are people who disagree. It is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they’ve heard or read. That number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory into practice. Following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill.Text B
In this paragraph, I’m going to discuss a few reasons why practice is important to mastering skills. Firstly, the only way to truly learn a skill is by actually doing what you’ll have to do in the real world. Secondly, I think practice can be a fun way of putting in the necessary hours. There are, however, people who disagree. Thirdly, and most importantly, it is said that people tend to remember only 10-20% of what they read or hear. Moreover, that number rises to as much as 90% when you put theory to practice. In conclusion, following up explanation with practice is key to mastering a skill.
Text A is not a terrible paragraph. But it’s not the easiest to read, is it? Plus, text B does a better job of showing there are three separate arguments to support the statement with a definite conclusion. The reader never has to wonder whether a sentence still belongs to the previous argument or a new one. It even shows the relationship between sentences within one argument. In conclusion, most people will find text B easier to read, so they’ll stay on your page longer.
Types of transition words
Transition words can be divided into several categories, based on the type of connection you want to make. There are often several transition words available for the most common kinds of relationships between texts, or transitions as we call them in the table below. Sometimes, they mean the same; sometimes, there are slight differences. If you’re not a native speaker or are not familiar with these words, you’ll probably have to study and practice their use.
| Transition/type of relationship | Example word/phrase | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Cause and effect | Therefore, as a result, so, consequently | I’m tired. Therefore, I’m going to bed. |
| Clarification | That is to say, in other words, to clarify | We’re letting you go. In other words, you’re fired. |
| Contrast | But, however, on the other hand | I am not fond of fruit. However, I do like bananas. |
| Example | For example, for instance | In the evening, I like to relax. For instance, I enjoy watching TV. |
| Emphasis | Above all, most importantly, certainly | There are many reasons to exercise regularly. Above all, it keeps you healthy. |
| Enumeration | Firstly/secondly, further, and, moreover, in addition | Today, I’m going to write a post. In addition, I’m recording some video lessons. |
| Time | Meanwhile, during, subsequently, after that | I’ll start by telling you what transition words are. After that, I’ll tell you why you should always use them. |
| Similarity | Likewise, similarly, in the same vein | She tried really hard to entertain her guests. Similarly, he put all his heart and soul in cooking a great dinner. |
| Summarize/conclude | In conclusion, to sum up, in short | In conclusion, transition words are an important aspect of SEO copywriting. |
Why are they important for SEO?
As we’ve just seen, transition words make it easier to read and understand a text. They’re one of the key factors to readability. And readability is very important for SEO. Nobody likes to read a text that’s difficult to follow or boring. Your focus might be on creating a text that’s easy to understand for search engines, but that’s not how SEO works anymore. You need to write for people first and one of the ways to do that is to guide them through the text with easy language and well-placed transition words.
This fits in nicely with the idea of holistic SEO. If you write a text that’s hard to understand, people won’t find what they need. What’s more, you’ll end up with unsatisfied visitors who bounce back to Google right when they hit your site. Google sees this as a sign of bad user experience, resulting in lower rankings. So make sure to write for your audience and search engines will follow.
Moreover, these helpful words play a crucial role in structuring your text. Well-structured text is easier to understand, making your blog easier to read. This helps to retain readers and, therefore, contributes to SEO.
What does the transition word check in Yoast SEO do?
The transition words check in Yoast SEO assesses whether or not you use enough of these linking words. If at least 30% of the sentences in your text contain a transition word, the traffic light will be green. You get an orange light if you use them in more than 20% or less than 30% of your sentences. The light will be red if less than 20% of the sentences of your text contain a transition word. That would be less than 1 in 5 sentences.
Want to read more on how we came to the exact measurements of the transition words check and the other readability checks? Then you should read our article about the methodological choices of the readability analysis.
How to improve your usage
While most of us use transition words here and there, not everyone uses them frequently enough. That’s why it’s important to know when you can use them, and that you’re aware of the relationship between your sentences or paragraphs.
Know the words (and when to use them)
This sounds obvious, but it’s good to know all (or most of) the different transition words you can use. Even if you’re familiar with a language, it pays off to refresh your memory occasionally. Especially if you also write in other languages than your own. We have a few examples per language (that we offer in Yoast SEO right now) to help you get started. Or look online for examples and their meaning to get some inspiration, examples from literature and fiction can be a fun way to learn the words and when you can use them.
Understand the relationship between sentences
One of the tips we often give when writing a text is to just start writing a first draft and put everything in there that you want to say. After that, you can look at the structure of the text and what needs to be elaborated on or removed. This phase of ‘cleaning up’ is also where the addition of transition words comes in. When you’re happy with the order of your paragraphs and sentences, you can reread your text and spot opportunities to tie them together with the right transition words. This will probably come quite naturally to you when rereading, as that often helps you figure out which parts end too abruptly or could use a good transition.
If it doesn’t come that naturally to you, or if you just want to make sure that you use them enough, our transition words check in Yoast SEO (free or Premium) will help out with that. This checks if you use enough transition words, depending on how long your content is. It will give you a green, orange or red traffic light to indicate your use of transition words and improvements that can be made in that regard.
Want to know more?
If you want to learn more about transition words and how to write great content in general, then our SEO Copywriting course can help you. You can preview this course for free, but if you choose to use Yoast SEO Premium, you get access to the full course (along with 15 other courses). If you use Shopify and want to work on the readability of your site, you can check out our Yoast SEO for Shopify app.
Conclusion
Transition words are important for the readability of your text. They explain, give examples, and help your readers understand your texts. They guide them through it. If you still need to get it into your system to use them more often, remember to add the step to your writing process! In addition, pay attention to the structure of your text. If you understand the point and goal of your paragraphs, it will be easier to pick the best transition words available.
Keep reading: How to use the readability analysis in Yoast SEO »
