I remember atlases, my friends. I remember MapQuest. I remember printing off seven sheets of 8×11 turn-by-turn instructions for a cross-country road trip, highlighting my route on a pixelated map, and praying to Sweet Baby Jesus that I didn’t take a wrong turn.
Today, I am wholly, unabashedly dependent on my GPS. Without my GPS, I am nothing. I am a shepherd-less lamb abandoned to the wolves. By foot, I can navigate a trackless forest, but by car, I can (maybe) find the closest Walmart.
I want you to become a GPS. I want you to become a GPS for your Reader. I want you to learn signposting!
P.S. This post is for more intermediate/advanced English-speaking writers. If you’re still struggling with comma splices, read on, but you may need to refer to your chosen English Writing textbook on occasion.
Mapping Out Your Blog Post
If a blog post is a road trip, then the driver – your Reader – could drive onto the route at any intersection. As I wrote some time ago, a blog post must be scannable because very few Readers will study the whole thing top-to-bottom, sentence-by-sentence.
If you haven’t read that post yet, take five. Go read it. Then come back here. Because I want to highlight and dissect a critical writing technique for writing scannable content: Signposting and mapping.
What Is Signposting?
If you stretch way back to high school English, you may remember your teacher mentioning signposting. It’s a technique from academic writing.
Signposting articulates the structure of your content. It helps Readers identify where they are within the content.
You might hear signposting referred to as “linking phrases,” “connecting words,” or “transitions.” These are all related concepts.
Without signposting, writing becomes disjointed. There’s no clear connection between sequential thoughts. The Reader gets jerked around by one out-of-the-blue idea after the other. But with signposting, the Reader gets a split-second “preview” of what’s coming. This smooths out the mental flow.
I believe signposting is critical for good blog writing because you never know where a Reader may start reading!
What Signposting Is NOT!
- Signposting is not a Table of Contents. A Table of Contents with H2, H3, and H4 headings is super useful, but it’s not quite the same thing. Signposting goes beyond white space and subheadings. It’s woven within the text itself.
- Signposting is NOT graphic layout. Yes, subheadings and bullet-point lists and text boxes can also categorize content – but signposting is the art of mapping with your words.
- Signposting is not fluff. We all hate the YouTube videos that start with two minutes of “here’s what we’re going to talk about today.” Ok, Mr. Rogers. Can we skip to 2:32 where you get to the point?!!
Signposting should be subtle. It doesn’t dam up the meaning of content; it just streamlines the flow. If you catch yourself beginning every sentence with a signpost, you’re doing it wrong. Think of signposting like road signs: You only need one when you change direction.
Signposting Examples and Phrases
Signposting uses words to explain the connection between sentences and ideas.
Signposting can be as simple as a single word (such as “also”), or as complex as a complete paragraph (such as, “Now that I’ve summarized my most important points, I’m going to move on to a surprising example from Point Number Two”).
In the lists below, I’m offering some signposting words or phrases commonly used at the beginning or end of a sentence.
P.S. If you’re a grammar nerd, you’ll notice that many signposts are either adverbs, adverbial phrases, or prepositional phrases.
For Introducing
Firstly/secondly/thirdly …
Let’s begin with …
I’m going to …
Turning to …
Moving on to …
For Continuing/Building
So …
In addition …
Likewise …
Also …
Another issue …
In particular …
Besides …
Furthermore …
As stated previously …
Nevertheless …
Either/or …
For Comparing …
On the other hand …
Whether …
Whereas …
In comparison …
For Causing …
As a result …
Due to …
Subsequently ..
Consequently …
Hence …
For Concluding/Summarizing
In other words …
In short …
Clearly …
To conclude …
In sum …
For Explaining/Illustrating
For example …
I.e. …
As an illustration …
This is proven by …
Focusing on …
Important! …
Hint: …
Note: …
Speaking of …
For Refuting/Contrasting
Although …
However …
Unlike …
In spite of …
How to Signpost in Blogging
Good Signposting
Here are a few rules of thumb for where and how to signpost in a blog articlet.
- Place a signposting sentence before a bullet point list (see sentence above).
Concentrate signposting words at the beginning of paragraphs, where they are most likely to be read. - Signposting should sound conversational. Leave the Latinate words to the academics. Favor simpler signposting words, like so, due to, hint, also, clearly, etc. Also, appending signposts to the end of a sentence can make it sound more conversational, like this.
- Avoid obvious signposting. No one needs to know, “In this blog post, I am going to tell you 12 ways to improve your physical fitness.” How boring. Just give us the good stuff!
Bad Signposting
Signposting, like any writing technique, can be misused and mangled.
In the hands of an excitable writer, signposting can become ubiquitous. Every sentence begins with a transitional phrase: however, therefore, on the other hand, consequently, moving forward, etc. This ruins the rhythm of varied sentence structures. Cadence is exchanged for overtness.
Don’t do that. If your writing flows smoothly without a transitional word, then don’t use one. Here’s a hint: If your audience knows you’re signposting, you’re overdoing it.
Also, don’t overuse your pet words. If you begin every conclusion with the phrase, “In conclusion,” then you sound like a student in a high school public speaking class. Get a thesaurus!
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That’s signposting in a nutshell! Once you get used to it, you won’t even think about it. But if your writing is coming across as choppy, maybe you should try out signposting!
