Natural Transitions

Transitional phrases to guide readers through your content. Good signposting improves readability, user engagement, and helps search engines understand content structure.

Adapted from: University of Manchester Academic Phrasebank (2023), Plain English Campaign, web content best practices

Contents

• Previewing Content Structure
• Introducing a New Topic
• Referring Back
• Moving Between Sections
• Indicating Addition
• Indicating Contrast
• Indicating Similarity
• Indicating Cause and Effect
• Giving Examples
• Emphasising Key Points
• Providing Evidence (neutral attribution, expert quotes, supporting claims)
• Summarising Sections
• Concluding Content
• Question-Based Transitions
• List Introductions
• Hedging Language
• Best Practice Guidelines
• Transitions to Avoid (AI Tells)

Previewing Content Structure

Use to orient readers and set expectations:

• Here's what we'll cover...
• This guide walks you through...
• Below, you'll find...
• We'll start with X, then move to Y...
• First, let's look at...
• Let's break this down step by step.
• The sections below explain...

Introducing a New Topic

• When it comes to X,...
• Regarding X,...
• Speaking of X,...
• Now let's talk about X.
• Another key factor is...
• X is worth exploring because...

Referring Back

Use to connect ideas and reinforce key points:

• As mentioned earlier,...
• As we covered above,...
• Remember when we discussed X?
• Building on that point,...
• Going back to X,...
• Earlier, we explained that...

Moving Between Sections

• Now let's look at...
• Next up:...
• Moving on to...
• With that covered, let's turn to...
• Now that you understand X, here's Y.
• That brings us to...

Indicating Addition

• Also,...
• Plus,...
• On top of that,...
• What's more,...
• Another benefit is...
• Beyond that,...
• In addition,...
• There's also...

Note: Use "moreover" and "furthermore" sparingly. They can sound AI-generated when overused.

Indicating Contrast

• However,...
• But,...
• That said,...
• On the flip side,...
• In contrast,...
• Unlike X, Y...
• While X is true, Y...
• Despite this,...

Indicating Similarity

• Similarly,...
• Likewise,...
• In the same way,...
• Just like X, Y also...
• This mirrors...
• The same applies to...

Indicating Cause and Effect

• So,...
• This means...
• As a result,...
• That's why...
• Because of this,...
• This leads to...
• The outcome?...
• Here's what happens:...

Giving Examples

• For example,...
• For instance,...
• Here's an example:...
• Take X, for instance.
• Consider this:...
• A good example is...
• To illustrate,...
• Like when...
• Say you want to...

Emphasising Key Points

• Here's the key takeaway:...
• The important thing is...
• What matters most is...
• Don't miss this:...
• Pay attention to...
• This is critical:...
• The bottom line?...

Providing Evidence

Use when citing sources, data, or expert opinions:

Neutral attribution

• According to [Source],...
• [Source] reports that...
• Research shows that...
• Data from [Source] indicates...
• A study by [Source] found...

Expert quotes

• As [Expert] puts it,...
• [Expert] explains,...
• In the words of [Expert],...
• [Expert] notes that...

Supporting claims

• This is backed by...
• Evidence suggests...
• The numbers confirm...
• This aligns with findings from...

Summarising Sections

• To recap,...
• Here's the short version:...
• In short,...
• The takeaway?...
• So what does this mean?...
• Let's pull this together:...
• Quick summary:...

Concluding Content

• Wrapping up,...
• The bottom line is...
• Here's what to do next:...
• To sum up,...
• Final thoughts:...
• Ready to get started?...
• Now it's your turn.

Note: Avoid "In conclusion" at the start of a paragraph. It's overused and signals AI writing.

Question-Based Transitions

Useful for conversational tone and featured snippet optimization:

• So what does this mean for you?
• But why does this matter?
• How do you actually do this?
• What's the catch?
• Sound complicated? It's not.
• Wondering where to start?
• Still not sure? Here's the breakdown.

List Introductions

For numbered lists and step-by-step content:

• Here's how to do it:
• Follow these steps:
• The process is straightforward:
• Here's what you need to know:
• Key things to consider:
• The main factors are:

Hedging Language

For claims that need qualification or aren't absolute:

• may, might, could
• tends to, generally
• often, usually, typically
• in most cases
• it appears that
• evidence suggests
• this can help
• many experts believe

Best Practice Guidelines

1. Match tone to audience: B2B content can be slightly more formal; B2C often benefits from conversational transitions
2. Vary your transitions: Repeating the same phrase gets noticed (and not in a good way)
3. Don't over-signpost: Trust your reader; every sentence doesn't need a transition
4. Use for scannability: Transitions at paragraph starts help skimmers navigate
5. Keep it natural: Read aloud; if it sounds forced, simplify
6. Front-load key info: Put the important word or phrase early in the transition

Transitions to Avoid (AI Tells)

These phrases are overused in AI-generated content:

• "That being said,..."
• "It's worth noting that..."
• "At its core,..."
• "In today's digital landscape,..."
• "When it comes to the realm of..."
• "This begs the question..."
• "Let's delve into..."

See the seo-audit skill's references/ai-writing-detection.md for a complete list of AI writing tells.