Transition Words in SEO

Transition words are a part of speech that is known as “link-words”.

English would be boring without transition words to spice it up in written and spoken form. Seriously, you will be merely jumping into new sentences without letting the reader know what the hell you are trying to do. 

Attaining readability and engaging your readers entails a lot. Transition words make it easier for you to bring out the points in any piece of writing and meet the standard SEO requirements for page content.

Transition words are an important part of content copywriting.

In the first place, transitions words are fundamental ingredients for any informative essay or article that you want to write. Yes, sticking to the three essential parts of an article, introduction, body, and conclusion, is fundamental. Still, you want to ensure that the piece you come up with is more informative, eloquent, and engaging to the reader.

Most non-natives may find it a bit challenging to master and use transitions words correctly. However, by reading more articles from different authors, and mastering their choice and use of words, you can quickly learn to use these words in your writing. 

In this article, we will learn what transition words are, highlight some categories of transition words, and explain why transition words are vital for SEO content.

What Are Transition Words?

Transition words are those words that show the reader how sentences and paragraphs relate to each other. When used correctly in an article, they help the reader to determine how the thought, ideas, and sentences connect in an article.

These words are also useful if you want to prepare the reader on what they should expect in the following sentences. In short, a transition word provides the organization and structure to your text, making it easier for the reader to understand what you are communicating to them.

Ideally, it is effortless to identify the relevance of transition words in a sentence.

Types of Transition Words

There are thousands of transition words in the English dictionary that you can use when writing.

Some traction words are synonyms, while others have a slight difference. In many cases, people will confuse transition words making them irrelevant when used in the text. 

Notably, you should practice using most of the transition words if you are not a native English speaker so that you master them. That will be the only sure way of learning to use the words correctly in sentences.

Transition words are of the following types:

Words That Add More Information

Here is a list of words that you can use to add more information when writing; 

in addition, and, another reason, first of all, first, second, besides that, moreover, also

Words For Repeating Information

Sometimes, you may want to repeat information in a paragraph if you feel that the reader did not get the idea in the previous sentences.

Some of the words you can use for signifying repeating information are: 

in other words, to put it in another way, in fact, to repeat

Words For Showing Comparison

These are words that you can use to compare your ideas and bring out your point clearly in a sentence. These words  include:

 as in, similarly, in like manner, like, likewise, as if, compared to, by comparison, in comparison

Words That Show Difference And Contrast

Words that you can use to show differences or contrast in a sentence include:

unlike, rather than, though, nevertheless, however, in contrast to, yet, nonetheless, in spite of, but, rather than, although

Words Showing A Relationship In Time

These are transition words that you can use to show the time difference in sentences. They include:

meanwhile, last time, after, sooner, soon, until, beginning, finally, even when, eventually, still, now, in time, then, and earlier

Words That Prepare The Reader For An Example

Words that limit the number of examples you can give or prepare the reader for the examples you want to mention in a sentence include;

 for example, to illustrate, such as, for instance

Words That Show The Reason, Cause, And Effect

Some of the transition words that show cause and effect include the following:

Because, because of, since, hence, so, thus, accordingly, to these ends, as a result, as such

Words That Grant Opposition Or Assert Obvious Truth

These are words you can use in a sentence to show that you are confident with the facts you are giving or show that the details you are giving out are already evident to the reader. Some of these words include:

certainly, of course, no doubt, without any doubt, undoubtedly, conceding that, granted that, naturally, in fact

Words For Showing A Summary Or Conclusion

Once you complete writing your article, it is always important that your signal the readers that it is almost coming to an end. You want to recap the essential points by giving a summary of what you were discussing in the post.

Here are some examples of words you can use to show a summary; 

finally, in conclusion, therefore, as a result, in short, in a nutshell

These words can help capture the reader’s attention and highlight the most important message you want them to get on the post.

Do’s and Don’ts When Using Transition Words

As much as using transition words can make your essay or article appealing to the reader, and you don’t want to overuse them. 

The Do’s For Transitions Words

• You should only use transition words where you are introducing a new idea to the reader.
• For each idea you put down, you should use a different transition word. Avoid overusing the words when you have plenty of them to choose.
• After writing using transition words, you should read what you have written (make it a bit loud if you can) to find out if they make sense.
• Create an outline of your ideas, so that you understand how to share them using transition words.

Don’ts For Transition Words

What you should not do when using transition words in your writing:

• Do not use too many transition words in your writing because it makes your writing repetitive and boring.
• You should not depend on transition words to show a relationship between your ideas.
• Don’t keep using transition words in every sentence. For instance, if your paragraph has five lines, you can use at least two transition words in the whole paragraph. You want to ensure the words are used evenly in the entire article.

Why Are Transition Words Useful For SEO?

Although there is no direct correlation between transition words and SEO, we can admit the existence of a definitive link between the two.

Basically, transition words are more important for SEO because they help you improve the readability and the overall quality of your article.

If you create a readable, engaging, and highly informative article, more people are likely to enjoy reading it. When many people read your article, they will share it, and this helps in generating more organic traffic to your website.

Visitors will spend most of their time on your website reading the content there. Google and other search engines consider this data when they index and rank sites on their database. In a nutshell, using transition words helps improve the readability of pages, which has a direct relation to the number of visitors to your site.

Establishing the exact link between SEO and the use of transition words may sound a bit complex. However, there is no harm or downside for using transition words in writing. Transition words make your article or essay more engaging to the reader, and that is something that we all want. It helps you pass the message simply and straightforwardly.

Well, according to Yoast, at least 30.0% of all your words should be transition words. They also advise you to be selective when choosing transition words and ensure you do not jam your essay with these words. The tip here is simple: always expand your vocabulary to have more words that you can use in your articles. 

Lastly, you should practice using as many transition words as possible to avoid clinging to a bunch of them.

Final Thoughts

You probably have understood the essence of using transition words in your writing. There are dozens of transition words in the English dictionary that you can use when writing to spice up your essay. If you want to keep your readers glued on the screen and reduce site bounce rate significantly, then creating engaging content is a good tip. Using transition words may require your mastery of the English language vocabulary and grammar.

For Search Engine Optimization, you should always ensure you use transition words the right way. In case you have not made up your mind on which transition words you should use, then we have highlighted some of them here for you. All you should do is start typing some new content for your blog and watch the number of your site visitors increasing.