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Natural Transitions

skills/copywriting/references/natural-transitions.md

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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.