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