SEO
Transition Words – What are Transition Words?
Transition words: Why and How to Use Them
Using transition words in your text can help you enhance the readability of your copy. Therefore, the Yoast SEO readability check provides feedback on your use of transition words. But what are they? Why are they so important? And how should you use them?
Did you get a red or orange bullet for your use of transition words? Jump to the section about the Yoast SEO transition words check. Or go straight to learning how you can improve your use of transition words.
What are Transition Words?
Transition words are words like ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘so’ and ‘because’. They show your reader the relationship between phrases, sentences, or even paragraphs. When you use them, you make it easier for your readers to understand how your thoughts and ideas are connected. What is more, they prepare your reader for what’s coming.
Let’s consider 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:
What happened in the first sentence caused something;
The second sentence is going to describe the effect.
By using the phrase ‘as a result’ here, you show that the two separate sentences are part of one process. Without having even read the rest of the sentence, your reader can already guess what’s coming. In a way, transition words are the glue that holds your text together. Without them, your text is a collection of sentences. With them, the individual parts come together to form one whole.
Transition words don’t always have to be placed at the beginning of a sentence. Consider the following examples.
He’s a very nice guy. He took us out to dinner yesterday, for instance.
In this example, ‘for instance’ is placed at the end of the sentence. Nonetheless, it still provides the reader with information as to how the two sentences are related.
I enjoy his company because he always tells interesting stories.
In this example, ‘because’ doesn’t connect two sentences, but two clauses. Transition words can connect anything from short phrases to entire paragraphs.
Read more here.