Having trouble with adding Transition Words to your post?
What are Transition Words?
Transition Words or phrases are “connecting” words and phrases. They help to emphasize a point and establishes the relationship between ideas. Words like “because” or “also” are simple examples of Transition Words.
Readability Analysis in Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO plugin is certainly one of the best SEO plugins for WordPress. Not only does it provide you focus keyword analysis, its also provides readability analysis. Since I am a developer, writing good articles does not come naturally.
Luckily, Yoast helps in improving my writing by giving readability suggestions. Yoast uses a few metrics to judge content. One metric that seems especially hard to achieve, at least for me, is the Transition word metric.
Is readability important?
The post from Yoast Blog, “Does Readability Rank?“, concludes that “Posts that are nice and easy to read will definitely result in more returning visitors and a higher conversion rate”. From the reader’s perspective, it is easier to process ideas if sentences are short. This creates a better user experience for the readers. And would encourage reading of an article in its entirety.
How does Transition Words apply in Yoast SEO?
Yoast recommends inclusion of transition words in at least 30% of the article. That’s about 1 in 3 sentences. That can be a challenge. Especially, if like me, your grammar of transition words consists primarily of “also” and “but“.
List of Transition Words for Yoast SEO
To effectively use Transition words, obviously, you’ll have to know them first. With reference to the Yoast source code and smart-words.org, we present you a list of easy to reference list below.
Addition Words
Addition Transition words and phrases help to convey additional points to your sentences. If you find your article littered with “and“, you’ll probably need to break up your sentences. Try using words such as, “additionally” as well as “another“.
additionally | also | another |
further | furthermore | moreover |
too |
Addition Phrases
another key point | as a matter of fact | as well as |
at least | by the same token | coupled with |
for example | for instance | in addition |
in another case | in detail | in other words |
not to mention | such as | to clarify |
to say nothing of | together with | what’s more |
Emphasis Words
Emphasis Transition words and phrases help to emphasize important points. These range of emphasis words have a different degree of assertiveness. And can certainly help you express an opinion or fact in a strong manner.
altogether | basically | certainly |
chiefly | doubtedly | emphatically |
especially | evidently | explicitly |
generally | indeed | obviously |
markedly | overall | particularly |
significantly | specifically | surely |
surprisingly | undeniably | undoubtedly |
unquestionably | without a doubt | without doubt |
without reservation |
Emphasis Phrases
by all means | equally important | for one thing |
important to realize | in particular | in similar fashion |
in the light of | in the same fashion | in the same way |
most compelling evidence | most important | must be remembered |
of course | on the positive side | point often overlooked |
that is | that is to say | to be sure |
to repeat | to rephrase it | with attention to |
with this purpose in mind |
Condition / Contrast / Compare Words
These series of words can be used to pivot your ideas from one idea to the next. Otherwise, you can consider using emphasis phrases or illustration words to build on the same point.
albeit | although | besides |
but | comparatively | consequently |
contrarily | conversely | despite |
equally | however | identically |
instead | nevertheless | nor |
notwithstanding | otherwise | rather |
regardless | similarly | still |
though | unless | unlike |
whereas | while |
Condition / Contrast / Comparison Phrases
analogous to | although this may be true | analogous to |
as much as | balanced against | by comparison |
compared to | be that as it may | different from |
even more | even so | even though |
in contrast | in either case | in that case |
in this situation | in view of | inasmuch as |
on condition that | on one hand | on the contrary |
on the negative side | on the other hand | provided that |
seeing that | take the case of | to put it another way |
to put it differently | up against | vis a vis |
while it may be true | while this may be true |
Illustration Words
Transition Words can also be used to help to illustrate complex ideas. By giving examples in your article, readers would be correspondingly understand your article better.
accordingly | correspondingly | e.g. |
i.e. |
Illustration Phrases
as an illustration | at length | in like fashion |
in like manner | to demonstrate | to emphasize |
to enumerate | to explain | to illustrate |
to list | to point out |
Cause and Effect Words
Cause and effect Transition Words help readers understand the “why” of your passages. Therefore, cause and effect words may occur less frequently than others.
because | hence | since |
so | than | therefore |
thereupon | thus |
Cause and Effect Phrases
above all | after all | as a result |
being that | due to | even if |
for fear that | given these points | given that |
in case | in light of | in order that |
in effect | in order to | in spite of |
in the event that | in the hope that | in this case |
on account of | on the condition that | only if |
owing to | so as to | so long as |
so that | then again | under those circumstances |
with the result that | with this in mind | with this intention |
Time and Sequence Words
Time and sequence Transition words are used when you are need to provide a context of time for the reader.
afterward | afterwards | before |
concurrently | during | earlier |
eventually | finally | firstly |
following | formerly | forthwith |
fourthly | henceforth | last |
lastly | later | meanwhile |
occasionally | presently | previously |
secondly | shortly | simultaneously |
soon | straightaway | subsequently |
then | thereafter | thirdly |
till | until | when |
whenever |
Time and Sequence Phrases
after that | all of a sudden | as long as |
as soon as | at first | at last |
at the present time | at the same time | at this instant |
at this point | at this time | by the time |
first thing to remember | from time to time | in due time |
in the final analysis | in the first place | in the fourth place |
in the long run | in the meantime | in the second place |
in the third place | in time | now that |
on this occasion | once | once in a while |
prior to | so far | sooner or later |
this time | to begin with | until now |
up to the present time | without delay |
Summary Phrases
In general, Transition Words help your sentences flow better and help break up the monotony of passages.
all in all | all things considered | all things considered |
as can be seen | as has been noted | as I have said |
as I have noted | as I have shown | as shown above |
at any rate | by and large | for that reason |
for the most part | for the purpose of | for the same reason |
for this purpose | for this reason | in a word |
in any case | in any event | in brief |
in conclusion | in essence | in fact |
in general | in reality | in short |
in sum | in summary | in truth |
on balance | on the whole | summing up |
to conclude | to sum up | to summarize |
to that end | to the end that | to this end |
Two Part Transition Words
Not only does Yoast recognize Words and Phrases, but also phrases that consists of two parts. For example:
Both…. and…
If… then….
Not only … but also…
… neither… nor…
…either … or …
…not… but …
whether …. or …
no sooner … than ….
Conclusion
We hope that this guide will help you in improving your writing and getting a better score on Yoast metrices. Don’t fret if you are unable to meet a perfect score on Yoast. It’s a guideline not a rule! I am no expert in writing (as you can probably tell). If you have a pointer or two to share with us and our audiences, please do leave a comment or share this article!
Check out our other guides and collection:
Learn WordPress : How to Use WordPress
SEO Resources List
SEO: Shortcode for sidewide links
I’m perplexed by Yoast-approved transition words. Does the Yoast-highlighted text INCLUDE a transition word, or does it NEED a transition word? I’m using lots of approved transition words in my text, but Yoast tells me that my score is low. In fact, when I click on the “eye” to show me what I need to correct, some of the approved transition words are highlighted, while others are not. So I wonder why Yoast isn’t registering all of them?
Amy you’re not alone. I discovered the same problem in my use of Yoast yesterday.
I found the position of where you use the transition has a lot to do with it registering in the plug-in metric.
For example, the word yet if used at the beginning of a sentence, doesn’t highlight.
But in a compound sentence, all typical fanboys transitions do highlight. However, it’s rare that online writing contains compound sentences due to the length of most of them.