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.
Below are some examples of how transition words can help to boost readability in a sentence:
- I don’t love football. I like to play chess and hockey./I am not a good fan of football. However, I can play hockey and chess.
- You can use cucumber in almost every meal. It is the best for making your tomatoes tasty./ You can use cucumber in every meal. In particular, it can highlight the flavor of tomatoes.
- If you want to succeed, you must be hard-working. Discipline should come first. / If you’re going to succeed, you must be hard-working. Above all, you must ensure you are always disciplined.
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:
1 – 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
Examples in sentences:
- John likes going out for dinner. Also, he is excellent at making new friends.
- First of all, ensure the glass is clean; second, add a pinch of salt; and third, add some hot water and stir the mixture with a tablespoon.
- Brigit is my teacher of English. Besides that, I like her most because she is charismatic and honest.
2 – 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
Examples in sentences:
- I believe we did not elect the right leaders to the council. In other words, we made a mistake when choosing some leaders.
- You cannot ride a bicycle at night without a reflector. To repeat, I am cautioning you not to try doing it.
3 – 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
Example in sentences:
- Compared to last year when the winter was freezing, it has been a bit hot of late.
- The pet is behaving as if it’s the best around.
- Jane likes to eat junk food. In comparison, Samuel only eats one meal in a day.
4 – 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
Example in sentences:
- James believes that religion is the basis for racism. In contrast to James, Clinton holds that racism is a result of immorality and poor social governance.
- We went for a hike with my friends last week, in spite of the heavy rains, we still enjoyed ourselves the entire day.
5 – 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
Example in sentences:
- Usain Bolt still holds a record for the fastest man on earth.
- The house was cold inside; meanwhile, you could see some sunrays through the window.
- Finally, our school football team will participate in the regional sports this year.
- The rains won’t be over until the end of this month.
6 – 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
Examples in sentence
- During the holidays, Samuel may have a few things to take care of, such as visiting friends, tilling the garden, cleaning the house, and shopping.
- There are things that you must do to make your writing engaging. For instance, you should use more transition words.
- Not all countries can access the ocean. For example, Uganda is a landlocked country.
7 – 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
Examples in a sentence:
- Malaria is a deadly disease. Therefore, you should always protect yourself from mosquito bites.
- She drove very fast because she realized someone was following her.
8 – 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
Example in sentences:
- Certainly, you can sing the national anthem well.
- Of course, it’s going to rain tonight. It is very cloudy today.
- Conceding that Tyson is the title bearer, Ali still believes he can beat him on the ring.
9 – 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.
